Difference between Scotland and England for home buying

eloy7

theoretica said:

I think perhaps a language issue - you were not making an offer (as you are not a solicitor).  What you want to do is have a preliminary discussion if they might entertain an offer or will be going to a closing date. Easiest to have if the seller is showing the house in person.  But the estate agents should tell you if they have had notes of interest and are planning a closing date. And if they say they would be interested in an offer you want your solicitor identified to make it formally asap. 

You're absolutely right! My terminology might not be correct/accurate. Of course, it is based on what I heard (or maybe misheard) in my previous experience.

I just want to know if the seller is tempted with an offer within my budget range or not.

1. If I see a flat with Offers Over X and X is 10% above my budget; should I simply ignore it or is it worth trying?

2. Is a quick cash purchase tempting enough for a seller to accept an offer 10% below 'offers over'?

GlasgowExpat2

Where I live in Glasgow the offers over price is c £200k and the Home Report valuation £230k so 10% below the offers over price wouldn’t be considered as buyers are typically making offers 10%+ over the Home Report valuation. 

theoretica

eloy7 said:

2. Is a quick cash purchase tempting enough for a seller to accept an offer 10% below 'offers over'?

Because the property already has a valuation, this is I suspect less of a plus point in Scotland - usually no waiting for mortgage valuations, no wondering what the valuation will be.  Many sales are very quick by English standards.

Caz3121

eloy7 said:

1. If I see a flat with Offers Over X and X is 10% above my budget; should I simply ignore it or is it worth trying?

2. Is a quick cash purchase tempting enough for a seller to accept an offer 10% below 'offers over'?

It may depend on how long it has been on the market....I have often seen closing dates set within 3 weeks of property appearing on market someone whose property has been on the market months may be open to a lower cash offer...your solicitor should advise you but I would be considering offers based on the home report value rather than the 'offers over'....OO can sometimes be set lower than the home report to generate interest and a potential bidding war. 

[Deleted User]

eloy7 said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

If you’re based in London how are you viewing these properties? Artful has given you some links and I strongly suggest you find out how the buying process works in Scotland before submitting any more offers. 

This is the reason I try to find the properties I can afford to arrange a viewing of all cases in a one-day trip. By referring to 'around Glasgow' and 'cash purchase', you might have guessed it will not be an expensive property.

If you’re moving from London to Glasgow why jump straight into buying? Renting first until you get a feel for the areas would seem more sensible. 

I’m not sure what you’ve been reading if you can’t spot the the differences between buying in Scotland and buying in England. 

1. We’ve already covered offers being made via solicitors. 

2. The vendor pays for the home report which is available for any potential buyers to read before making an offer. 

3. Once a vendor accepts your offer they can’t accept another offer from someone else without changing solicitor which makes gazumping virtually unheard of 

4. Equally as a buyer gazundering is virtually unheard of for the same reason
5. You pay LBTT not SDLT on the purchase 
6. Rather than a single document to complete the purchase the solicitors exchanges a series of letters between them called missives. Once the missives are concluded the sale is legally binding. Missives are usually concluded a lot sooner than contracts are exchanges in Scotland so being a cash buyer isn’t much of an advantage unless buying an unmortgagable property. 

7. There’s none of that leaseholder nonsense. When you buy somewhere you actually buy it rather than a lease. 

8. As a buyer you should have a bit more protection than those buying in England for the first 5 working days.

That’s just off the top of my head. 

As a vendor I’m not sure I would entertain hanging around waiting for you to come up from London to view if I was getting offers from others and I was selling in a market where properties are routinely selling for more than the home report valuation. 

I’m not sure what you mean by not expensive properties. Not expensive compared with London prices or not expensive for Glasgow? If it’s the latter then these properties are possibly in areas you will not want to live in. 

eloy7

Lover_of_Lycra said:

If you’re moving from London to Glasgow why jump straight into buying? Renting first until you get a feel for the areas would seem more sensible. 

I’m not sure what you’ve been reading if you can’t spot the the differences between buying in Scotland and buying in England. 

1. We’ve already covered offers being made via solicitors. 

2. The vendor pays for the home report which is available for any potential buyers to read before making an offer. 

3. Once a vendor accepts your offer they can’t accept another offer from someone else without changing solicitor which makes gazumping virtually unheard of 

4. Equally as a buyer gazundering is virtually unheard of for the same reason
5. You pay LBTT not SDLT on the purchase 
6. Rather than a single document to complete the purchase the solicitors exchanges a series of letters between them called missives. Once the missives are concluded the sale is legally binding. Missives are usually concluded a lot sooner than contracts are exchanges in Scotland so being a cash buyer isn’t much of an advantage unless buying an unmortgagable property. 

7. There’s none of that leaseholder nonsense. When you buy somewhere you actually buy it rather than a lease. 

8. As a buyer you should have a bit more protection than those buying in England for the first 5 working days.

That’s just off the top of my head. 

As a vendor I’m not sure I would entertain hanging around waiting for you to come up from London to view if I was getting offers from others and I was selling in a market where properties are routinely selling for more than the home report valuation. 

I’m not sure what you mean by not expensive properties. Not expensive compared with London prices or not expensive for Glasgow? If it’s the latter then these properties are possibly in areas you will not want to live in. 

WOW! This is a wonderful list and clarifies many aspects to me. Some of them are impertinent to me; for example, I pay neither LBTT nor SDLT. I learnt more in this forum than in any document. The imperative point for me is that cash purchase is not a major advantage in Scotland (which is not noted anywhere when summarising buying in Scotland).

I do not expect the vendor to wait for me. One reason for moving to Glasgow is quick flights to London. I'm not finicky, and I even can decide by virtual viewing if the travel restrictions are imposed again.

I want to buy because I want to get rid of renting vicious cycle.

By inexpensive, I mean nearby cities such as Renfrew, which I believe is a nice place to live and close to the airport. I can buy a decent flat for £40K (upon bargaining). My plan is to buy it as a temporary refuge. If the business backs to normal after the pandemic, I might afford a flat in Glasgow West End within 1-2 years when I can rent out the first flat.

It may seem a naive plan to you. My original plan was subtle but left me in a mess. In late 2019, I started to find a flat in the West End to buy with a mortgage. I was vigilant with no rush to make the best move. Since then, I paid about 18 months of London rent, I cannot get the same mortgage as my business has been affected by the pandemic, and the house price has gone up.

Apodemus

While I can see the attraction of a cheap flat in Renfrew for proximity to the airport, there might be precious few other attractions! 

Unless you are wedded to the "West End" idea for some reason, you could check out Aberdeen or Inverness, which both have good links to London and prices in and around Aberdeen seem to still be suffering from the decline in North Sea oil and gas work.  

[Deleted User]

eloy7 said:

Lover_of_Lycra said:

If you’re moving from London to Glasgow why jump straight into buying? Renting first until you get a feel for the areas would seem more sensible. 

I’m not sure what you’ve been reading if you can’t spot the the differences between buying in Scotland and buying in England. 

1. We’ve already covered offers being made via solicitors. 

2. The vendor pays for the home report which is available for any potential buyers to read before making an offer. 

3. Once a vendor accepts your offer they can’t accept another offer from someone else without changing solicitor which makes gazumping virtually unheard of 

4. Equally as a buyer gazundering is virtually unheard of for the same reason
5. You pay LBTT not SDLT on the purchase 
6. Rather than a single document to complete the purchase the solicitors exchanges a series of letters between them called missives. Once the missives are concluded the sale is legally binding. Missives are usually concluded a lot sooner than contracts are exchanges in Scotland so being a cash buyer isn’t much of an advantage unless buying an unmortgagable property. 

7. There’s none of that leaseholder nonsense. When you buy somewhere you actually buy it rather than a lease. 

8. As a buyer you should have a bit more protection than those buying in England for the first 5 working days.

That’s just off the top of my head. 

As a vendor I’m not sure I would entertain hanging around waiting for you to come up from London to view if I was getting offers from others and I was selling in a market where properties are routinely selling for more than the home report valuation. 

I’m not sure what you mean by not expensive properties. Not expensive compared with London prices or not expensive for Glasgow? If it’s the latter then these properties are possibly in areas you will not want to live in. 

WOW! This is a wonderful list and clarifies many aspects to me. Some of them are impertinent to me; for example, I pay neither LBTT nor SDLT. I learnt more in this forum than in any document. The imperative point for me is that cash purchase is not a major advantage in Scotland (which is not noted anywhere when summarising buying in Scotland).

I do not expect the vendor to wait for me. One reason for moving to Glasgow is quick flights to London. I'm not finicky, and I even can decide by virtual viewing if the travel restrictions are imposed again.

I want to buy because I want to get rid of renting vicious cycle.

By inexpensive, I mean nearby cities such as Renfrew, which I believe is a nice place to live and close to the airport. I can buy a decent flat for £40K (upon bargaining). My plan is to buy it as a temporary refuge. If the business backs to normal after the pandemic, I might afford a flat in Glasgow West End within 1-2 years when I can rent out the first flat.

It may seem a naive plan to you. My original plan was subtle but left me in a mess. In late 2019, I started to find a flat in the West End to buy with a mortgage. I was vigilant with no rush to make the best move. Since then, I paid about 18 months of London rent, I cannot get the same mortgage as my business has been affected by the pandemic, and the house price has gone up.

How familiar are you with these places and the areas in them with cheap sub-£40k properties? 

eloy7

Apodemus said:

While I can see the attraction of a cheap flat in Renfrew for proximity to the airport, there might be precious few other attractions! 

Unless you are wedded to the "West End" idea for some reason, you could check out Aberdeen or Inverness, which both have good links to London and prices in and around Aberdeen seem to still be suffering from the decline in North Sea oil and gas work.  

I sense a sarcastic tone in "other attractions". What might be the charms?

I've never been up there, but I love to. I will investigate the possibilities.

Lover_of_Lycra said:

How familiar are you with these places and the areas in them with cheap sub-£40k properties? 

When I explored Glasgow in the late 2019s, my budget was set for West End, and thus, inspected that area. To be honest, I probably didn't know there is a town called Renfrew back then.

I have no other choice now. Whether I should move to somewhere I am not familiar with or I should wait until the end of the pandemic to explore new places with peace of mind while staying in London for no particular reason.

brianposter

To an outsider Paisley is probably significantly more attractive than Renfrew.