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Original poster

Anyone else halfway through a sale/buying

66 replies

maneandfeathers · 19/03/2020 18:05

I know nobody knows but we are stressed to death.

Halfway through selling/buying.
No idea what will happen with mortgage/house prices etc etc. We are also wondering about valuations for the mortgage.

Anyone nearing completion and also wondering what on earth to do?
Anyone heard anything from the bank regarding mortgage lending?

OP posts:

bananacakeZ · 19/03/2020 19:04

Can see noone else has replied yet, I don't have answers for you but came on here to more or less find out the same.

I assumed everyone would just stop, apart from key workers. But the bank and solicitor are still at work, the estate agent is sending me emails kind of rebuking me for not progressing the sale. I don't see how they can expect a house sale to proceed in the coming weeks, and I don't feel comfortable visiting solicitor offices repeatedly, or asking people to do a survey when there is a risk of increasing community transmission even if they are still working.

And the looming recession...

Plus I have been working non stop focused on business continuity for my employer, its not like I've had time in the past few days to progress a house sale.

On the other hand I love the property, if this does blow over I might be gutted to lose it.

Bloodylegoeverywhere · 19/03/2020 19:07

Ive been meaning to ask this question, we are midst applying for our first mortgage. Valuation is due to take place monday and then hopefully a mortgage offer!? I have no idea if it will go through. We dont have a chain and rent but still concerned if it will happen...

waterjungle · 19/03/2020 19:11

We exchanged at the start of Marchand are due to complete mid April. My husband is getting v cold feet as he is freelance and getting work cancelled. It would be our first family home and we have saved 10 years for it. I don't know what to think ....

Original poster

maneandfeathers · 19/03/2020 19:44

Our sale is pretty solid so there’s a change that would go through but the mortgage on our new one is what I’m most concerned about, I’m unsure if banks are lending and if they are is it at ‘normal’ value or less?

Nightmare the whole thing, we have saved 10 years for this

There are people in worse situations I know but it’s still gutting.

OP posts:

MozziesLoveMe · 19/03/2020 19:55

Same.

Our EA is trying to reassure us that everything is fine and moving along nicely.... almost like she's not actually noticed there's a pandemic going on but in reality, nobody knows. That's kind of the beginning and end of it really.

All we can do is hope.

TulipsfromAmsterdam · 19/03/2020 20:07

We have our mortgage offer, buyer has his and I believe our seller has hers and we are at the stage of paying for searches. I have decided to wait until I know our buyer has his underway as this will be the third set we have paid for and don't want to waste any more cash.
Once these are all done have absolutely no idea what will happen next as can't really exchange with setting completion date I believe.

GirlCalledJames · 19/03/2020 20:10

I‘m in a country under lockdown and moving house is permitted.

fastliving · 19/03/2020 20:13

I'm waiting to see what happens - just got my mortgage approved - who knows how long it will all take now, and there's the big possibility that my job could be lost if the economy tanks...so I guess the mortgage offer would be withdrawn?

MozziesLoveMe · 19/03/2020 20:36

@GirlCalledJames, can I ask which? Do you know if removal companies are still being used? I would assume not.

GirlCalledJames · 19/03/2020 20:50

I‘d rather not say, I split my time between two countries usually and in both moving is permitted during the lockdown. It‘s almost unavoidable to allow people to complete a house move already arranged as you can’t isolate yourself without a home. Removal companies are used, presumably you have to avoid the movers somehow. Work is still permitted. A friend is having building work done, for example, and she and the builder just make sure they avoid each other.

Original poster

maneandfeathers · 19/03/2020 20:54

Thankyou all.
We are moving 2 seconds up the road and have a van so that’s not so much a problem, it’s more the worry of a mortgage being refused due to the economic climate but I suppose we won’t know what’s going to happen there any time soon!

It’s all very stressful.

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lineandsinker · 19/03/2020 20:57

We are due to exchange tomorrow and complete on the 7th April. Fingers crossed all goes through as we love the house. We’re not fussed about house values changing as we are upsizing and it’s all relative. Hoping that the cash buyers at the bottom of the chain don’t get cold feet now.

Ypsilanti · 19/03/2020 22:16

Checking in. I am in the earliest stages of buying a place - mortgage in place and valuation done, but currently awaiting the survey (goodness knows when that will happen). My solicitor has started the searches and have had a few back - not sure whether to ask him to stop. I am bottom of chain (not FTB though) and I dread to think what’s happening further up - bit nervous about losing survey fees and solicitor’s time though I assume my sellers will do all they can to stop me pulling out.

I am currently paying a fortune in rent and will be much better off with a mortgage but I don’t want to do something rash and buy a house as the market tanks. Argh.

Throughabushbackwards · 19/03/2020 22:24

We're in the same position. Purchase of our dream house is well underway but its at the very top of our budget. Very nervous we'll be in negative equity if everything tanks. We've asked the solicitor to put us at the bottom of their in-tray to have some time to see how this all plays out. We don't have a chain do deal with (we rent at the moment), so it's only the vendor wanting to move on the place they've found.

jengles · 19/03/2020 23:43

We have been under offer for a few weeks on our house (in London) & had offer accepted on a house in Essex - am hoping we can progress ok as the chain is v small with renter's (with a big deposit) one side and a moved a new build on the other.

Think I'll feel ok if can see progress being made, but unsure how we can have surveys completed - anyone else at this kind of point?

Callmesausage · 20/03/2020 09:57

Our sale is still progressing - no chain, we are renting and buying an empty property. We will still proceed as we are looking to stay in our new home for many years and not so worried about negative equity being as issue. Jobs both seem safe at the moment and we have some savings as a buffer. I am planning to get to point of exchange then see whether we can physically move. Hoping the mortgage offer doesn’t get pulled. Good luck everyone

EL8888 · 20/03/2020 10:03

We are meant to be moving but all has gone quiet in the past week or so. We are waiting on the mortgage companies

Original poster

maneandfeathers · 20/03/2020 10:23

Sounds difficult for us all.

We are really struggling to get the mortgage valuation done. Understandably nobody wants to come out to value it but we can’t progress without it.

I can’t see it happening to be honest

OP posts:

Wilmslow · 20/03/2020 14:39

Buyers will surely be pulling out now if they don’t have something to sell or if they are upsizing!? - house prices can’t do anything but fall in the next 12 months I expect.

randomsabreuse · 20/03/2020 14:52

We've just had our house (sale) valued earlier this week. Sent signed docs to solicitor so we will be able to exchange and complete when the time comes.

Hopefully removal company will still be available when we move to our rented house (DH has a new job in new area) as it's boldly miles and we've tonnes of stuff. Will probably move us all up to loft "bonus room" while the movers are here and make sure everything is out of that area.

randomsabreuse · 20/03/2020 14:55

We're hoping our sale will go ahead as our buyers are in rented so a mortgage is way cheaper than renting especially on current rates. House is also cheap for the town and very good value if you calculate £/sq ft so fingers crossed it will happen...

Would certainly accept purchase price in gold ingots, but not in toilet roll!

lineandsinker · 20/03/2020 14:57

@Wilmslow It’s all relative, though, if you’re upsizing. The value of your property would also fall in addition to the one you were upsizing.

anniefrangipani · 20/03/2020 15:01

We're halfway through sale and buy. Our buyer is an investor who has gone Mysteriously Silent. I think he doesn't want the risk of not being able to let it out straight away because of the pandemic.

We're a bit worried about negative equity too, but love the house we're due to buy and have decided to plow ahead if at all possible.

TreestumpsAndTrampolines · 20/03/2020 15:10

We're halfway through a buy - well, we were supposed to exchange 6 weeks ago, and complete over a month ago, but the sellers are causing delay after delay.

Meanwhile we're going mad in a tiny house with a landlord who doesn't fix anything.

We're thinking we might just find something actually nice to rent (we took this one as a temporary measure as we were trying to buy - now we've been here over a year), and go back to buying something in a year or so once it's all settled down again hopefully.

Wilmslow · 20/03/2020 15:13

But if you are buying something more expensive the actual £££ fall in value will be more than the one you are selling?

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