Scottish Property Purchase

Many English property purchasers may be aware that Scotland has its own legal system. This means that the property buying process differs in some important aspects from that in England and Wales. Buying an investment property can involve many issues – especially if you don’t understand the process.

1. Once you have found a property you are interested in you will need to declare an interest. This is done via your solicitor so it is important to have a Scottish solicitor appointed early on. Your solicitor will send a note of interest to the selling agent although this does not commit you to purchase at this point. It does however mean that you will be advised of any other interest.

2. Usually in Scotland property is sold on an ‘offers over’ basis. You will be advised of the offers over figure and closing date for offers. Your offer will then be examined together with any others. Your bid must include the date that you intend to complete on the purchase – the date of entry - and this may have a bearing on the decision made by the seller..

3. Offers are sometimes made subject to survey although your solicitor may have arranged the valuation when you have made your note of interest. This can also help speed up the arrangement of mortgage finance which should have been agreed in principle before making any offer.

4. If your offer has been accepted your solicitor will now receive paperwork including title deeds relating to the property to examine and report back to you. Your solicitor will then, if all is in order, issue a contractual letter with further qualifications and the sellers solicitor, if agreeable, will issue a final formal letter. At this point you have entered into the contract to purchase.

5. Your solicitor will now proceed with the conveyancing work, including drawing down any mortgage funds and arrange for all the required funds to be available prior to the date of completion or settlement and send these to the sellers solicitor in return for the disposition or property transfer document. Provided funds are received by close of banking the property is now yours and you may receive the keys.

As we said, a slightly different process to the English legal system, and in some ways preferable. If you are buying to let in Scotland be aware of the differences and ensure that you find a Scottish solicitor early in the process. This is a short summary of the actual process and is not intended to be legal advice.

Remember F1 Finance has great deals available to help you find the best buy to let mortgage for your Scottish property.

THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE SECURING OTHER DEBTS AGAINST YOUR HOME.
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE OR OTHER LOANS SECURED ON IT.
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