Were you viewing properties up until 16/03? Are you actively still looking from 17/03?

tommyedinburgh

We are in a house with decent equity, however it is not our forever home, we planned to move in 2022.
However, there is a particular street with only 14 houses on it in a lovely part of town that my wife has connections to, it has always been her wish to move there but houses just don't come up for sale there...until Friday last week.
We viewed the property on Saturday and I actually left with a lump in my throat (sounds dramatic) because of the reaction of my wife holding back tears.
We then visited our mortgage adviser at short notice on Monday morning and got a DIP for the amount we need.
Our property will be on the market by the end of the week, so my question is, were you viewing properties up until the PM;'s announcement yesterday re the next steps in combating COVID-19, and if so are you continuing to view with a purchase in mind or are you stepping back?  

panik27

I had an offer accepted on the 14th March. I'm still going through with the purchase I think - property is right for me now and in the long-term
Sounds like a no-brainer for you, if inventory on that street rarely comes up and you're planning to stay long term - I'd chew their arm off. 
I'm currently trying to get everything which needs physical presence done ASAP before any curfews or what not
I don't think there'll be a property crash (in my unqualified opinion) - my parents made a lot of money during the 2008 recession anyway. If it's in a decent location that'll always be immune to long-term drops in prices, guessing London/South East recovered quicker than other regions in england back than since there's always so much demand here 

wjr4

I'm selling and buying at the same time at the moment - this will continue. 

tommyedinburgh

wjr4 said:

I'm selling and buying at the same time at the moment - this will continue. 

As you are an independent IFA, I take a lot of comfort in you reply, thank you for contributing.

[Deleted User]

I was buying a BTL - but BTL short term with a view to selling to my son in 5 years time - we are greater London so had hoped for price increases 
He is only 20 and dont need to move out just yet 
My mind is 99% we are going to have to pull out - I dont want a £330k house worth £200k next year 

Had I been moving from one house to a forever house- my view may well have been different 

wjr4

tommyedinburgh said:

wjr4 said:

I'm selling and buying at the same time at the moment - this will continue. 

As you are an independent IFA, I take a lot of comfort in you reply, thank you for contributing.

I still need a roof over my head no matter what my job is 

Crashy_Time

Densol said:

I was buying a BTL - but BTL short term with a view to selling to my son in 5 years time - we are greater London so had hoped for price increases 
He is only 20 and dont need to move out just yet 
My mind is 99% we are going to have to pull out - I dont want a £330k house worth £200k next year 

Had I been moving from one house to a forever house- my view may well have been different 

Nobody does, that is why viewings will dry up IMO. The next stage seems likely to be measures to enforce where people can go/gather etc. The economic damage will be massive but if they don`t do it they will have an even bigger mess on their hands.

OldMusicGuy

We put an offer on a new build on 13th March and are proceeding. Mind you, we are in rented as we sold our property last year and we need somewhere to live. Life will continue, the property crash nonsense from the likes of Crashy Time will also continue, because it always does. 

I think it unlikely that property prices will go up much in the next few years, but people (like us) that are planning to stay put for a reasonable amount of time will still need to move. Speculative buying will be less, so there will be deals to be done - we got one. But even so, we made an offer of 470K on a 500K house last week and the vendor refused to sell to us as he thinks he can get close to asking.

The development we are buying from has changed the policy in its sales office to viewings by appointment only so they can cut down on tyre-kickers wandering in off the street.

RelievedSheff

Densol said:

I was buying a BTL - but BTL short term with a view to selling to my son in 5 years time - we are greater London so had hoped for price increases 
He is only 20 and dont need to move out just yet 
My mind is 99% we are going to have to pull out - I dont want a £330k house worth £200k next year 

Had I been moving from one house to a forever house- my view may well have been different 

It is highly unlikely that property anywhere in the UK will drop in value by over 30% in one year.

Ozzuk

I was viewing houses last week and have two viewings on mine this week.  It means more cleaning/disinfecting but doesn't appear to be slowing - we did feel guilty viewing a house with an old person in so kept our distance and minimised touching surfaces.  People just need to use common sense.

Thrugelmir

There's an inevitability about levels of activity decreasing. Unless there's an urgent need to move. We're looking far ahead to moving to a new location. The spring bounce has rapidly fizzled away. With new listings in the area down to a dribble.