0/T Anyone have a house for sale

Whitstabletangerine

Whitstabletangerine

Well-known member
I was wondering if any of you had a house up for sale and were now very anxious about strangers coming to look around in this present situation we find ourselves in.

I have an elderly neighbour who has a property to sell and I advised her not to proceed any further, not just because of visitors that she feared might come with a virus but the whole episode of moving particularly to another part of the country and the upheaval at her age could put a huge toll on her health at this critical time.
However she want to go ahead because she fears if she delays the price of her property will fall sharply, this I fear has been drummed into her by her selling agent, possibly could be true, but as I pointed out to her, her health is the most important thing.
She has lived several hundred miles apart from her two sons and their families for more than ten years when she chose to come and live in this neck of the woods, waiting a couple of years for this to die down would be a better option in my humble opinion.
 
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We moved last year and before selling we had several intended buyers who were clearly being nosy & had no intention of buying and this was despite us making it clear that we wanted this to be avoided. If the lady is determined to sell at this time, I would suggest that she asks the Estate Agent (EA) what measures they have in place with regards to managing viewings and V19. She should tell them that if they don't have satisfactory safeguards in place, she will take the property out of their hands (subject to the contract she will have signed).
 
Just had my youngest Grandson on the phone.
He works for an Estate Agent, I asked if he was still working, he said, 'Yes, but I haven't sold a house for 2 weeks'.
 
Davepick said:
Just had my youngest Grandson on the phone.
He works for an Estate Agent, I asked if he was still working, he said, 'Yes, but I haven't sold a house for 2 weeks'.
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We are a bit in limbo at the moment. We have exchanged contracts on our house purchase and sale and are due to move on March 31. Although with things escalating almost daily I would be surprised if we can still do it by the time the move date comes along. It's not like we can move our stuff ourselves either as we're a family of five, including three young boys. So we need removal people. We're trying to get clarity from solicitors, estate agents and the removal guys but are basically being told 'we don't know'. Is there anyone on here in the estate agency business and able to provide any guidance? It would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.
 
archie said:
We are a bit in limbo at the moment. We have exchanged contracts on our house purchase and sale and are due to move on March 31. Although with things escalating almost daily I would be surprised if we can still do it by the time the move date comes along. It's not like we can move our stuff ourselves either as we're a family of five, including three young boys. So we need removal people. We're trying to get clarity from solicitors, estate agents and the removal guys but are basically being told 'we don't know'. Is there anyone on here in the estate agency business and able to provide any guidance? It would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.
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It may be more complicated if there was a chain of people involved, several families all in the same boat and the solicitors never having had to handle a situation as the one you find yourself in seeking a solution.
It may be that all parties involved may have to come to a temporary agreement over an extended contract, which becomes extended until we are over this nightmare.
 
I can’t believe many people are looking to buy at the present time, and it’s never a good idea for a property to sit on the market for a long time. In 12 months memories of C19 will have faded (hopefully anyway!) and all people will think is “this property has been on the market for a year and not sold. Must be something wrong with it”. If it was me I’d take it off the market and revisit it again in 3 or 6 months.

As for the people who have already exchanged, a negotiated extension would be the most sensible approach, otherwise everyone in the chain will be serving completion notices on each other and threatening to forfeit deposits. It’s difficult to advise on the legal position as that will depend on what’s in the contract, but I’d expect there to be some sort of force majeure provision which could protect you. Although they probably will be similar there’s also no guarantee each contract in the chain will have used the standard conditions, which might cause a problem.
Speak to your lawyers rather than the estate agents, who frankly won’t have a scooby and will probably be more concerned about their commission.
 
In my job all our property acquisitions are being marked down between 20% to 35% and tend to be accepted. If you can sell, do it quick and avoid a chain.
 
I agree with what Mex says.
Sit it out you would be crazy to want to go through the upheavel of moving at the present time.
 
archie said:
We are a bit in limbo at the moment. We have exchanged contracts on our house purchase and sale and are due to move on March 31. Although with things escalating almost daily I would be surprised if we can still do it by the time the move date comes along. It's not like we can move our stuff ourselves either as we're a family of five, including three young boys. So we need removal people. We're trying to get clarity from solicitors, estate agents and the removal guys but are basically being told 'we don't know'. Is there anyone on here in the estate agency business and able to provide any guidance? It would be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.
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As far as I am aware completions will go ahead if obliged to do so/Contracts exchanged. A variation to contract could be agreed if all parties agree to complete later
 
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