Hopefully not for much longer, but for the sake of argument here is what you can do if lockdown continues beyond next month or if any restrictions that remain in place prevent an immediate return to business as usual.
If you don’t have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that is less than 10 years old, or unless your home is exempt, you will need to wait until inspections are allowed again before you can put your property on the market.
If you do have a valid EPC, the next step would be to arrange a virtual valuation where you take us on a video tour of your home via your smartphone. We can then advise on price and give suggestions on presentation. Marketing your property in this way is not ideal because your sale will be founded on neither the estate agent nor buyer having visited. This could leave a number of open questions around room measurements, descriptions, light levels and even maintenance issues. It’s not an impossible situation, but we’d only recommend it if your situation is urgent.
For as long as restrictions remain around photographers visiting homes, you’ll need to take the photos of your property. While buyers will make some allowances for non-professional photography, the pictures do nonetheless need to be good enough to attract enquiries. Essentially, rooms need to be tidy, the camera needs to be held vertically, and all interior lights should be turned on. We can give you further guidance.
We can arrange virtual viewings by group calls using various apps like Whatsapp, Zoom and Skype. Some sales are being agreed through virtual viewings, although generally subject to a physical viewing taking place before exchange of contracts. That does introduce an unusual variable, but buyers who are already familiar with the location of your property might be happy to commit.
Conveyancers are still working during lockdown and some lenders are willing to issue mortgage offers on some types of property without a visit from a valuer. That means your sale could advance quite significantly through an extended lockdown period.
