That was what I was a bit baffled by, but if under the Scottish system this offer makes it essentially a done deal today if the vendor accepts then I guess it is more akin to jumping from viewing a house to exchanging contracts.
Who else is awake because they've decided to put an offer in for a house?
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That was what I was a bit baffled by, but if under the Scottish system this offer makes it essentially a done deal today if the vendor accepts then I guess it is more akin to jumping from viewing a house to exchanging contracts.
I'm referring more to the worry of surveys, mortgage application, ringing around everyone every day only to hear different things and never getting an answer... Maybe that's different in Scotland too. I dream of such a simple land.
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Any news on the offer?
We put an offer in on a house, got accepted, we spent the money on the survey then got a call to say they have accepted an offer off someone else. Man was I pi$$ed off. We even matched the other offer and they still wouldn't do it.
I felt like putting every window through ( house was empty) so they lost money for nothing as well.
In the end it was a blessing as a week later we looked at another house we we loved so much better and now we have been in it for 2 years
although this time when the offer was accepted I made sure it was took off the internet straight away and I ripped the for sale sign out from outside the house 
We put an offer in on a house, got accepted, we spent the money on the survey then got a call to say they have accepted an offer off someone else. Man was I pi$$ed off. We even matched the other offer and they still wouldn't do it.
I felt like putting every window through ( house was empty) so they lost money for nothing as well.
In the end it was a blessing as a week later we looked at another house we we loved so much better and now we have been in it for 2 years
although this time when the offer was accepted I made sure it was took off the internet straight away and I ripped the for sale sign out from outside the house 
Ok, sorry, let me clarify a couple of things.
Obviously I was pretty tired last night and on my phone so couldn't be bothered explaining everything.
Anyway the full story is as follows:
Sorry that it's a little more complicated that I first explained but the biggest stress is knowing that all the cogs are moving but the house isn't ours until we make the offer - and at any point someone else might come along and make the formal offer before us!
I'll obviously update when this all goes through. I'll also post pics we took of the flat we had to sell (which will clarify why we were so reluctant to sell) but also photos of the house we've bought, which is just so insanely perfect
Obviously I was pretty tired last night and on my phone so couldn't be bothered explaining everything.
Anyway the full story is as follows:
- We saw a house we liked on the market for offers over £345k (valued at £350K)
- We went to see the house and loved it but it was just that bit too much out of our price range
- After a couple of weeks the house dropped to a fixed price of £330k
- Hoping to keep my existing flat (that would be perfect for renting out) we counted, to the nearest pound, everything we could offer (even remortgaging our flat, and accounting for fees) and put in an offer for £321k - which was rejected.
- Thinking that we'd just move on we left it for another fortnight. However after coming back from a holiday in the Lake District we decided we still wanted this house, since it was still on the market
- To do this we'd need to sell our flat
- What this meant was an anxious rush to try and get our flat on the market (and sell it!) before someone else made an offer on the house.
(in Scotland if a house is a fixed price then it's just first person that makes the offer gets it!) - So LAST WEEK we decided to sell our flat so started making the moves
- That same week we find out that our friends are looking to invest in another property!
- In Scotland the seller of a house has to get a survey done before it can be sold (or a buyer can get a mortgage) so on Monday we got our "home report" done.
- So (before we even get a chance to put it up for sale) yesterday evening, our friends let us know that of all the properties they've seen they like ours the most and would like to buy it!
- Today, this morning, at this very second, they're trying to appoint a solicitor to put in a formal offer!
- Once that's done (which we're hoping SO HARD that will be done today) we'll be able to put in our offer for the house we want to buy.
Sorry that it's a little more complicated that I first explained but the biggest stress is knowing that all the cogs are moving but the house isn't ours until we make the offer - and at any point someone else might come along and make the formal offer before us!
I'll obviously update when this all goes through. I'll also post pics we took of the flat we had to sell (which will clarify why we were so reluctant to sell) but also photos of the house we've bought, which is just so insanely perfect
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Yeah, ok, I couldn't cope with that
The English system just seems a little insane.
Scottish system is that when a seller is selling a home they need to get a "Home Report" (simple survey) done before it can be advertised.
When you make a "formal offer" it's not final until the "missives" are signed. Until that point either can back out - but once that's done that's effectively the deeds for the property signed over to the new owner.
I'm sure there are still crappy things that can happen between making an offer and signing the missives but we're in a slightly different situation for this.
When you put your home on the market at a "fixed price" here there's no negotiation and the missives should be signed within a day or two (assuming postage of the documents or whatever) and at that point there's no backing out for either party.
Again, up here, before making an offer on any property you'll usually get a "mortgage in principle" from a mortgage provider so when it comes to actually getting the mortgage it's a relatively painless process as usually you'll have something lined up and things can get turned around fairly quickly.
Damn, the Scottish property buying/selling system seems like a massive stress fest!!
I think we're just making it stressful for ourselves given that we've tried so many ways of making the numbers work AND we want the property so much
It's hard not to get excited about it.
It's life changing.
We'll be moving from a city center apartment to a home that we hope to be our home for life
I think we're just making it stressful for ourselves given that we've tried so many ways of making the numbers work AND we want the property so much
It's hard not to get excited about it.
It's life changing.
We'll be moving from a city center apartment to a home that we hope to be our home for life
Best of luck to you, if it's meant to work out for you, I'm sure it will. I'm not a believer of 'fate' but when I was buying my first place after having other offers turned down, the property we ended up buying was leagues better than what we'd already made offers on and had rejected.
Just got to tell yourself, what will be, will be.
Damn, the Scottish property buying/selling system seems like a massive stress fest!!
It really isn't. My house buy was simple. Saw a house i wanted (not my perfect house as that will be an impossible dream) which was below the fixed price, solicitor came back asking to meet half way, agreed then two months later i moved in. Mortgage was straightforward, deposit was all in place. Stress free all the way
I always thought that it was commonly acknowledged that the buying/selling system in Scotland is generally far simpler and much less stressful than the one in England.
Obviously individual cases can still go either way under each system - but I was certainly under the impression that the English system is generally more stressful.
Obviously individual cases can still go either way under each system - but I was certainly under the impression that the English system is generally more stressful.
Yeah, I would have thought so, since in the Scottish system once the offer has been accepted, the deal is essentially done, whereas with the English system you've got the worry of the other party pulling out at almost any point until the end.
I think Roy has the facts slightly wrong, financial penalties only come into play after the missives have been signed not when the seller accepts the offer. He could make the offer before his friend gets a solicitor in place, you still get chains in Scotland.
Yeah, you're right. I think you've misread me as well as that's what I said.
I could have put the offer in but ultimately my friends were still trying to nail things down. The backup plan was to put my flat on the open market if this happened but it would still ultimately mean that if another offer came in after mine (for the house) with no chain I would still miss out.
Rather than add MORE stress (committing to a house not knowing 100% I had the sale of my flat in place) I chose to hold on.
This is exactly what's happened to us now
My friends basically got everything in place about 5:00pm on Friday. As such the offer was only made verbally (in person) with the understanding that Monday morning, 9am, I can expect the official offer via their solicitor.
Soooo yeah, the timing of it all means I've now made an offer verbally (by phoning the agent selling the house on Sat morning) but just as with my flat the offer it's not official until made by my solicitor.
P.S. tidusjar, if you're moving to Scotland and put an offer in on my house I'll hunt you down!
So that's it all getting squared away now!
We've had an offer for our flat, which we've accepted, and we've put in an offer for the house at the asking price.
We're still waiting on confirmation of accepting our offer on the house, but hopefully that will come today!
EDIT: We got word that the offer was accepted today! Needs the home reported refreshed (which will get done this week) but that's all the balls in motion!
We've had an offer for our flat, which we've accepted, and we've put in an offer for the house at the asking price.
We're still waiting on confirmation of accepting our offer on the house, but hopefully that will come today!
EDIT: We got word that the offer was accepted today! Needs the home reported refreshed (which will get done this week) but that's all the balls in motion!
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Ok, so it's slowly getting more official!
He she is in all her glory!
More pics: http://imgur.com/a/EIWri
He she is in all her glory!
More pics: http://imgur.com/a/EIWri