Often one of you is still living in the house while the other is paying for somewhere else. That arrangement tends to get less comfortable the longer it runs. We buy with the property occupied, and nobody has to leave before completion.
If there is a mortgage it is usually in both names, and it stays that way until the house is sold or one of you is released from it, which is the lender’s decision rather than either of yours. If there is already a court order about the property, that governs what can happen and when. We are buyers, not solicitors, so those parts belong with yours — and if you do not have one, Citizens Advice covers the property and money side of separating at no cost.
What we can and cannot do here
We can give either of you a figure. One person can ask, without the other being told, without anybody signing anything, and without it counting as a decision. Nothing said on that call binds either of you.
What we cannot do is take a side, or move anything forward while the two of you have not agreed. If one of you wants to sell and the other does not, that is not something a buyer can solve, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something. Our part starts once you have both said yes.
Beyond that it is an ordinary purchase. There is nothing to pay us, nobody comes to view the house, and there is no chain above us to fall through. Condition is not a factor either — furnished, half-emptied, tenanted or mid-renovation, we buy houses across the ten boroughs as they stand. The completion date is yours to pick between you, and if the financial side is unfinished, the date can wait for it.
