How do you actually move house (Scotland)?

tibbles209

So this is going to be a very stupid question, but I just really don't know how it all works and would be grateful for advice from those of you who have been through it. I live in Scotland, so I understand that changes things a bit.

Our situation;

Husband and I both in early 30s, one toddler, plan to have another baby in a couple of years time. We live in a house worth around 600k with remaining mortgage of ~£306k, 22 years left on the term. 2 years remaining of our 5 year fix at 1.5%. Husband works remotely from home, I am a GP so work at a surgery, but very part time due to toddler. Our household income pre-tax is around £115k (husband ~£75k, me £40k). We have savings and investments (in ISAs so easy to access) of around ~£100k. 

While we love our house, we are far from both of our families, and now that we have a young child we are feeling this more keenly. We also do not love the area we live in and don't see this as being our long term home. We are keen to move close to our families (who live in the same town as each other, but around 1.5 hour drive from us - still in Scotland) before our toddler reaches school age and is settled. I'm just a bit confused about the practicalities of how we would go about doing this.

We would probably be looking at similar priced houses in the £550-600k range. My husband's job can be done from anywhere so that would not be an issue, but obviously I would need to find a new job closer to where we would be moving. But what do we do first? Do we list our current house first, without having somewhere to move to or a job lined up? I suppose if need be my parents would allow us to stay with them for a bit but this is really not ideal with a young child in tow. Do I find a job first? But then how can I expect them to wait while I sell my house and buy a new one? Are chains a thing in Scotland? I know bridging loans used to be how people did this but I haven't heard anyone mention those for a long time. Are they still used? My mortgage is with RBS which I think usually allow mortgages to be ported, but I'm not really sure how this works either. 

I would be really grateful if someone could please tell me how, practically, we would be best going about approaching this move. 

Thanks!

[Deleted User]

You'll get a GP job fairly easily wherever you move to. Locuming is also an option. 

You'd probably want to time your sale/ purchase so that they happen the same day or within a few days of each other.

Chains are an English thing AFAIK relating to contract exchange at the last minute. Scottish sales tend to conclude missives (similar idea) earlier in the process.

Vendors normally prefer you to have your old property on the market/sold if your not a cash buyer or coming from rented property. 

user1977

From a quick skim, your main issue is likely to be getting a new mortgage if a lender requires your income, and you don't have a new job lined up. I would guess it's easier for GPs, though they might still expect you to at least have a job offer rather than just ambitions of picking up work. Probably one to ask a mortgage broker about.

_Penny_Dreadful

When buying and selling in Scotland you do sort of have chains but not in the same way England does where everyone is on tenterhooks praying the chain doesn't collapse.  Making an offer in Scotland is a much more formal process and done by your solicitor and your less likely to encounter gazumping and gazundering as your solicitor would have to stop acting for you if you tried either and you're also far less likely to encounter gazanging. Concluding the missives happens much more quickly than the closest thing the England law system has which is exchanging contracts.  Every time I've bought property in Scotland it's taken 6-8 weeks in total from viewing to getting the keys.

When you port a mortgage what you are porting is the rate.  You would still need to pass affordability for any new mortgage you apply for which might be tricky if you don't have a job lined up.  However, if you're looking to borrow circa 306,000 then it might be doable on your husband's salary only.  A broker would be able to advise.

Ideally you want to avoid buying a new home before selling the old one of you'll be hit with the ADS which is an extra 6% on top of the standard LBTT.  You would be able to reclaim the ADS though as long as you sell the old house within 18 months of buying the new one so really it's more of a cash flow issue.

Bridging loans are still used although seem less popular these days, I think my parents used one back in the 80's, but they are expensive.

SiliconChip

Having bought and sold 4 properties in Scotland over a period of 18 years before returning to England I would strongly suggest discussing the process with your solicitor as early as possible. If you were happy with the solicitor you used to buy your current house then it makes sense to use them again, otherwise ask friends and colleagues for personal recommendations. You need a solicitor earlier in the process than you would in England anyway so I feel it's always a good thing to have made your selection well before you get to the point of wanting to make an offer.

tibbles209

Thanks everyone for the advice! I feel like I have an idea where to start now.