Submitting an offer - Scotland

SixTwo

Looking for some advice submitting an offer on a flat I'm looking to purchase. I'm a first time buyer so a little unsure.

Flat is located in Scotland, advertised as offers over.
Its currently advertised at £15,000 below home report value.
Its a repossession and is being sold by a finance company.

I'm keen to get in quickly as its a good price in a nice village. The estate agent said to submit my offer to them and they will then take that to the seller, however as far as I'm aware in Scotland the formal practice is to submit a note of interest, then get your solicitor to put your offer through.

What would be the better option? I'm worried that if I give my offer direct to the estate agent they could then tell other interested parties what the current bid is.

davidmcn

Best if you discuss with your solicitor in the first instance. Are there any other notes of interest? If you're ready to submit an offer and there are no other parties currently interested then you'd normally just submit your offer.

SixTwo

No other notes of interest that i'm aware of. The flat was only advertised this week however.

sheramber

Any offer to the estate agent is informal and in no way binding.

A formal offer must be made through your solicitor but that will cost you money.

If the estate agents puts it to the seller and they accept then you can follow up with the formal offer, in the hope that the seller keeps their word.

If the seller turns it down then it has not cost you anything.

A note of interest is only applicable if you are interested in buying but not yet ready to put in an offer. It means that if any offers do come in you will be notified and can decide if you will proceed with an offer or not.

If you have decided to buy then you can just proceed with the formal offer without the note of interest.

SixTwo

Thanks for that, looks like an informal offer through the agent might be the way to go initially then.

The agent gave a hint of what they think the seller will accept, which is actually what I was looking to offer, but I’ll take that with a pinch of salt!

stingey

If its a repossession then you can put a verbal offer to the EA who will then contact the firm who is acting for the bank during the reposession. The firm will have an ideal price they want. The longer the property is on the market the more it costs. Ask the EA if there's been any other interest/offers on the property.

If the firm accepts the verbal offer then instruct a solicitor to put a formal offer in.

bris

Don't be fooled by the 15k under report will get you a bargain.


In Scotland the O/O system tends to see property with a low price to generate interest.


The lender also has to get the best possible price for the property so they won't just accept the first offer.


Your offer, if they are prepared to sell for the price offered, may however put it to a closing date. This will give time for others to offer so they meet their legal obligations to get the best price possible for the (defaulted) borrower.