To think that the property buying process in Scotland is a joke?

[Creambun2]

Just this. I despair of actually buying a place.

[RockCrushesLizard]

What is it that's causing you problems?

I think some aspects of the Scottish system are really good - no gazumping, no collapsing chains, no losing money on repeated surveys.

[BarbarianMum]

If you me the bidding system then i personally agree but lots prefer it apparently.

[trixymalixy]

If you're referring to the offers over system then I agree although it's a lot better than it used to now the property owner has to pay for the survey. Friends wasted thousands of pounds on surveys at the height of the market and kept missing out in the bid.

The legal side of it seems better than in England though. No gazumping and less pulling out at the last minute.

[trixymalixy]

If you keep missing out in the bid then you need better advice on what the likely selling prices will be.

[usersos]

I’d prefer to buy in Scotland than England!
What are you despairing over?

[BarbarianMum]

Oh do property owners do the survey now? That's a big improvement (long time since we bought/sold in Scotland).

[Creambun2]

Yep my main problem is the offers over and bidding process.

[scrabbler3]

It weeds out time-wasters who change their minds six weeks in, so I've tended to be a fan. However, I didn't know about the "offers over" business, which strikes me as quite stressful. And in this digital age I still can't believe how sluggish the whole process is, in general.

[NorthernLurker]

It's a better system than in England. Your problem is you aren't offering enough.

[HamishBamish]

I understand your frustration OP. The blind bidding offers over system is tricky for the buyer. Even if you make a sensible bid, that doesn't account for people offering well over the value of the property just to ensure they secure it. This happened to us a lot last time we were buying, although it did work to our advantage when we were selling. There were a cluster of offers around a sensible range, a couple of cheeky low ones and then one way and above all the others (by about 25k). Of course that's the one we accepted.

[TooManyPaws]

I must admit that both the properties I've bought in my life (I don't intend to move) were fixed price so that made it a lot easier. At least you know that a contract is a contract.

[weeblueberry]

You need to speak to a good solicitor if you’re being outbid often. We bought recently and our solicitor gave us three figures, a conservative, likely and sure bet price. Quite a bit over the asking price all three options. And he was bang on the money in terms of where they lay.

[ninjapants]

Why don't you try making an offer via your solicitor to the sellers instead of waiting for a closing date? These days there aren't usually lots of people queing up to buy a particular house so often sellers are happy to consider offers. If the seller insists on waiting for a closing date, you can choose to bid or move on.
No where does it say it's mandatory to follow the offers over bidding system, so I'm not sure why you wouldn't try something else.
The rest of the buying system in Scotland is relatively straight forward I think.

[dinosaursandtea]

Oh God, the offers over thing sounds so stressful. I keep looking at property online within our budget and trying to plan out a deposit, then realising that it’s all likely to be far more than the price listed.

[SonicBoomBoom]

I like it! It's so much better than England.

You just make an offer somewhere between the offers over price and the home report value. Unless it's a very in demand area and a closing date, where you throw silly money at it above HR value. But generally you know that you have to do that when you're looking at those areas.

[ArchchancellorsHat]

Mine was a fixed price, I found the rest of the system worked quite well. Much better than what I've heard about the English system, especially now the buyers do the surveys. Could you do as pp suggested and get the solicitor's advice? If you're in Edinburgh at least, the ESPC ones are also estate agents so will know what properties are going for.

[19lottie82]

You just make an offer somewhere
between the offers over price and the home report value

Its quite entertaining that you think that!

I’m in Glasgow and any decent properties in an ok or nicer area are going for ABOVE the home report value!

I sold a house earlier in the year which was valued at £300k and went for £334k.

My friend just bought a flat HR = £175, she paid £189k

[BakedBeans47]

It’s only really a problem if it ends up in a closing date. England as far as I know can have similar issues with properties going to sealed bids? We didn’t have a problem when we bought ours but then we weren’t up against other bidders really.

I haven’t done conveyancing for years but I certainly came across a couple in my time where the top bid was crazy money and well above the second bid.

[Fintress]

You definitely have to offer a good percentage over the asking price! At one point when property was on a high where I live it was advised to offer a minimum of 20% above asking price. Buyers in Scotland are better protected than in England, likewise sellers. Once you enter into a contract you break it at your own risk which can prove costly. Someone I know found that out when he was slapped with a hefty bill of 16.5K after pulling out as a buyer at the last minute.

[SonicBoomBoom]

Its quite entertaining that you think that!

Em, that's how it works.

Yes, some areas go for way over Home Report. But that's the exception, rather than the rule. I also live in Glasgow and have bought and sold at well over HR value. I am not so ignorant to think that's the situation everywhere in Scotland.

In most parts of the country you are lucky if you get HR value, especially if it doesn't go to a closing date.

If you're buying (or selling) in the the areas where they go for more than HR, you know about it and budget accordingly. If you can't throw an extra XX thousand at it on top of your deposit, you can't afford to live in that area, so you look elsewhere.

[TrumpsWigmaker]

I think it’s a better system.

When we lived there, our solicitor advised us to decide the sum we would kick ourselves for not offering... it worked for us.

Also, the sellers don’t always go for the highest bid. We wanted a quick sale so chose the people who were not in a chain. They were the nicest couple by a mile too. We loved our old house and wanted it to go to nice people. Always be nice to the sellers!!

[SonicBoomBoom]

And lottie, I said exactly that in my post, which you left out of your quote in order to mock me by telling me something I'd actually already written.

[trixymalixy]

That's why a solicitor with local knowledge is so important. In some areas houses might go for well over the home report value because it's a popular area, in others you they will go for under.

[19lottie82]

Sonic I’ve been keeping an eye on the property market for the past year and it’s definitely not an exception to the rule, trust me!

And I wasn’t “mocking” you so no need for the paranoia (this is a discussion forum).

[Cocoloco75]

I echo what sonic says, unless you are in an area where the market is crazy I think the system is much better. When I first bought in Aberdeen in 2005 the market was nuts and I remember offering on a place that ended up going for nearly 70% over the offers over price....needless to say I didn't get it!! In the end I paid 10% over for a place with no other competition (as a single buyer I couldn't compete with couples who had more borrowing power, so I lowered my expectations a little), sold it for nearly double 2 years later!!

However in the current market, sellers in Aberdeen are lucky to get the home report value if they sell at all, it's very much a buyers market these days. So really it's all about where you buy and what the market is like in that area.

I would say from my own investigations of the markets in Scotland, outside of the Edinburgh and Glasgow hotspots (actually Inverness pretty buoyant just now too) aswell as some desirable towns dotted around, the days of having to offer way over the value are long gone.

I personally wouldn't offer over a home report value, instead would hope to get a property for a bit below and not get into a closing date bidding scenario, by going for somewhere that's been on for a wee while with hopefully no competition.