Buying a house in Scotland - tips please!

ct2008

Hi, my son is looking to buy a first home but has moved to Scotland for work. I have no experience of buying in Scotland but from what I read the system is quite different to England. He does have a Help to buy ISA and the house is ex council of standard construction.

Any advice from anyone with experience of buying in Scotland would be appreciated! Thanks in advance

davidmcn

What in particular does he want advice on?

Has he read the Home Report? Does he have a solicitor? Does he have a mortgage sorted?

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

I haven't bought in Scotland myself but have had plenty of Scottish clients who did so.

Compared to buying in England, the main differences are -
- your son will know far more about the property before putting in an offer (sellers are required to provide a Home Report which contains a survey, energy efficiency report, detailed property questionnaire completed by the seller)
- the sale becomes contractually binding at a far earlier stage than in England, hence gazumping/gazundering is very unlikely and withdrawing from the sale by the buyer/seller is likely to prove difficult.
- no leasehold in Scotland

Especially for an FTB, imho the buying process in Scotland is likely to be less stressful and expensive than it potentially could be in England.

ct2008 wrote: »

Hi, my son is looking to buy a first home but has moved to Scotland for work. I have no experience of buying in Scotland but from what I read the system is quite different to England. He does have a Help to buy ISA and the house is ex council of standard construction.

Any advice from anyone with experience of buying in Scotland would be appreciated! Thanks in advance

scottiescott

Don't take everything in the seller completed questionnaire as gospel.
In my area the most common inaccuracy is declaring that your property in not in a conservation area, when in fact it is. Can have implications regarding home improvements ( replacement windows for example).

oldernonethewiser

The good thing about Home Reports is that they are free to the prospective buyer so he can get one for as many properties as he likes the look of.


When he sees an advert for a house it will often have an "Offers Over" price, this is most common in Scotland. He can basically ignore that price as it will have little relation to what the seller actually wants. The Home Report will contain a valuation and this is the figure he should base his offer on.



He can put in an offer with a closing date for acceptance but the seller is under no obligation to accept and depending on interest they may well choose a closing date of their own where all interested parties submit their bids. After that it is a waiting game until your solicitor phones to say that the offer has been accepted, or rejected.

Owain_Moneysaver

He needs a local Scottish solicitor who will probably offer a fixed price for conveyancing, and "note interest". He can do this even before viewing.

Unsuccessful offers are charged for by the solicitor, but not the full conveyancing fee.

The process can be a lot quicker than in England - 6 weeks from viewing to date of entry is routine. My solicitor can do a routine conveyance with all searches in 3 weeks.

ct2008

Thank you everyone for all this information, exactly the sorts of information I was hoping for.

Does anyone have a rough idea of solicitor’s charges for a putting the offer to the seller/agent and b the whole conveyancing process, please?

Thanks again all.

googler

scottiescott wrote: »

In my area the most common inaccuracy is declaring that your property in not in a conservation area, when in fact it is.

Conservation areas are a matter of public record, and the buyer can easily look them up on council websites.

googler

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Unsuccessful offers are charged for by the solicitor, but not the full conveyancing fee.

Many solicitors make a selling point of not charging for individual unsuccessful offers.

googler

He should hire his solicitor before going viewing, in case a quick offer or note of interest is required. Then it will simply be a phone call or e-mail to the solicitor to instruct the offer.

There are money-laundering ID requirements to go through before solicitors take you on as a client.

Here's a guide to the system drafted by Edinburgh solicitor group;

https://espc.com/useful-info/first-time-buyers-guide

Where is he thinking of buying? He should hire a solicitor active in that area, not a remote one. They will be better placed to advise on offer pricing, etc.

davidmcn

ct2008 wrote: »

Does anyone have a rough idea of solicitor’s charges for a putting the offer to the seller/agent and b the whole conveyancing process, please?

Generally it will be a fixed fee for the whole thing, and can include a reasonable amount of time on unsuccessful offers. Probably starting at about £500 + VAT for the legal fees at the cheap and cheerful end of the market, plus Land Register fees (can be worked out here depending on value, plus £60 for the mortgage), and any LBTT (calculator here, though I am guessing he'll be within the limit for FTB relief). Plus bank transfer fees and whatever fees are associated with his mortgage.