How does the Scottish system work?

jennifernil

It's many years since we bought a house here in Scotland, so things have probably changed a little, but our son bought/sold only 4 years ago, and our daughter bought 2 years ago.

The first thing you must do is ascertain how much you can borrow, choose a lender and make sure they will accept you.

Then, if you are both selling and buying, you need to have a plan for either bridging finance, or a place to stay between houses.

We bought as FTBs in 1970, so no problems. In 1975 we arranged a purchase in May for a move in August, but didn't get our sale till late June. We could have bridged if necessary, but in the end the dates came together, though we did store our stuff for 2 weeks to prepare the new place, and stayed with my parents.

Our next place we built, so we were in rented for a year while building.

When our son bought 4 years back, he did not market his house till he had bought the next one, but had the sale agreed within 2 weeks. He did use bridging, but by choice as they wanted a week to do carpets and painting before moving in.

Daughter bought a newbuild. Had checked she would be able to borrow first, and already owned her existing property outright. Deposit came from savings and BTL mortgage raised on existing property. Builders had no problem accepting her as a buyer.

I think it is more common now to sell before you buy than it was 30/40 years back.