Buying a house in Scotland - how much do I need to budget?

[HeyDemonsItsYaGirl]

If I want to buy a house for £100k in Scotland, how much do I need to budget on top of a 10% deposit?

I've never bought a house and I'm not close to anybody who has, so I don't have a clue how much I need to budget for solicitors' fees, stamp duty, surveys, and all these other things I've heard of but don't understand.

Obviously I will need to do a LOT of research when the time comes, but for now I just want to know how much I need to save before I can start seriously looking.

If I call the mortgage team at my bank, will they give me general advice like this or would I just be wasting their time?

Any help is much appreciated!

It's all here: www.google.com/amp/s/www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/cost-timeline-for-buying-a-property-in-scotland/amp

There's also a link there for calculating the LBTT.

Oh that link is brilliant, thank you!

Remember that Scotland generally has an "offers over" system, so your £100k could well be £110k or thereabouts, depending on the area.

Thanks Full. It sounds like you only get one shot at an offer too, with the sealed bid system? That'll be nerve wracking!

If you’re buying for £100k then you aren’t looking in a particularly desirable and competitive area, I presume. I’ve bought and sold in Scotland a couple of times and it was pretty much like the English system, just made / accepted a verbal offer through the estate agent, formal offer through solicitor after that, no sealed bids or offers over.

It's only sealed bids if there are multiple people wanting to make an offer. Bought twice and did not have to do this. You could call some solicitors to get an idea of fees. Solicitors will also be able to advise on what to offer. Depending on local market you do not always have to go over the offers over price.

There can still be competitive bids at that level
There will be no LBTT,registration dues will be £220
,legal fees around £600
Get yourself a solicitor

It all sounds a lot more straightforward than I expected. Perhaps because the horror stories tend to be from the English system?

I'm really excited now! I want to save a bit more as a buffer but I think I can start looking within a year.

@ComtesseDeSpair

If you’re buying for £100k then you aren’t looking in a particularly desirable and competitive area, I presume. I’ve bought and sold in Scotland a couple of times and it was pretty much like the English system, just made / accepted a verbal offer through the estate agent, formal offer through solicitor after that, no sealed bids or offers over.

I'd rephrase "If you’re buying for £100k then you aren’t looking in a particularly desirable and competitive area" as a rather more polite and definitely more accutate "good for you - you'll find your money will stretch quite far in parts of Scotland, so you're lucky that you'll be able to buy a two bedroom in some very nice Scottish towns for that budget".

OP good luck with your purchase - exciting times!

It wasn’t intended to be rude. Particular parts of Scotland are notoriously incredibly competitive and desirable, hence sealed bids and offers up to 20% over. Outwith those competitive and desirable areas, that’s not generally the case. If the OP is buying for £100k then she’s not looking at the areas where it’s the norm, because in those areas that wouldn’t buy anything, let alone nice two bedroom cottage - but yes, in other perfectly lovely and picturesque areas it certainly will, and even better, OP probably won’t have the nerve-wracking process of sealed bids to contend with.

@ComtesseDeSpair

It wasn’t intended to be rude. Particular parts of Scotland are notoriously incredibly competitive and desirable, hence sealed bids and offers up to 20% over. Outwith those competitive and desirable areas, that’s not generally the case. If the OP is buying for £100k then she’s not looking at the areas where it’s the norm, because in those areas that wouldn’t buy anything, let alone nice two bedroom cottage - but yes, in other perfectly lovely and picturesque areas it certainly will, and even better, OP probably won’t have the nerve-wracking process of sealed bids to contend with.

I do understand all of this, but there are plenty of towns with good schools, nice shopping centres etc where OP can get a small house for her budget. Possibly not bang in the centre, but it's very much achievable. My point is more that "Desirable" is subjective and does not just refer to the most sought-after, and thus most expensive, areas.

There can be sealed bids at any price level especially if the property is priced low to attract interest

I see both your points curlytops21 and ComtesseDeSpair. £100k was really just an example to keep the maths simple for me, but I did see a lot of suitable properties on RightMove for

On top of deposit, you will need

Solicitor fees
Mortgage set up fee
Other miscellaneous fees
Property survey
Moving costs
Emergency fund
Money to buy white goods if you don't have any fridge, cooker, washing machine
Property build & contents insurance
Council tax & other bills
Life insurance

Good luck

@0rch1dF0REST

On top of deposit, you will need

Solicitor fees
Mortgage set up fee
Other miscellaneous fees
Property survey
Moving costs
Emergency fund
Money to buy white goods if you don't have any fridge, cooker, washing machine
Property build & contents insurance
Council tax & other bills
Life insurance

Good luck

In Scotland a seller must have a home report done before marketing so the OP is unlikely to need a separate property survey.