Offering less on an ‘Offers Over’ property in Scotland -- Advice

jm475

fackers_2 said:

Any listing that had ‘offers over’ I wouldn’t even entertain contacting the EA. To me these people are going to be the most difficult during the process. 

The bulk of sales in Scotland are O/O. Fixed Price is often found when properties are struggling to sell. In Glasgow, a few friends and family have recently been looking at properties. They are listed as O/O a stated amount, which is usually a few K below market value, to entice you in. The properties have then sold for approx 10% over market value.

If the property has been on the market for a while now, i'd take the chance and offer below O/O. If it is fairly recent, then I suspect you will be quickly knocked back.

dickietruncheon

It is very rare in Scotland to offer under whereas it is very common in England. That said with the current market it is well worth trying. They can only say no. Don't wait for a closing date to be set. If one is set then you are in a bidding war. Make the offer and set a date for a response. If they say no they will not reject you if you then bid higher at a later time. They will sell to the highest bidder.

Other myths in Scotland are that when you make the offer and it is accepted then you are committed. That never was the case and what you now see is "Sold subject to contract". What is very very unusual is gazumping at the last minute as the contract happens weeks before the move in date...as soon as the missives are signed. Ergo the period of "sold subject to contract " means either party can pull out but you will find not many Scots would even countenance gazumping even in that period either doing it or agreeing to it. IF your seller is English though they might .

All just IMHO.

sheramber

https://www.warnersllp.com/news/does-gazumping-happen-in-the-scottish-property-market/#:~:text=the property chain.-,Does Gazumping Happen In Scotland?,until missives have been concluded.

Why is Gazumping Less Common in Scotland?

In many areas of Scotland, including Edinburgh and the Lothians, the majority of properties are sold by solicitor estate agents. They are bound by the Law Society of Scotland’s guidelines and these are intended to stop gazumping from happening.

Once the solicitor acting for a seller has accepted an offer on behalf of their client, they are not allowed to accept a subsequent offer from another party. If a later offer comes in and the seller wants to accept it, the seller’s solicitor has to withdraw from acting on their behalf and the seller will need to find someone else to carry out the legal work on their sale.

There is, of course, nothing to prevent the seller from doing this as the contract between buyer and seller does not become legally binding until missives are concluded. In practise though, such cases are relatively rare. Changing solicitor after an offer has been accepted may well delay the sale going through and if the seller is also buying a new home, any delay could endanger their onward purchase.

A change of solicitor can also be inconvenient for the seller meaning that, all told, unless the later offer is markedly higher than the one which the seller originally accepted most sellers prefer to continue with the original offer. As a result, gazumping is far less common north of the border than in other areas of the UK.

BJV

You wont know unless you try. Remember no two houses are the same and it is only worth what someone is prepared to pay. Worse case the seller says no. Good Luck

theartfullodger

meigui88 said:

I was wondering if anyone has experience/advice regarding the Scottish property market and offering less than the asking price on an ‘offers over’ property.  Is this an acceptable thing to do?  Or do we run the risk of offending the sellers and completely missing out on the property?

.................

Some 20 years ago I offered a SIGNIFICANTLY lower price than the "offers over" number on a house in the Highlands.  IIRC more than 20% lower.

Submitted it in calm, polite manner.  The vendor instructed the agent to inform me that they had never ever been so insulted in their life and absolutely not etc etc etc..  In all my 75 years & some 50 years of property buying I've never had such a blunt & direct riposte. I thanked agent kindly, politely.

A week late I re-submitted the exact same offer (cash, swift execution).  It was accepted.  Sold it about 2 years ago.

So, in my experience -
- acceptable? - Often no.. 
- risk offending sellers? - Definitely yes.
- risk missing out on property? - Of course, but it might work.  

Such dealing is an aspect of capitalism: As Proudhon said (in French) "Property is theft!" - see 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_is_theft!

user1977

BJV said:

You wont know unless you try. Remember no two houses are the same and it is only worth what someone is prepared to pay. Worse case the seller says no. Good Luck

The OP posted in April and hasn't been seen since, so I suspect they no longer require advice on this point.