Although it has been suggested that the average cost of moving home in the UK has reached £17,000, it could be as high as £40,000 if the sale ran into difficulties.

According to a survey in 2007 by Abbey Mortgages we move home an average of three to four times in our lifetime, which costs more than we can earn in two years, almost £55,000.

However the average cost of selling a property on the open market is around £22,000 if all the selling as well as the purchasing costs are taken into consideration. In addition to mortgage costs, other costs include professional help, taxes, legal fees and transferring utilities.

HIP's, Home Information Packs are an additional burden for the seller to meet costing on average £300 to £350. This pack contains local searches, energy perfomance certificate, recent planning and building concents and the title deeds.

Although the mortgage costs are important, so are the estate agents fees, stamp duty, surveyors fees, essential household bills, and additionalstress. All these costs add up.

When selling a house, few people consider how much the whole process costs them, and forget to take into consideration that the costs can treble if a chain falls through. When one chain breaks down costs can be as high as £ 35,000, or more.

Research indicates that one in nine house sellers experience two chain breaks, which will in effect mean costs rising to almost £ 45,000. This may be even worse now more and more buyers ar reporting funding difficulties.

If sellers are not sensible about the asking price then the property sale can remain static. As a general rule if it doesn't sell in the first month, the price has to be reduced quickly to get back in play.

Indeed there are companis who are able to buy house quickly with no cost to the seller, saving thousands in an instant.