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Buying a house in Scotland - tips please!

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  • Cocorita
    Cocorita Posts: 29 Forumite
    Third Anniversary
    My 2 cents:

    * Stay away from solicitors that will charge per offer. Usually solicitors will be well under the £1000 mark (including conveyancing).
    * Home reports are !!!!!. They don't warrantee anything they say. A co-worker bought a house with a glowing Home report, but the day he moved in, when tryng to open a window, the windows just dissintegrated. It was roten and thye HR company got away with it. The Home report system idea is great, but in practise is only a way to squeeze money from sellers.
    * The rule of thumb at this moment in the market, is to offer between 5 and 10% over "offer over" price. Usually an 8% is ok, but all depends on the property and interest it generates.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Cocorita wrote: »
    * The rule of thumb at this moment in the market, is to offer between 5 and 10% over "offer over" price. Usually an 8% is ok, but all depends on the property and interest it generates.
    There are many different markets, I wouldn't assume that what applies for the more popular areas or types of property makes sense elsewhere. Solicitor should be able to give more specific advice.
  • MovingForwards
    MovingForwards Posts: 17,149 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Seventh Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    Conveyancing costs vary firm to firm and also how much he is spending.

    Properties under the property tax I've been quoted £1115 - £1350 all in.

    Homebuyers reports are a guide and give you a heads up as to whether to disregard the property based on the contents, or view the property. Its then down to the buyer to check everything when viewing or instruct various trades people and their own surveyor.

    When viewing open and close all doors and windows, check kitchen cupboards and move produce out the way, turn on all lights, switch on the heating, turn on / off taps, walk over as much of the floor as possible to see if anything squeaks or bounces.

    The home buyers reports are free, so nothing stopping your son from grabbing several for the same type of property and seeing if there are any common things that pop up.

    I've gone through about 50, ruled some out within a few minutes, others after considering the whole report.
    Mortgage started 2020, aiming to clear 31/12/2029.
  • happyc84
    happyc84 Posts: 331 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    The price to pay depends on the area. I would advise to set a budget and try to stick to it. also from my experience don't expect to get the 1st property you bid for. Can take up to 10 bids in a popular area like Edinburgh or Glasgow,


    What area does the Son wish to buy in?
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