Buying and Selling in Scotland

MH66

We have had an offer accepted on a property and the owners are happy to wait for us to sell our current house before setting an entry date.  We accepted an offer for our house 4 weeks ago with an entry date to be mutually agreed.  Our buyers allegedly are first time buyers with  mortgage agreed in principle.  We have repeatedly asked our lawyer to get in touch with our buyers' lawyer to sort out an entry date,  She assures us this has been done but all we have is a vague response that they will be able to settle at the end of September. We are becoming increasingly frustrated and not sure how to speed the process along.  Any advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation would be gratefully appreciated.  This is all happening in Scotland so Scots law is being used.  TIA

user1977

I would guess your buyers are still waiting for their mortgage offer. They're not likely to commit to a date of entry before they've got that.

Greymug

I've bought properties in Scotland and I've sold properties in Scotland and there has ALWAYS been a clear entry date that was always set up after the offer on the property had been officially and formally accepted.

I NEVER had to deal with vague propositions like your sometimes "at the end of September", there was always a precise date.

And it was 8 weeks from when the offer was accepted. Solicitors in Scotland say 8 weeks is generally enough time to get a mortgage approved and for them to do the necessary paperwork.

user1977

Greymug said:

I've bought properties in Scotland and I've sold properties in Scotland and there has ALWAYS been a clear entry date that was always set up after the offer on the property had been officially and formally accepted.

I NEVER had to deal with vague propositions like your sometimes "at the end of September", there was always a precise date.

And it was 8 weeks from when the offer was accepted. Solicitors in Scotland say 8 weeks is generally enough time to get a mortgage approved and for them to do the necessary paperwork.

Not sure how long ago your transactions were, but in recent years it's become a bit looser at the offer stage. People aren't as trusting of lenders to get the mortgage offers issued in time, and first time buyers will tend to take longer, so solicitors (on both sides) now have the tendency to sit on their hands until there's a mortgage offer - not like the good old days where all the work would be done upfront and people would be biting their nails hoping the mortgage offer turns up on the date of entry...

Greymug

user1977 said:

Greymug said:

I've bought properties in Scotland and I've sold properties in Scotland and there has ALWAYS been a clear entry date that was always set up after the offer on the property had been officially and formally accepted.

I NEVER had to deal with vague propositions like your sometimes "at the end of September", there was always a precise date.

And it was 8 weeks from when the offer was accepted. Solicitors in Scotland say 8 weeks is generally enough time to get a mortgage approved and for them to do the necessary paperwork.

Not sure how long ago your transactions were, but in recent years it's become a bit looser at the offer stage. 

2016 and 2021

MovingForwards

Mine changed a couple of times, I offered on the property in December 2019, suggested DOE for Feb 2020.

Got my mortgage offer and due to a condition had to move the DOE 2 months.

Covid hit, mortgage offer expired, got an extension and it was all concluded in under 2 weeks.

I think it was only officially agreed the day before I got the keys. Whilst I thought it was me delaying things, the seller accepted my offer but his solicitor didn't confirm it until the 'under 2 weeks' element of the transaction.