The benefits of moving in summer

What is the first thing you think of when the word “summer” is mentioned?

It probably has some connection to sunshine, maybe the longer days with daylight stretching beyond the time you get home from work, perhaps you have a connection with being outside. Whatever your thoughts, it's almost certain that you'll have something positive in mind, particularly when a comparison is made with other seasons, such as winter.

It's for this reason that many people want to take advantage of the property market. There is a sense of hope and optimism that feeds into the process of buying a new home.

But, given that psychology, is it actually the best time to make the jump and purchase a new property? Or is there something behind the science that makes summer the perfect time to move house?

Estate agents and letting agents Your Move has done some research on the subject and have come up with a set of reasons as to why summer is generally the best time to plan a house-move:

1. Ability to exploit the natural light and warmth of the season
2. The stability of the housing market during summer
3. The timing of the season for family buyers
4. The speed of the house-moving process

Most people feel more positive in the summer months, helped by the special light and the increased warmth that the longer days bring. These same attributes can be used to your advantage if you are selling a property. In the same way, you'll be able to view other properties with this in mind, too.

What will the garden look like? It's probably a good idea to consider tidying your garden areas up; perhaps a bit of weeding, judicious pruning and mowing the lawn may present the garden at its best.

Are there rooms in the house that are significantly embellished by the natural light, perhaps from the positioning of the windows, patio doors or skylights? Is the garden or other external areas south-facing?

And, as Your Move rightly point out, the sunshine and warmer temperatures (notwithstanding the fickleness of the British weather) will not only improve the estate agents' photographs, it will also be a better environment for your prospective buyers to do some local research. Similarly, you'll experience an enhanced setting for the places you visit to look at your next property.

After a rollercoaster few years, with housing prices affected by governmental decisions on the economy and external pressures from conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, the housing market has largely stabilised in recent months.

This means that getting a valuation on your own house and placing your name with estate agents operating in the area you would like to move to are two activities that you should do now to capitalise on the optimistic and steady situation.

There are caveats with any project of this magnitude: Rightmove has highlighted the point that asking prices are down in general as a direct result of the snap General Election in early July, as well as being impacted by major sporting events such as the Euro football competition. There are also considerations to factor in from the contents of the King's Speech on 17 July.

Your Move makes the excellent point that summer is the perfect time to move for families, because the children are on holiday from school. 

The upshot of that is that the disruption which inevitably comes with moving home will have settled down by the time the children are scheduled to return to school in September.

And, because of the increased clemency of the weather, the process of packing up your things and moving them will likely be improved than would be the case in the colder (and wetter) months.

Assuming you are not part of a lengthy chain, or you aren't in protracted discussions with your seller as a result of, for example, the findings of a survey, then you can take advantage of the improved housing market situation.

For example, in Rightmove's House Price Index, it showed that the time taken between putting a property on the market and agreeing a bid from a buyer has been shortened across the year so far.

To exploit that information, and as Your Move points out, time is running short, so you need to get moving now if you still want to take advantage of the halcyon months to move before the end of summer.

If you're selling, you can use helpful house-price estimates like the one at Your Move. This will give you a guide to what your potential purchase budget is likely to be.

One other aspect of the home-moving process that needs to be considered is the length of time that the essential conveyancing process takes. What you require is a speedy but high-quality conveyancing service that will be focused on your case until completion is successfully achieved. At the same time, you'll no doubt want to find a conveyancing service that provides that high quality but for a competitively low price.

That's where you can rely on Homeward Legal! 

They will start work on your planned purchase (and/or sale) as soon as you agree to the quotation and appoint them to represent you. 

Homeward Legal will also provide a quote that will not change - what you are quoted is what you pay for standard conveyancing process.

There are some unforeseen items that might arise during the purchase and/or sale, but the solicitor discusses these and their cost as they come up. 

In addition, to protect the homebuyer further, Homeward Legal operates a ‘no completion, no fee' promise, which ensures that, should the purchase or sale not go through as planned to completion status, no payment is required.

Call  to get your conveyancing quote started, or to discuss your concerns with your plans to move.

Or you can get a quick quote, using Homeward Legal's easy-to-use quote generator.