With house prices having increased over the latter part of this year many people may be considering selling their homes next year, and with interest from buyers on the increase the New Year could prove to be a good time to sell.

However, those that are planning to sell their homes may face a number of issues that could get in the way of them selling up and moving on, and it is important to consider the possible hurdles and ensure that you know what you need to do to overcome them.

Many people assume that the existing mortgage that they have is portable and that if they move home they can take the mortgage with them. For instance those that move mid-way through a fixed rate mortgage may think that they can take the mortgage to the new property until the deal comes to an end, but this is not always the case these days.

Lenders will often only allow you to take the mortgage in the event that you meet up to date criteria as opposed to the criteria that you met when you first took out the mortgage. It is therefore important that you look into the portability of your mortgage before you make any decision on moving to a new home, as otherwise you may face crippling costs and may struggle to move to your new home.

Another problem that you will need to consider is that over the past couple of year mortgage lending has become extremely restricted, and this means that if you need to borrow additional money you may find that it is impossible to do so. In the past lenders may have taken into account things such as overtime, bonuses, etc, and may have ignored the odd credit card debt or loan.

However, with lending criteria now so tough lenders will be extremely strict over lending extra money, and therefore this may prove to be your downfall. To ensure that you do not come across this problem make sure that you check with the lender prior to making any offers on a property to see whether you meet the criteria for borrowing the extra cash that you need.

Something else to bear in mind is the valuation of your new home. The value that you put on the home and the value that the bank puts on it can vary widely, and with banks demanding large deposit levels you may find that you are struggling to get the amount that you need to buy the property. It is best to be as down to earth as possible with the valuation of the property, and you can do this by looking at the value of similar properties in the area as well as by getting valuations done.

Bear in mind that at present the number of homes on the market is far outstripped by the number of people that are interested in buying a home, and this means that at least for the moment property prices could continue to gain strength.

However, if and when you do put your property on the market you need to remember that it is important to be realistic with regards to your asking price, as otherwise your property could be left festering on the market because buyers simply cannot afford to go for a property that is not priced realistically and within their reach.

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