Estate Agent Etiquette (Scotland)

coco1980

scottishgirl87 wrote: »

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?

Yeah we pay the lawyer at the same time we transfer our deposit for the property so not until everything is completed

googler

scottishgirl87 wrote: »

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.

Some firms make a selling point of not charging for unsuccessful offers, some don't make it clear that they don't, and others may well charge for all the work they do, unsuccessful offers and all.

The only way to be sure is to be clear on their terms of engagement, and if these aren't clear, to ask them

scottishgirl87

Asked our "preferred" solicitor and no charge for unsuccessful offers :j Still don't think there's any way in hell they would accept the offer we have in mind but still toying with the idea of making it and seeing what happens - who knows they could get desperate further down the line and come back to us.

Thanks all

myhouse_2

Make the offer. Nothing to lose - as you say, the solicitor doesn't charge until after a sale is agreed. Low offers are always likely to get immediately rejected - it's a few months down the line, when it's still on the market with no interest that your offer might get reconsidered. If you can wait. In my view, if you want to avoid getting ripped off, you must wait as most houses come on at highly optimistic asking prices.