Selling and Buying in Scotland: Selling
The residential property market in Scotland is worth about 23 billion pounds annually. According to Registers for Scotland, the average selling price has recovered to 148 hundred pounds in 2010 from a low of 140 thousand and three-hundred pounds in the previous year.Scottish buyers enjoyed a better run on property prices than England and didn't start to get hit by declines until 2008. The falls were also less than the rest of the UK with prices declining around 11 per cent to date. Scottish buyers used to the system of finding a property first, putting an offer in with an agreed date to buy and then selling up, now have to plan much further ahead.
First check that sufficient funds can be secured to purchase a property with a mortgage. Once this has been done, think about selling your property first and agree a date to move that will tie in with the purchase of your next home. If you agree to purchase a property before selling your own, you need to make sure that you don't have to move for at least another six months, rather than the previous system of selling and moving in 12-16 weeks. Above all, be realistic about the price that your property will achieve.
In the first quarter of 2010, areas such as West Edinburgh property prices have done well year on year. More than a fifth of transactions are for cash with mortgage involved. Just under a quarter of properties are purchased by first-time buyers – one of the lowest properties in the UK. According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, in 2009 approximately 38 per cent of purchasers were first-time buyers. Because of the different system of buying and selling, the process is generally faster than south of the border.
Most property is sold through solicitors rather than estate agents. Groups of local solicitors often market properties for sale through a separate where all enquiries are passed on to the relevant solicitor. The property centres charge about 200 pounds to 250 pounds for this service, which runs for up to six months. Solicitors, and moving companies such as hire man and van in London, offer the same full marketing service as estate agents. They also produce their own property guide papers, called the GSPC Property Guide and ESPC Guide, which are fortnightly, full-colour listings of properties on the market, available at all property centres and many shops throughout Scotland.Estate agents charge commission, which will be from 1 per cent of the selling price. Solicitors also work on commission and, in addition, will charge for the legal work involved, although it is quite common for them to set a single percentage fee for both of these services. Get several quotations from solicitors and estate agents so that you can make a comparison. Choose one who is a member of a professional association, and see the general advice on choosing estate agents.
Setting a Price
Your agent on solicitor will help you to decide price. This is particularly important in a market such as Scotland where prices can vary dramatically and there are regional variations: different sectors can behave very differently, with some reading static and others seeing significant uplift. To help you set a guideline price, the system in Scotland changed in December 2008 as anyone wishing to market a property for sale had to purchase a Home Report, which is based on the now scrapped Home Information Packs (HIPs)used in England and Wales. Buy, unlike the HIPs, the Home Report includes a survey and valuation of the property. This information is available to all buyers from the day the property is marketed.
The Home Report
The Home Report has made a massive difference to the Scottish buying and selling process as it offers a survey and valuation of the property upfront for buyers. This is because sellers now pay the cost of the report rather than lots of buyers having to have surveys carried out on the property to work out how much to bid for it. Prices for the report vary from 100 to 1,200 pounds, depending on the value of your property, but do shop around.
The report also includes an Energy Report (EPC) and a useful property questionnaire, which answers questions such as how long you, the seller, have owned the property, what Council Band applies to the property, and any other things that have happened during your property ownership, such as new windows or if your home has suffered from flooding.Your representative will set a time and date by which sealed bids must be made, usually, noon on a weekday, known as the 'closing date'. The bids will set a price and suggest an entry date, which is the same as a completion date. When you receive this, read it carefully and discuss it with your adviser: the best price may not be the best bid. For example, a lower offer from a cash buyer or someone who wants an early completing date may be better.
Once you accept an offer you have a binding contract: if one of you changes your mind, you will have to pay compensation to the other. So you don't need to worry about whether your buyer has their finances in place.
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Comments (2)
Jason V.6
Internet Specialist
Scotland has amazingly neat architecture when it comes to real estate, as much as I know. From my visits I've only seen half of Edinburgh, still on about to return for more. Is it true that their property rates are far more balanced than the whole of UK?
Beyond Eleven16
Fresh Money Making Ideas
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