INNES & MACKAY: All you need to know about buying a property
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Laura Cormack, director of property law / conveyancing at Innes & Mackay explains what you need to know about buying a property.
Whether you are a first-time buyer, looking to move house or even pick up an investment property, now is a great time to buy.
Once you have found the right house, you will need to instruct a solicitor to submit an offer to the seller’s solicitor or estate agent on your behalf. Offers in Scotland must be in writing as verbal offers/agreements are not legally binding. Before submitting the offer, your solicitor will need to know details such as price, how the purchase is being funded, for example mortgage, savings, gifted deposit, etc. Proposed date of entry and any extras included in the deal are also important for the offer.
Your solicitor can also offer advice on how much to offer on the property based on the current sales statistics and their experience in the local market. The expert property team at Innes & MacKay have a depth of knowledge in relation to the market in the Inverness and surrounding areas. As highly experienced negotiators they always secure the best deal for their clients.
The speed of the whole process can vary due to a number of factors, but on average it is usually six to eight weeks from the offer date to the move-in date. The sooner you have your finance in place, the quicker the process can be concluded.
Offers in Scotland are based on a standard contract known as the Scottish Standard Clauses. The standard contract was originally founded by forward thinking solicitors in Inverness and has been adapted and adopted across Scotland. It is advisable to familiarise yourself with these conditions before you look to buy a property. Your solicitor will be happy to provide you with a copy prior to submitting an offer. These clauses are also available online.
You will not be able to secure a mortgage offer until you have found a property, but your solicitor can make an offer conditional upon mortgage. At Innes & MacKay we recommend you seek advice from your mortgage provider or broker and obtain a decision in principal before submitting any offer. If you have to sell in order to buy, ideally you will already have exchanged contracts or concluded missives on your current property, but your solicitor can also make the offer subject to sale of your own property. You should at least have an acceptable offer on your current property before making an offer so that your offer is taken seriously.
An offer is not normally met with a binding acceptance right away. Normally the offer is qualified to incorporate any conditions the sellers would like to include in the sale. This is usually forwarded to you by your solicitor. When any conditions in your offer are able to removed (for example when you have a mortgage offer and/or the contract is in place for any sale) your solicitor can then proceed to tie up the contract. Once these conditions are accepted there is a binding contract. A cash offer can be accepted outright, but that is quite rare as that makes the contract legally binding immediately. Your solicitor will want proof that the necessary financial arrangements are already in place to ensure you can pay for the property prior to making the offer.
There is very little for you to sign when you buy a house as your solicitor does all of that for you. Your solicitor signs the contract letters or “missives” and will provide you with copies of all formal contractual documents. Where a mortgage is involved you will be required to sign a Standard Security which is the document that secures the mortgage against your property.
Contact the property team at Innes & MacKay if you have any questions about property transactions and/or require a solicitor to represent you in a forthcoming sale or purchase.
