do scottish sellers expect 10-15% over asking price ?

newbiemum05

I have been informed by a friend who has already bought that buyers in scotland price their homes in such a way as to attract interest but actually expect 10-15% more than this ammount to agree a sale ??


Is this true ?

Please help as this makes a huge difference to our property search !

caelshorn

I'm afraid you're in for a shock.

PRO: In Scotland, there is no (or very little) gazumping

CON: most prices are "offers over".
This lets the estate agent put the price as low as they want, to attract buyers, but people already living in the area will know what the property is really worth. In any of the big cities, although the market has slowed a little, most sellers still expect at least 20% to be offered over (there are more "fixed price" properties showing up, but majority is still o/o.

Also bear in mind that if someone wishes to be sticky, a verbal agreement can be held as legally binding, so don't go in and say "ooh this is lovely, I'm definitely going to buy it". I haven't heard of it happening to anyone, but that doesn't mean it can't.

Check rightmove.co.uk for the price of flats in the postcode which you are considering - they are listed three months after the sale, but the service is free and gives you an idea.

If you need detailed help for central Scotland, pm me, I know a bit of it fairly well.

Good luck!

philproc

This is quite a regional variation.
Just purchased a 2 bed flat at about 6% over asking price.
A friends daughter missed out on a flat in Glasgow merchant city after offering over 20% over.

Thats another trick in Scotland. Closing dates are put on properties that attract a lot of interest. Sealed bids opened by the solicitor, usually goes to highest bidder.

Missed out on property this way before, I don't like the idea of paying over the odds.

I have also fallen out with vendors when they tell you they are looking for way more than the asking price.

Just to let you know I am from England and knew nothing about the Scottish system until I moved here 10 years ago.

TheShadow_2

I work for a house builder and to some extent i am involved in the selling prices of some of our properties i also do ALOT of market research on a daily basis in regards to house prices.(allows us to bid on land which is also sold in a closed auction)

House prices in Scotland do generally go on sale as offers over as said about but the amount the offers will go over will depend on what region and how exclusive the properties are.

Sometimes properties are put on the marker at a silly low price to get interest this is a common tactic in some areas.


If you want to work out how much you should bid a good way of doing this is work out the square meterage or square footage of all similar properties that have been sold in that area they don’t have to be identical. Use the schedule for this include all inhabitable space but don’t include stairs (exclude garage but take a bit off for this if the property you are looking at doesn’t have one). Take the square footage of your researched property and divide it by there selling price this will give you the price per square foot/square meter. You then work out the square footage of the property you want to buy and fit in the average price per square meter X the amount of square meters. This will tell you what they are after you can then bid slightly more or less depending on how many other interested parties you think there are.

Good luck.

(Sorry about the bad English I had to type in a rush)

And for above yes a verbal agreement is legally binding in Scotland but when it comes to property the offer + acceptance must in writing this is known as the missive.

vandanfc

Hi

It is indeed very true !! It came a quite a shock when we were looking to buy up here about 18 months ago. Depending on what you want to buy and were it is can vary the "premium" on top of the offers over price by as much as 30 - 40 %. We found that the estate agents were willing to guide us in what they expected the "premium" to be. Prices are still rising in some parts and are now becoming more in line with the south of the UK.

http://www.ourproperty.co.uk is quite up to date with sale prices. These are the actual selling price not the o/o price.

Depending on were you are looking a number of websites can help you see what is currently available. https://www.rightmove.co.uk , http://www.gspc.co.uk/ - this covers glasgow and surrounding counties. http://www.espc.com - covers edinburgh and surrounding counties.

Don't be too scared though, once you get the hang of it it's okay. Also usually unlikely to be gazzumped, although it can still happen until missives are complete.

Have a look her for an explanation of how it all works - http://www.hastingslegal.co.uk/Legal%20Services/buying.html

http://freespace.virgin.net/nicola.taylor/property.htm

Hope this helps.

vanda