Friday
So on a Friday before a Bank Holiday week, I would expect to have many people moving house – the excitement and stress of a busy Friday – but not today. I had no one moving house at all.
And talking to neighbouring firms, that was pretty much the norm.
Then it hits you how scary this is – there are obviously the medical matters – it is never good to be ill – but financial and business matters to consider. Will the business survive this? I am old enough to have worked through the recession of 2007/8 when transactions dried up overnight. I remember when interest rates increased several times over the course of a day back in the late 1980s. I was only an articled clerk then but I remember it had a significant interest on how much money I had to spend once I had paid my mortgage. But this is very different.
Although it seems that many people are keen to move house if they are at the point where they would have moved at the Easter break, there are no new transactions and no new properties coming on the market. Estate agents have tried to be proactive and have virtual viewings and although that may work for new build properties, it does not work in the ‘second hand’ market, where people buy houses on a feeling rather than what it may actually look like. This means that once those who are keen to move have moved, there will be a lag on new work coming through and I imagine there will be a scramble to see who is at the front of the queue to get that work – is it going to be the firms which survive and are able to provide the best service or those who pay the most to the agents?
Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value
The entry is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous.
