Buying in Scotland - Offers above????

advent1122

I have just began to research our eventual move to Scotland from Wales.
Most of the houses I have looked at have been advertised as 'offers above', obviously I am only going to offer what I feel a house is worth but what is the average price above the advertised amount.
E.G. The house is on at offers above £100,000.
This system seems flawed because if I put in an offer and the closing date is not for a month then I cannot view other houses during this timeframe in case my offer is accepted.
I also understand that an offer is legally binding. Is that correct?

stacey21_2

I think the average on 'offers over' ranges from 15-25% depending on the house and/or area.

arkaussiecat

Good luck with the house hunting!
Average price varies from area to area, i know here, south west scotland it averages 10-20% over, might be worth checking with local estate agents for the area you are looking at.
Closing dates are usually within a week or so, nothing to stop you viewing but i wouldn't put in any other offers.
As i said good luck!

jennifernil

Yes offers are legally binding and should only be made once you have a mortgage agreed in principal and a survey done, otherwise you should offer subject to satisfactory survey. All offers should be made through your solicitor. He will make it with an expiry time, e.g. 48 hours, if it is not accepted by then then it is void.
You can also "note an interest" through your solicitor and you will then be told if it goes to a closing date.Closing dates are generally set no more than 14 days ahead, often much less.
Offers over premium varies but will be anything from 10% to 50%, mainly about 25%. Your solicitor will advise you what to offer, so choose one who knows the area in which you wish to buy.
Things can move very quickly up here. You can view one day, survey the next and have agreed a price by that evening if necessary. And the moving date will be agreed to suit both parties, generally 2 or 3 months ahead. But you may find a seller who has already bought another property (quite common here) so wants an earlier date. In this case it could be possible to negotiate a lower price if you can move quickly.
Be aware that the amount you can borrow depends on the survey price, which may be the same as the o/o price, or a bit more, but usually less than the actual price you end up paying. So if it is o/o £100000, and the survey says £115000, if you need to borrow a high percentage you need to be very careful, as the purchase price could end up at £150000. So do the maths, set your sights sensibly, and good luck!
Just ask if you need to know more. Where are you moving to?

arnie&caseysma!

If you submit an offer then you will generally hear very quickly if the offer has been accepted or declined. If a closing date is set then have a solicitor submit an offer for you so that it is running through the fax machine 10 minutes before the deadline, that way you will not be tied down to only one house until you have made the decision that you want to offer on a house.

Any offer made (written or verbal) in Scotland is supposed to be legally binding, as is the acceptance etc. This is not always the case though until the missives have been signed - I am meant to move next Friday and everyone is still free to walk as no missives have been signed. The good part of it is that there is NO gazumping so you will not find out the sellers have pulled out of the deal on the morning you are to get the keys!

Sometimes houses are advertised at Fixed Prices but generally in Scotland it is 'offers over'. Always get at least a Valuation done prior to submitting your offer to ensure that the bank/building society will give a mortgage for what you offer and you don't have to try and find extra cash due to the LTV problems.

advent1122

I will be in the lucky postition to pay cash and will have £130,000 to play with.
We are thinking of moving somewhere rural, even the Western Isles or Orkney.
The house prices seem very good, but I suppose that is because it blows a gale, is in the middle of nowhere and nobody wants to live there.
The plan is to sell our house and rent until we find somewhere we both love.

jennifernil

Apparently Orkney is one of the best places in Scotland to live due to the low crime rate and the laid back lifestyle. However I didn't think it was particularly cheap for houses. We were there in June and happened to check out the ads in the estate agents' windows. I suppose if you are coming from a very high price area it would seem more reasonable.
It's a really nice place and there is a decent selection of shops in Kirkwall, prices not bad at all. I think the Western Isles have a higher cost of living as goods cost more to transport, certainly the ferries cost more than to Orkney.
Orkney is not as remote as you might think, good ferries and air connections.
It sure is windy though as it is mostly quite flat. I asked a local "Is it always this windy here?" "Oh no," he replied, "sometimes it's much worse!"

dccarm

A written unconditional offer is binding if accepted. However, you can add various stipulations to your offer to allow you the chance to keep looking around (subject to survey, time limit etc).

The percentage over the offers over price depends on the same factors as anywhere else, local conditions, how desperate the seller is etc. We sold at 8% over, and bought at 12% over but we were pretty desperate, so with a bit of patience and more nerve, could probably have got both of those percentages the other way round!

irnbru_2

advent1122 wrote:

Most of the houses I have looked at have been advertised as 'offers above', obviously I am only going to offer what I feel a house is worth but what is the average price above the advertised amount.

Knowing the average isn't going to help because people will bid above it and thus raise it. The OO system ensures a property gets its market value.

It seems you're in the most advantageous position of being able to see what properties are initially advertised at and have the time to see what they sell at.

If I were you, I'd start tracking as many properties are you can to get a feel for the market in your desired areas.

The paid for service from the Register of Scotland will get you the final sale price without waiting for any of the free sites to be updated.

Rimo2021

advent1122 wrote:

I have just began to research our eventual move to Scotland from Wales.
Most of the houses I have looked at have been advertised as 'offers above', obviously I am only going to offer what I feel a house is worth but what is the average price above the advertised amount.
E.G. The house is on at offers above £100,000.
This system seems flawed because if I put in an offer and the closing date is not for a month then I cannot view other houses during this timeframe in case my offer is accepted.
I also understand that an offer is legally binding. Is that correct?

If you don't want to wait for the closing date you can get your solicitor to put in an offer for you in the meantime. This will have a deadline for acceptance eg "Mr.x offers £122,555 for property Y subject to survey. This offer stands until noon tomorrow." If you don't strike a deal you are free to offer for other properties. If your offer is accepted subject to survey your solicitor will get the survey done and you can revise or withdraw your offer at this stage, if you go ahead the 2 solicitors will deal with missives, once this is done the deal is binding.

Lady_maverick1979

I would also recommend engaging a solicitor who is in the area you are looking to buy in, rather than one local to your location at the moment, as they'll have a fair idea of the market and whether asking prices are fair, and what they would expect a property to go for.

We're moving to Aberdeen from the Central Belt (via Inverness) and our solicitor in Aberdeen has proved invaluable in advising us on whether properties are worth what is being asked. More importantly though, he's been fantastic in terms of advising us on what different areas are like, especially useful as neither my husband nor I are familiar with the city and its locales.

L_M.xx