Anyone else halfway through a sale/buying

[maneandfeathers]

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?

[Iola4]

Hi all, we should have exchanged last Friday but our solicitor was slow but has now seemed to speed up.
Ours is a part exchange for a new build.
Solicitors on both sides are extremely keen to get us in Friday, we have our own van and will be doing our own removal, the sales lady will unlock door and put keys in letter box for us when she gets the call to go.
I'm so stressed out, then reading all this has just made my stress worst :(
We are moving 10mins away, we live rurally.
Concerning the Land Registry...can someone please explain this to me? We signed piles of forms last Friday (although it wasn't an actual exchange...I think our solicitor panicked and covered her arse when she realised what was going down). Do the solicitors in England do this electronically? We did sign something regarding a land registry as our solicitor mumbled something about the fee being a rip off.
But could I just get clarity please. I have information overload at the moment :(

[maneandfeathers]

Thanks for all your advice, lots to look into. Our buyer is not in a huge rush however I can’t see how we can make them hang on for 3-4 months? How many months could it actually end up being...it could be towards the end of the year before we complete!

Our bank will not allow a virtual survey or a drive by (NatWest)
We have also tried two others who have said no also.
I don’t want any more hard searches as we have already had 2 and my credit score has taking a hammering from those

[Whathewhatnow]

And it is CERTAINLY not the case that most lenders insist in a physical survey. Try another lender? Have no surveyors started doing virtual surveys?? Clearly the smell element cant happen but all.visual elements could be completed via igh quality video link unless I am being thick.

[Whathewhatnow]

Re the dogs and the cats .. can then not go somewhere for the interim? Even to the self isolating relatives. They are still allowed to walk the dogs. Obviously not if they are severely immunocompromised but .. failing that, animal shelters or breed specific foster care?

If you are only selling and not buying you dont need a survey or a mortgage right now... but in any case I would query the 'we only do physical surveys' thing. All this providing you are in England.

Having small kids sans pets is no obstacle to renting. Honestly if you really have been teting to sell for 2 years I would be doing everything I could to complete.

[Ypsilanti]

Ugh, sorry; most of all and write it off..

[Ypsilanti]

@Whathewhatnow Will your buyers not wait for you? I am a bottom of chain buyer (my mortgage provider did an online valuation so some do) held up by my own survey (for my peace of mind, but it’s not essential) but also because my vendors haven’t found somewhere to buy. I am not going to pull out because I like the house, have already spent money, and most of us these are exceptional circumstances. Your buyers are not going to find another property easily, so don’t right it off just yet. Sending you good wishes.

[maneandfeathers]

@whatthewhatnow thankyou.
We are unable to complete the sale as we wouldn’t have anywhere to go, we have two huge dogs and two cats so rental is too difficult and a hotel wouldn’t take us either. Both sets of parents are self isolating and we have small children.

They won’t do a drive by valuation and will only accept a full one. My mortgage advisor has said this is the same for most companies so sadly we will have to wait it out and see what happens

[Whathewhatnow]

For a mortgage they are generally content with a google drive by. Have they told you otherwise?

[Whathewhatnow]

That also has the advantage of banking your equity in a time when things are uncertain.

[Whathewhatnow]

So sorry @Maneandfeathers but... but... hows about concluding your sale and worrying about purchase later? In the meantime an Airbnb or short term let?

[maneandfeathers]

That’s my sale down the toilet

Survey won’t happen. Mortgage can’t complete so that’s the end for us. Gutted as we have struggled so much to sell ours, it’s taken us years

Best get used to it here

[Whathewhatnow]

Youd hope the internet service providers had set their staff up working from home. Utilities likewise ...
And not I think these folks will probably still be in work because they are critical workers.

Removals I'm not so sure about. Logistics folk are classified as critical workers though.

[QueenOfCatan]

No idea, it could be months of waiting. If you do manage to move how do you arrange utilities and Internet? Are call centres going to have many people in? Are the Internet service engineers even still working? We'd be fucked without Internet for months as we both need it to work and study.

[ItsPeanutButterJelly]

Is the expectation if you exchanged and are due to complete in next three weeks then completion will happen?! Presumably removals can't remove, etc. If you haven't exchanged already wonder if it's worth pushing to exchange and complete ASAP or hold fire for (at least) three weeks

[Manth0914]

We are at the searches point of our first house purchase. We do not have a lot of spare money and are currently living with our children in the parents house! Worried is an understatement.

[QueenOfCatan]

We're exchanged on our purchase and have been for weeks, but not on our sale, our buyers solicitor has been dragging their heels for weeks and submitting ridiculous fucking questions and 'issues' (wanting indemnity insurance for something relating to the house being built in 1925, the proof of guarantee on the windows that have been there 17 years numerous owners ago and the builders paperwork for the loft conversion that didn't happen with the previous owner FFS) and now the last queries they had were answered this afternoon and we were due to arrange completion for next week and we're in Lockdown. Most of our things are in a storage locker 50 miles away in our new area where we've been doing gradual trips expecting to have completed by last Friday at the latest. so we have a suitcase, a few toys and our computers. Luckily we hadn't moved the fridge or our crockery yet

Not even thinking of the rest of it though.

[squiglet111]

We exchanged mid/late Feb and are due to complete 31st march. No going back but worried if we will be able to drive around london (Moving from South London to Buckinghamshire) worried if we can still hire the van we have booked and worried about being able to take things to the tip! Oh and if we will be able to get new furniture delivered!

[maneandfeathers]

My surveys are meant to be going ahead Wednesday.
I presume this won’t be happening now

I also very much doubt viewings are allowed or encouraged!

It’s a shame I can’t go ahead with the mortgage without the survey/valuation as I don’t require it but the mortgage company won’t proceed without it.

[Rhapsodyinpurple]

We're nearing exchange and I'm high risk and have to stay at home for 12 weeks.
I'm hoping everything still goes ahead. We're moving into rental and need to purchase ASAP too.

[romatheroamer]

Presumably the latest restrictions just announced mean that you can't do /have viewings.

[Ypsilanti]

Well my survey is now postponed indefinitely. Not surprised, and people’s lives are more important than my house purchase, but it’s frustrating all the same. It could easily be months before it happens, and in the meantime I’m stuck in an expensive rental. But it’s trivial in the scale of things.

[tangledhair]

Nearly at exchange on purchase but am self isolating so keep asking myself how can I move. Much as I love the house I think I may need to hold off or pull out if that isn't acceptable as I could end up in a tricky mess especially if I don't stay well.
There are solicitor and bank visits to factor in as well, may just have to pay the legal fees and anchor down to protect myself best I can. So torn with the decision and also concerned about the housing market. I don't know.

[Whathewhatnow]

I am shitting myself. I've split from.my partner, selling our current place, and we are buying 2 new houses as a result.
So much potential for the chain to go wrong.
I've spent loads already. At least £1.5k getting the current house market-ready, and £2k on fees, surveys and searches for the new house.
It took so much work to prepare my poor kids for the impending move, I cant bear the thought of it not happening... :(

Good luck to all who are in this position.

[BeijingBikini]

propertyindustryeye.com/eye-newsflash-rightmove-announces-75-cut-in-rates-for-agents-and-says-sorry/

This is also a sign

[BeijingBikini]

I think we're going to pull out of our purchase. It seems mad right now, and also I'm on 50% salary cut, with company possibly going bust in near future. It seems mad to pay £300k for a 2-bed flat, even more so now that this is going on.

The mortgage payment would have been ~20% of our combined salaries, which was a little more than I'd like but acceptable. If I lost my job, it would be 40% of my husband's salary, 50% with service charge and council tax and bills. That's way too much debt for comfort - I don't know how quickly I'd find another job in my specialism in a recession. I'd be back to spreadsheeting every purchase.

Also, 2 flats we were interested in that Sold STC in the past couple of weeks/months have suddenly gone back on the market 2 days apart. Looks like people are pulling out everywhere. I'm convinced prices will drop with all the people losing jobs and businesses. Equally, the amount of money the government have just printed out could possibly cause inflation.....