Selling Your Property - Selling in Scotland

Occasionally when selling property in Scotland you will put it on the market at a fixed price and accept the first offer to match the price. However it is more usual to put your property on the market with a minimum price, inviting offers above this price.

Having made the decision to sell, you prepare your property and then have valuations done. Then you need to appoint a solicitor who undertakes much of the role of the estate agent in England. Some solicitors in Scotland run their business from solicitor property centres, which have databases of property for sale much like an estate agent. With the solicitor’s help you can agree what is known as the ‘upset’ price, above which you will take offers.

Then the viewings take place and any interested parties note interest with your solicitor and then arrange for surveys to be carried out. Potential buyers will already have their own solicitor and have applied for a mortgage at this stage, which is how they can immediately arrange for a survey to be carried out. Noting interest with your solicitor means that you can not accept an offer without giving everyone who has noted interest a chance to make a counter offer. Offers are received by a set date, usually in the form of a sealed bid and the owners will then accept an offer.

The buyers must arrange their mortgage, valuation and survey before they make an offer because once the offer is accepted you are contracted to complete the purchase, which you can only do if all the financing is in place and the lender is happy with the property. Once the lender is in receipt of a satisfactory valuation they will give the buyer a formal mortgage offer.

With offers being invited over an upset price the surveyor will be able to advise the prospective buyers of the true worth of the property. This means that you will not need to enter into any negotiations about price and everyone knows exactly what they are getting with the property. This coupled with entering into a contract earlier means that it is very rare for a sale to fall through. Offers also include a date of entry, which is the date at which the buyers wish to be in your property. This can help you with your own purchase, as you will have a date to work towards.

On the closing date for the offers you and your solicitor will open any offers received and decide which is most acceptable. This will not necessarily be the highest offer, but may be dependent on the position and the date of entry of the buyers. Having accepted an offer your solicitors will complete the missives - this is on a par with the English system of finalising and exchanging contracts. Your solicitor will release the title deeds to the buyer’s solicitor for checking. Once all parties are in agreement, missives can be concluded. At this point legal responsibility for your property passes to the buyer, who will have arranged adequate insurance cover for the property.

On the date of entry the property title will pass to the buyer and you must move out. This is generally about five weeks after accepting an offer. You must pass your keys to your solicitor who will deliver the keys and the Disposition - the legal document transferring ownership - to the buyer’s solicitor. The sale is now complete.

More Selling Your Property topics below:

• Selling at Auctions - how to go about selling at an auction
• Estate Agents - what can you expect from an estate agent?
• Private Sales - avoiding expensive estate agents fees
• Viewings - what you should say, what you should answer and what you should ask.
• Offers - how can you tell when an offer is the highest you will get?
• Surveys - as a seller, what can you expect from the survey?
• Legal - what is involved with conveyancing for sellers?
• Financial - what can you expect to be paying for when you sell your property?
• Selling Pack's - how the government proposes to speed up the property buying process
• Moving - what you should organise in order to have as easy a move as possible.

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