If you are looking at purchasing property and are feeling a bit demoralised because we’re in lockdown and you’re wondering what can you do under lockdown conditions, I’d like to share a couple of things just to give you some hope.
The feedback we’re getting from real estate agents right now, is that they have done lots and lots of listings and there are lots of enquiries for listings and that there will be lots of listings coming shortly, so that’s some good news for you.
Secondly, if you do see a property that you like the look of and you would like to put an offer in, you can certainly do that during lockdown. Our lawyers are still up and running, we can do the searches and the checks on the contract. But what you need to do is make any offers conditional.
For example, when you can’t get in and have a look at a property, you make your offer conditional on you having seen the property and being happy with it and also put some due diligence clauses in there. That way, you can do the checks that you need to, to make sure the house is right for you. So think about including in your conditions, a builders report, the LIM, checking the wiring, age of the house, any other issues, the district plan, insurance, finance etc.
So, if you’ve found a property that ticks all the boxes on your wishlist and it’s a house that you under normal circumstances be out there, looking at to put an offer in on, you can still go ahead and put an offer in. But you just have to add a few extra clauses in there to protect yourself. And because there’s not a lot happening in the market during lockdown, then you might find that vendors will accept that offer.
So if you are looking and you want to make an offer on a property, just give us a shout and we’ll talk you through the process and let you know what you need to do to protect yourself. We’d like to give you the best chance of getting that property, so don’t give up hope. There’s a house out there for you.