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Original poster

Buying and selling in Scotland

158 replies

Onebabyandamadcat · 07/03/2021 07:25

Ive seen lots of threads about buying and selling but I know up here it's a bit different from the English system so thought I'd start a new thread if anyone else wants to join.

We've spent the weekend getting our house sorted to sell. Estate agent is coming tomorrow. This was our first home so I've never sold a house before so don't really now what to expect. Two houses I've loved have been put on the market and sold in the past fortnight. Irrationally worried ours won't sell and also that it sells too quickly and we don't find somewhere we like to buy 😣. Anyone else?

OP posts:
Original poster
Onebabyandamadcat · 19/03/2021 19:30

[quote elscar]@Onebabyandamadcat

We sold today! We were very happy with our offer and our buyer is flexible on entry so it's been a win win :)

Good luck with the viewings! I've been so nervous all week waiting for the closing date! X[/quote]
Congratulations!! That's great news! we've now got eight viewings this weekend so hopefully someone will put an offer in. Keep trying to remind myself it has literally been on the market for one week and it's not unusual to not have sold in that time

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geezahoose · 21/03/2021 15:25

Watching this thread with interest!

For those that are selling before having found a new property - how long an entry date are you specifying for your buyers? I'm so nervous about the prospect of selling before buying as I'm worried we'll end up homeless!

elscar · 21/03/2021 16:48

@geezahoose (great name btw!)

We were extremely lucky that our buyer is a first time buyer and was flexible for when our house is completed (new build) otherwise we would have had to rent for a while

geezahoose · 21/03/2021 16:57

@elscar, thanks for the reply! That's a very good situation to be in. Hope it all goes smoothly!

I wouldn't mind renting for a bit in between but rental properties where we are are usually scarce Confused

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread!

Original poster
Onebabyandamadcat · 22/03/2021 18:24

@geezahoose

Watching this thread with interest!

For those that are selling before having found a new property - how long an entry date are you specifying for your buyers? I'm so nervous about the prospect of selling before buying as I'm worried we'll end up homeless!

We got some offers today so closing date next week. We've not found anywhere yet. Places are going so quickly there didn't feel like much point putting offers in before we'd sold. Hoping that people will be a bit flexible otherwise it'll be renting or moving in with our parents for a couple of months xx
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IM0GEN · 23/03/2021 08:06

@Onebabyandamadcat - you’re doing the right thing. The market is so hot right now, no one would have taken your offer seriously if you’d not sold first.

Hopefully you will get several good offers at closing today and you can choose one that can accommodate your preference for a long entry date.

My advice is also to look very carefully at the circumstances of the buyers before you chose which offer to go for. Lots of offers are made and accepted and then fall through because of lack of funds.

Your solicitor should be able to advise you on that.

Good luck for today !

SoulMateDestiny · 26/03/2021 10:45

I'm glad I found this thread. Well done on everyone who has sold very quick. My house has been on the market just over 2 weeks. Initially we had a flurry of people; we had the usual body people also. Anyway, no offers at all. The house is an old Victorian quarter villa. The estate agents haven't been that great with providing me with feedback. Many haven't given feedback at all and never replied to the estate agents. Many people are looking for new builds. My house is £10,000 under valuation since last Saturday there has been no other viewings at all. It's very stressful. Unfortunately we have found our dream home and it's very unusual so are keen to sell.

geezahoose · 26/03/2021 17:41

Thanks for sharing your experience - I hope you find somewhere new to live soon!

There are generally very few rental properties here & moving in with in-laws could be a possibility but not sure how they'd feel about living with a boisterous child or how it would work given the pandemic.

Clearly I just don't like uncertainty!! Maybe we just need to bite the bullet and sell first.

Original poster
Onebabyandamadcat · 27/03/2021 10:53

@SoulMateDestiny

I'm glad I found this thread. Well done on everyone who has sold very quick. My house has been on the market just over 2 weeks. Initially we had a flurry of people; we had the usual body people also. Anyway, no offers at all. The house is an old Victorian quarter villa. The estate agents haven't been that great with providing me with feedback. Many haven't given feedback at all and never replied to the estate agents. Many people are looking for new builds. My house is £10,000 under valuation since last Saturday there has been no other viewings at all. It's very stressful. Unfortunately we have found our dream home and it's very unusual so are keen to sell.
It's horrible waiting isn't it? I was moaning to my dad about how we hadn't sold last week and he laughed at me for quite some time. Then reminded me that in normal times, waiting two weeks to sell a house is nothing. I think everything just feels frantic just now. I really hope yours goes soon - I'd love a Victorian house and I'm sure there's lots of people who will be keen to snap it up! Remember the new 5% mortgages for first time buyers have just been rolled out, you might find you get a wee pick up in viewers from that.

We've got our final viewers today before closing on Tuesday. Feeling very nervous - you can never tell who'll be interested and who isn't

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SoulMateDestiny · 27/03/2021 15:07

Thank you so much. One baby and mad cat. I hope it sells. It's a beautiful house; but in my area everyone seems to be buying new builds that are very expensive. Were buying also; which adds further to the mix and dont want to lose our possible future home. Its very very stressful; I'm struggling to sleep. Hope everything goes well for Tuesday. Well done for selling your house .

elscar · 30/03/2021 11:53

@Onebabyandamadcat

Good luck for your closing date today! Fingers crossed for lots of offers!

Original poster
Onebabyandamadcat · 30/03/2021 17:45

[quote elscar]@Onebabyandamadcat

Good luck for your closing date today! Fingers crossed for lots of offers! [/quote]
Thank you! Got five offers and accepted one 🥳 just need to find somewhere to go now but they've given us a long lead time

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elscar · 31/03/2021 13:18

@Onebabyandamadcat

That's amazing! Congratulations to you 🥳

I0NA · 31/03/2021 17:27

Good result !

SoulMateDestiny · 01/04/2021 04:00

Well done on everyone who has sold fast! Unfortunately my house hasn't even had an offer at all. The feedback is that it's a lovely house , and unfortunately the kitchen is about dated and people are wanting to buy brand new shiny houses. We've even lowered the price by £10,000 what we originally had. We're buying also at the time. We might luce with the real possibility that we might not even sell at all.which is a shame as it's a beautiful Victorian house with a massive garden. It seems not everyone likes old houses. I just dont know what to do , its upsetting and stressful. I go to work in every stressful job and it's in the back of my mind. I'm struggling at the moment. Any advice would be most welcome .

Original poster
Onebabyandamadcat · 01/04/2021 17:58

@SoulMateDestiny

Well done on everyone who has sold fast! Unfortunately my house hasn't even had an offer at all. The feedback is that it's a lovely house , and unfortunately the kitchen is about dated and people are wanting to buy brand new shiny houses. We've even lowered the price by £10,000 what we originally had. We're buying also at the time. We might luce with the real possibility that we might not even sell at all.which is a shame as it's a beautiful Victorian house with a massive garden. It seems not everyone likes old houses. I just dont know what to do , its upsetting and stressful. I go to work in every stressful job and it's in the back of my mind. I'm struggling at the moment. Any advice would be most welcome .
I'm not remotely an expert but would you post a link and we could see if there's anything standing out? A Victorian house is the sort of house I'd buy so I might (might) be able to point out what may make me hesitate?

It's the most stressful thing, I'm so sorry. I'm sure it'll sell soon

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ToastTriangles · 02/04/2021 11:55

@Onebabyandamadcat thanks for starting this thread, we are just starting the process so it's interesting to read.

Would you be comfortable saying what percent over home report the offers you got were?

We aren't quite ready to sell yet but saw somewhere we liked and below budget so mortgage advisor got us a deal we could use before selling so we jumped ahead a little and put an offer in at just over 11% over home report but weren't successful.

Original poster
Onebabyandamadcat · 03/04/2021 11:53

[quote ToastTriangles]@Onebabyandamadcat thanks for starting this thread, we are just starting the process so it's interesting to read.

Would you be comfortable saying what percent over home report the offers you got were?

We aren't quite ready to sell yet but saw somewhere we liked and below budget so mortgage advisor got us a deal we could use before selling so we jumped ahead a little and put an offer in at just over 11% over home report but weren't successful.[/quote]
We accepted 8% over but to be honest our house needs a good bit of work doing to it. And the buyers are giving us a long time to find somewhere else - don't need to be out until August at the latest.

I'm hearing lots of stories of people paying 15/20% over which terrifies me as we just don't have that

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LoopyGremlin · 03/04/2021 12:07

The houses round about me are definitely going for 15-20% over Shock

ToastTriangles · 03/04/2021 12:28

Thanks for sharing. It's great that you have a few months as part of the offer too, figuring out how to buy and sell at the same time is definitely a bit overwhelming for me. Have you been to view anything yet? I'm worried about selling first and then not finding something or rushing into one just because I know we are running out of time. And if there are lots of offers at closing dates with prices going high it makes it even harder to find somewhere.
Our solicitor (based in Glasgow) said prices are less crazy than they were even a few months ago but it seems like anything nice is just going lots over so I'm thinking I need to adjust my expectations on what we can realistically expect to get.

Original poster
Onebabyandamadcat · 03/04/2021 18:19

We've been to view a few places but nothing that's making me want to pay £10/15k over valuation.

I wanted sold first as I think the chances of an offer being accepted when you've still got yours to sell are slim. Hoping now that I'm flexible with move in dates but sold might make my offers more desirable.

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DiscoNapper · 03/04/2021 19:05

Also in the same boat! Selling first house and preparing to buy had valuation but not instructed agents yet! It's a minefield!

DiscoNapper · 03/04/2021 19:05

Congratulations on selling yours @Onebabyandamadcat! That's a weight off at least.

SoulMateDestiny · 03/04/2021 20:03

Hi one mad cat and baby. Are you allowed to post a link to a house? My house has had no viewer's for at least week. It's very disheartening . It seems like posher more desirable areas. Hiuses are selling like hot cakes but not where I am.

StarryEyeSurprise · 03/04/2021 20:12

Why don't you paint your kitchen, / sort the worktops? Can for it yourself or pay around £500 and it will look much better.