Under what circumstances does a property go to a closing date?

[Deleted User]

Hello,
I am hoping to put in an offer on a house in Scotland and have been told by the estate agent that it is likely to go to a closing date, due to the amount of interest the property has received. Are there specific circumstances in which a house may go to closing date for best offers, and are there benefits of this route? Do you have any advice/ recommendations about how to place an offer under these circumstances vs. the usual way of placing an offer? Thank you!

hazyjo

Thought a closing date was pretty normal for Scotland. What has your solicitor said? They'll guide you. Do you know much about the process generally?

sheramber

When there is a lot of interest in a property a closing date will be set for offers. 
Closing date means all offers must be submitted on a specific date and normally by 12 noon. 
No offers will be considered before then or after.
In Scotland your offer must be submitted by your solicitor to the solicitor dealing with the sale.
The benefit of a closing date  to the seller is that all offers come in at the same time.
Your offer will also include an entry date. That may be ‘ a mutually agreed date’.
Expect offers to be above the home report price if there is a lot of competition for a house.

[Deleted User]

hazyjo said:

Thought a closing date was pretty normal for Scotland. What has your solicitor said? They'll guide you. Do you know much about the process generally?

You're right, it does seem pretty common for properties that are popular, but I think it might change the offer I end up placing. I've only briefly spoken to my solicitor about it but he seems to be encouraging me to err on the side of caution, i.e. don't offer more than 10% over the valuation, as it'd just be throwing money at it. However, if what the estate agent says is true and there is a LOT of interest, I think 10% is a little reserved...difficult to know.

[Deleted User]

sheramber said:

When there is a lot of interest in a property a closing date will be set for offers. 
Closing date means all offers must be submitted on a specific date and normally by 12 noon. 
No offers will be considered before then or after.
In Scotland your offer must be submitted by your solicitor to the solicitor dealing with the sale.
The benefit of a closing date  to the seller is that all offers come in at the same time.
Your offer will also include an entry date. That may be ‘ a mutually agreed date’.
Expect offers to be above the home report price if there is a lot of competition for a house.

This is really helpful, thank you! With regards to the entry date...the sellers will be looking for another house in a new area, but haven't done so yet. I'm a first time buyer and renting on a month-by-month basis just now, so very flexible. Do you think I could use this as to my advantage in extending the date of entry until a few months down the line, and would you advise liaising with the agent before placing an offer to determine when the seller's preferred date of entry for the new buyer would be? Thank you again!

davidmcn

It helps if you make clear you can be flexible with the entry date, might put you at an advantage over others with more definite commitments. 

JJG

Just be aware if you require a mortgage. The lender will only lend up to the valuation of the home report. Any money above this, you will be required to have on top of your deposit.

MovingForwards

Going to closing date is for popular properties with at least a few people interested. I've seen some properties go up with the closing date already in the advert, others have the advert updated to say when the closing date is.

If you're planning on living in the property for 10+ years it's worth the risk of slightly overpaying as in theory the price could catch up to your offer. However there's always a ceiling price and it's worth looking at historical sales to see how they've moved over the various market blips.

Remember to have an overlap with buying and returning your rental keys, takes a lot of stress out of moving.

Mine didn't go to closing date and I paid less for the property than my seller did when he got it.

Nebulous2

We have just sold in Scotland and the interest was much better than we expected. If there genuinely is a lot of interest, then be prepared for it to move very quickly.  

Our timetable went something like: House was advertised on the Tuesday - two viewings. Wed four viewings.  By the end of the day on the Wednesday we had one offer and three noted interests and our solicitor said to go for a closing date. Closing date set for the next Tuesday.  Seven viewings over the weekend.  People viewing were very interested - but some were clearly wrongfooted by the speed, some of them didn't have a solicitor, one had the same solicitor as us and had been told he needed to find another. We received no more noted interests, but then they didn't need to as they knew when the closing date was.

People are torn with the dilemma of wanting it, and not wanting to overpay, so they were looking for guidance.  When they asked what we expected for it we said we didn't know, we expected it to go over valuation, but we didn't know by how much "Consider what it is worth to you." 

We received five offers, all above valuation.  That was a week from advertising to closing date.

Your solicitor will be a better source of advice than an estate agent. He / she will also have hard facts to work on, how many noted interests there are for instance. It is fairly brutal however. We had five people wanting it and clearly only one can be successful. We are also in an area where a lot of properties go under valuation, so it was a leap for buyers to accept that was not going to happen here. 

AdrianC

The answer to the question in the thread title is a simple one... "When the vendor wants it to"

sheramber

I moved last year.  The house went to a closing date.
 The seller had already had an offer accepted on his next house with entry in 4 weeks. 
I had sold and was moving in with my son until I bought a house near him. 
I Offered 16% over the home report price and was one of two offers considered. It is a popular town with a lot of demand.
My offer was accepted as I was able to accommodate the sellers entry date.
My solicitor did the negotiating with the seller’s solicitor.