Missing Exchange of Contracts deadline

homeless9

lisyloo said:

I don’t think you are going to see a recovery in a few weeks. Europe, us etc. Haven’t peaked yet so things will be getting worse over the next few weeks. I don’t think you’re going to be able to get any reassurance by waiting a short time.

its generally an extremely bad idea to exchange and complete on the same day but even more so now (as key players could be off il). If the hold up is at your end you could be liable for the extra removal costs and living costs of everyone in the chain if they need temp accommodation as they’ve moved out.
there are simply too many things that could go wrong and especially now when (for example) one of the solicitors might be ill on the day.

Why is my conveyancer saying we are going to exchange and complete on the same day. Ahhhh, this gets confusing by the day. Got the worry about the world economy and house prices crashing then got things like this within the process of buying confusing me.

Maybe best to just delay until everything clears.

To add, there is no chain. It's just me buying a new build. I have nothing to sell.

MovingForwards

@homeless9 plenty of people exchange / complete on the same day, it's not a bad thing especially in the current climate. 

It gives you security that once it's done, you are home and dry, only needing to move in.

lisyloo

To clarify if you are buying a new home and it’s only one in a chain then it’s much less of an issue.
if there are multiple people sat in vans waiting for money to go through then it’s a much bigger issue.

lisyloo

My own personal advice (from experience) is that you could go and check the property in person before completion if you can do so within current rules.
i bought a new build at end of financial year.
it was not ready (queue of vans outside, stench of pain, heating 27c due to being cross wired with water thermostat) but they didn’t tell us as it was imperative for them that they got money before year end even though it wasn’t actually habitable.
Obviously you may be hamstrung by the rules and I’m not suggesting you break them unless it’s on your daily exercise route.

homeless9

lisyloo said:

My own personal advice (from experience) is that you could go and check the property in person before completion if you can do so within current rules.
i bought a new build at end of financial year.
it was not ready (queue of vans outside, stench of pain, heating 27c due to being cross wired with water thermostat) but they didn’t tell us as it was imperative for them that they got money before year end even though it wasn’t actually habitable.
Obviously you may be hamstrung by the rules and I’m not suggesting you break them unless it’s on your daily exercise route.

I did view the house of course and generally it seemed fine, but yes, they cancelled the snagging a week ago due to the virus, but are happy to write something into the contract to get any snags fixed (I assume quickly).

It's best I just advise them and trust them to get someone to go and check everything works before I move in. Maybe it's best I try to complete and move in around mid April, snag it on first day, anything important - get them to send someone over to fix right away.

Worst comes to the worst and the heating breaks down or doesn't work and they can't  send anyone over - then I'll find somewhere else to stay.

Slinky

What the heck is a 'stench of pain'?

lisyloo

Slinky said:

What the heck is a 'stench of pain'?

stench of paint i.e. it was being painted on completion day

It was the high temperature that made it uninhabitable though. Fortunately we were doing part-ex and our old place did not have new buyers in, so we signed a contract to allow us to carry on living in our old place.

In hindsight if wed gone and looked we would have seen a queue of vans outside and would have stopped the payment or at least negoatiated something before we paid.

homeless9

Now I am thinking that as this pandemic escalates my company could be shutdown either by themselves or by the government as more draconian rules may come into place. Then I worry this drags on for many months, maybe a year or more until a vaccine comes. This would decimate the economy and decimate the company I work for. Then where am I at, in a pit of negative equity with no job.

This is obviously a negative outlook, but it is quite possible. Other countries have taken harsher measures than the UK currently has and things are only getting worse right now.

I think I may offer 2 options to the seller:

1st option: Lower the price of the property by £10,000 and I'll buy it ASAP. I'll get on with the sale and buy as quick as I possibly can. This way I have a decent amount of cash to fall back on if things really do turn bad for me.

2nd option: Request that the purchase is delayed until a time where things look like they are recovering and pay the price we had already agreed if and when things become clearer and look more positive.

lisyloo

It’s a negative outlook.
my company is talking both about plans for working remotely and for getting people back within the month.
we are expecting a peak in a few weeks.
other countries have had draconian measures because they can because they are communist states. We are a democracy and there is some fear of dissent hence we are asking people to play nice.
an antibody test could well come in which would allow people with immunity to return.
positive? Yes for some balance but make no mistake that the finest minds will be working on how to get the economy back. 
I don’t see a reason to think things would get worse after we’ve seen a peak.

you could try 1. Normally it’s a strategy that has risk as they could drop you but at the moment that’s unlikely.
have you checked they are on schedule? Some places are behind due to construction workers not going ahead.
personally I think you’ll have less success with 2, cash flow is critical to their business, you are more likely to get a good offer rather than a delay IMO

staffie1

I don’t think the lockdown will last much longer.
A lockdown won’t make the virus go away, regardless of its duration or severity. It’s inevitable that we will all get it sooner or later. The purpose of the lockdown is to enable the hospitals to reach a capacity to deal with the peak of cases when we’re all let out again.
Until there is a vaccine, the best any country can do is to manage the cases, and save as many lives as possible. Locking down further or for longer WILL remove the economy, however. Then, this whole website and all it’s discussions can be deleted.