Buying a Repossessed Property - Scotland

babzblue

I dont know what the law is, most of what the sollicitor said to us was lawyer jargon and was hoping that someone on here may be able to clear things up. I do not profess to be an expert on the matter, as I mentioned we know very little about the process but have tried to read up about it as much as possible. I am considering visiting the Citizens Advice Bureau on Monday to see if they can help but as its the weekend I thought i'd try my luck on here first.

babzblue

Thanks BuntyB. Our solicitor has asked already about them helping with the costs and they responded with a definite no which we were prepared for. He has also advised them of the fact that our loan papers are already to hand. How would we go about having the contracts concluded and would this be something you would reccomend? Would this mean that the sellers were not able to back out of the sale? We very much appreciate your response.

googler

babzblue wrote: »

I dont know what the law is, most of what the sollicitor said to us was lawyer jargon and was hoping that someone on here may be able to clear things up. I do not profess to be an expert on the matter, as I mentioned we know very little about the process but have tried to read up about it as much as possible. I am considering visiting the Citizens Advice Bureau on Monday to see if they can help but as its the weekend I thought i'd try my luck on here first.

If you don't understand what the sol says to you, you ask for it to be repeated to you in layman's terms, or terms that you can understand. The solicitor is employed to serve your best interests; and employed to serve you, the client. you're paying them, so you're in charge.

ask them again. Don't worry about feeling foolish. You're not buying tin of beans or an iPod.....

babzblue

googler wrote: »

If you don't understand what the sol says to you, you ask for it to be repeated to you in layman's terms, or terms that you can understand. The solicitor is employed to serve your best interests; and employed to serve you, the client. you're paying them, so you're in charge.

ask them again. Don't worry about feeling foolish. You're not buying tin of beans or an iPod.....

I'm not worried about being foolish. The lawyer however is a bit of a twit and I would rather have a second opinion than have him charge me for a drawn out conversation in which he patronises me. He has also been very difficult for us to get a hold of. I created the thread because it is a Saturday and I would like to know more about the situation with hope of getting some sleep tonight. I am fully aware of the seriousness of buying our first property.

BuntyB

Only your solicitor can advise you when to conclude the contract as there may be other matters still to be dealt with. Ask your solicitor about making it a condition of the contract that the existing title problem is sorted prior to date of entry. As Googler has mentioned, ask your solicitor to explain the position to you in simple terms. But the additional costs should not run into thousands of pounds

babzblue

Sollicitor said that he has seen these cases cost £2500, and that is just up to the point where the boundaries are sorted, and that costs could rise above this even further. Would you say he is just trying to get lots of money out of us? Money is tight and we are terrified of being ripped off.

BuntyB

I would not pay thousands of pounds for that type of title problem. U mentioned earlier that the estate agent and broker were aware of the problem, when u viewed. How did they know. Is it because there has been a previous offer from a buyer who has then walked away because of title problem? If that is the case, then I would getting my solicitor to negotiate with seller re additional costs for sorting the title, as it would only suggest that this matter will arise again, should u decide to pull out, but again talk to your solicitor.

babzblue

I'm scared that we arent really in a position to negotiate anything. I dont think they would have a problem finding a buyer who is prepared to pay the legal fees themselves. To let you understand, the property is under £50,000. Even with £2,500 legal fees it would be a very good deal. There is some work needing done which we have also factored in. We really do not feel we can afford to miss out on this property.

iancarbarns

Did you get your house? What was the eventual cost? Or at least let us have a progress report ?

bris

dotchas wrote: »

In Scotland an EA will not (or should not)accept an offer once yours has been accepted. Even for a repossession. This is different to England and Wales.

That depend's, have the missives been concluded? I would doubt it, the solicitor wouldn't conclude the missives until the problems are sorted. Until the missives are concluded either party can pull out and gazumping is still an issue. We don't buy houses on a handshake up here you know.