Coronavirus- First time buyer, uncertain on my house process

renfirsttimebuy

Hi all first time buyer here!

In light of the current situation in our country I feel so uncertain of what to do and how to proceed with things…I am sure there are millions of others in this boat too. I am waiting for Government guidelines but I wanted to ask advice on what I should do on here because so many people have helped me in the past…

So my conveyancer is online so most contact is via email or call. Searches status ‘requested’

1.       Yesterday I received mortgage offer deed….the deed needs a witness to sign: how do I get someone to sign now that we are in lockdown? It also wants me to send it via post- I am not even sure if going to post office is considered as absolutely necessary.

 

2.       Today I received the contract to sign, land transfer register to sign: do I sign these and send back? Am not supposed to sign it after I get the results of searches?

I do not want to be in the situation of other buyers where contracts have been exchanged and they cannot move. I think I would rather delay! 

Should I send these documents back to conveyancer or hold on to these to delay?

Once I sign this does it mean I will be ready to exchange? I’m confused.

Please someone get back to these: my thanks beforehand!

Thank you

 Ren

loubel

1. Ask a neighbour? You could sign it on the front doorstep in their view and then step back while they sign it.
Post offices are staying open so you can still send this back.
2. Sign and return them now. The solicitor won't do anything with them until you are ready to proceed and this could save time later.
You won't exchange if you don't have searches yet. Ask your solicitor where they are in the process. But bear in mind that the coronavirus could slow things right down and cause a lot of uncertainties.

Windofchange

There is no rush to get things signed and returned, especially not in this current climate. If you are at the point where the searches are still pending, it could be anything from a week to a couple of months depending on your council before they come back. Whether or not departments are still operating and carrying out this work fullstop in light of corona is highly debatable anyway. I was similar a couple of months ago - rushing to get everything signed and sent back, and I'm still sitting here despite the corona situation now escalating. 

As for other things, sign them all and get them back - nothing will be enacted until exchange of contracts anyway, but as per point one above, there really is no huge rush. Signing says you are happy with the terms, but not that you are about to exchange. That will be done once all parties in the chain are happy to proceed, and can be many months down the line from where you are now even in non-exceptional times.