Estate Agent Etiquette (Scotland)

scottishgirl87

Recently viewed a flat that realistically is a little out of our price range and unfortunately I don't think the sellers are at the stage where they're desperate to sell. We really liked it so I was wondering if it was ok etiquette to say to the estate agent that we liked it and if there was any changes in price to give us a call? Or is that not appropriate? As in the title we're in Scotland so not possible to make a verbal offer.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

when you viewed the flat did you suggest a price, to the owner, that you would be happy with, no harm in that.

googler

Ask your solicitor to 'note interest' on your behalf with the selling agent. That should be enough for the selling agent to get in touch if the price changes, but if you want belt and braces, have your sol make extra mention of keeping you both informed of changes.

coco1980

why is it not possible to make a verbal offer, we did and we are in Scotland . Once seller agreed to our verbal offer it was then put in writing. as long as you register an interest in the property you have to be informed when anyone else becomes interested and I think if there is a change in price.

agrinnall

As googler says, if your solicitor 'notes interest' with the sellers agent then they should not sell the property without informing you (although I'm not sure if there's any legal requirement, I suspect it's more of a convention between solicitors). And of course as the property details are almost certainly available online keeping an eye on that should make you aware of a price change.

myhouse_2

No need for EA to inform you even if you have a note of interest in. They generally will though.
No issue at all with asking EA to let you know if the price changes, but you could be more proactive and start talking about what price you might consider or even put in an offer- you never know, it's worked for me.

scottishgirl87

Thank you all. I have the property saved on RightMove which I check every day so I should definitely be able to pick up on it if it does change price.

coco1980 wrote: »

why is it not possible to make a verbal offer, we did and we are in Scotland . Once seller agreed to our verbal offer it was then put in writing. as long as you register an interest in the property you have to be informed when anyone else becomes interested and I think if there is a change in price.

See, this is where I'm a little confused, as we're FTBers we haven't been through the process. I have contacted a couple of solicitors for quotes and have the one in mind should we like to proceed with a property but what happens if you make an offer(s) which is rejected and thus don't end up proceeding with a sale on that actual property? Do the solicitors just bill you for their time? All who I have contacted so far have provided a standard conveyancing quote.

kloana

[edit - irrelevant - different in Scotland!]

Nan_Dingle

You can still make an offer even if it's on at 'fixed price'. Massive buyers market in Scotland (except Edinburgh and Aberdeen)

coco1980

scottishgirl87 wrote: »

Thank you all. I have the property saved on RightMove which I check every day so I should definitely be able to pick up on it if it does change price.



See, this is where I'm a little confused, as we're FTBers we haven't been through the process. I have contacted a couple of solicitors for quotes and have the one in mind should we like to proceed with a property but what happens if you make an offer(s) which is rejected and thus don't end up proceeding with a sale on that actual property? Do the solicitors just bill you for their time? All who I have contacted so far have provided a standard conveyancing quote.

I think it depends on the lawyer unfortunately, our lawyer was recommended by mortgage advisor but we also knew someone who had used them before and knew they were good, we have been really lucky though that our lawyer is a fixed fee so it wouldn't matter how many offers we made on how many properties the price would be the same

Just to add, we are also ftb and without such a good lawyer I think we would have paid alot more for property than we have so it is definitley worth researching them

scottishgirl87

coco1980 wrote: »

I think it depends on the lawyer unfortunately, our lawyer was recommended by mortgage advisor but we also knew someone who had used them before and knew they were good, we have been really lucky though that our lawyer is a fixed fee so it wouldn't matter how many offers we made on how many properties the price would be the same

Just to add, we are also ftb and without such a good lawyer I think we would have paid alot more for property than we have so it is definitley worth researching them

Thanks, coco, I thought this may be the case so I may go back to our "preferred" solicitor and ask what their policy is. When you say fixed fee though and making as many offers - I assume that you only then pay the solicitor when you have an offer accepted?