Buying Scotland - how to find a good solicitor

[Redqueenheart]

I have just sold my flat in London and finally able to make the move to Scotland!!

I am really excited and learning about the buying process. I understand I need to find a solicitor who will register my interest/bid for a property.

But I have mo idea where to start looking for one.

Is there a kind of industry registration that solicitors who deal with property need to have? what do I need to look for?

Also I am looking at properties in two areas: Fife and Dunbar.

Would I need different solicitors for each with local knowledge or can they just deal with transactions anywhere in the country?

Sorry if those are very silly questions but it is all very new to me!!

I found a buyer much faster than I expected so I now have to do everything really quickly :)

Fife is shite. I lived there for a while but I’m back up in the north east now. Most estate agents have solicitors so we just went with them (when we sold our house in fife it was with Morgan’s estate agents and solicitors, I’d caution against Macbeth currie if you want the phone answered, they were our buyers chosen one) but this house was different. We got our mortgage approved at the bank, put our offer in, it got accepted then the bank gave us the names of two solicitors to call to handle it and we used Adam legal in Peterhead

technically any solicitor could act in any part of Scotland - arguably they'd know their own areas better though. If you look on espc.com, you'll get some names. I'm further north too, so no recommendations sorry!

You can just give the estate agent your offer it doesn't need to be a solicitor. Although you will need a solicitor at some point, most estate agents have one they recommended.

A good solicitor will walk you through the offers over system and give you good advice on what to offer. For which reason, I think you would need two separate ones as Fife and Dunbar are pretty far apart. The actual 'doing' of the deal can be done from anywhere, but the local advice will help you get a realistic idea of things and save you time in the long term.

PP is right though that you do not need a solicitor to make an offer.

Thank you so much everyone! and for clarifying I can deal with estate agents for now to make an offer.

@HighlandPony I quite like Fife and know people who live there...:) I really want to live by the seaside somewhere quiet and my budget is not massive so I thought that was a good option.

Dunbar is my preferred location though.

The problem with fife and the biggest reasons we left are there’s very little there amenities wise. The main hospital is the vic in Kirkcaldy and it’s dire. The other hospitals like queen Margaret in Dunfermline and Glenrothes hospital have very little services. Schools are oversubscribed from speaking to friends I still have there and they ballot places. One of my friends is trying to get a move up here because she’s got three primary kids in three different schools. Parts are basically just commuter areas for Edinburgh and that’s why we were there. Fife is great for seaside if you like swimming in sewage or radioactive waste in north queensferry. We were in Saline then Dunfermline then Kirkcaldy then Cupar. Where are you looking at in fife?

@HighlandPony I know a few people who live in Dalgety Bay and I was also looking at Aberdour, Burntisland and parts of Dunfermline.

I can't afford North Berwick but don't hesitate to suggest alternative, friendly (and non radioactive) seaside towns :)

Schools are not a requirement for me.

What about west coast, get more for your money there and easy commute into Glasgow.

Troon, Prestwick, Ayr, Largs or even parts of Irvine?

Burntisland is a bloody nightmare during school holidays. Rammed full of geordies on their holidays but otherwise it’s ok. Dalgety bay and aberdour are a haven for teen drinkers and constant trouble at weekends at the silversands when weathers good. They’ve been saying they’ll clean up north queensferry for years but I don’t think they’ve done it. Most of Dunfermline and even the bay (what the locals call dalgety bay) is just full of Edinburgh commuters. My friend who’s trying to move up here is in Dunfermline near the town in the pittencrieff area and her biggest complaint is they just build houses for commuters and nothing for the community. They can’t get doctors or dentist appointments, the schools issue, there’s very little in the way of things to do in the area for folk with young ones when the weathers not good enough for the glen but they keep cramming in more houses. If I had to go back to fife I’d go up the east Neuk again

I know Dunbar area quite well. Its a beautiful wee town with a buzzing community!

Best thing might be to look up properties for sale in the area and see which solicitors the sellers are using just to get an idea of popular local ones. Then phone them all for a chat and see who you like best. Most offer fixed fees for buying/selling irrespective of purchase price.

@HighlandPony thank you for the insider knowledge! One of the reasons why I wanted to leave London is to have to deal with less anti-social behaviour and general stress so I want to make sure I don't end up somewhere too rowdy and crowded in the summer. I think I removed East Neuk from my list because of the lack of train stations.

@BebeBelge Yes Dunbar would be my first choice :) and thank you for the suggestions on how to find a solicitor.

@TreeWitch Yes I had Troon on my list too as a backup. My former boss, who is Scottish, went there quite often on holidays and sent me pictures and videos of it. It did seem to be more affordable and very pleasant. I don't really know much about Prestwick, Ayr, Largs and Irvine.

I like Troon too. It’s got a great chippie and a fantastic wee festival. Aye most of Scotland has had train services scaled back. You can’t get from fife to Glasgow on a train, you need to go to Waverley or I think you can drive to Alloa or Falkirk and get one there. We’ve not got a train up here anymore. The old lines now a bridle way

Can I just clarify, you can make a verbal offer to an estate agent, but this needs to be followed up quickly by a formal offer from your solicitor. If the property is going to a closing date, your sealed bid / offer needs to be via your solicitor. The solicitor may need your ID checked etc to take you on. Things are moving very quickly in some areas of Scotland, so best to have a solicitor in place ready to go! If your are looking at a higher risk property (e.g. older houses, those with complex history or any potential issues in the home report) I would use my own solicitor and not one recommended from the estate agents. They may be more thorough during the conveyancing process and protect your interests better. I am not a solicitor, just have bought and sold recently and had mixed experience from solicitors.

@Notjustamum10

Great! thank you so much for the detailed explanation. I am going to research solicitors based in Dunbar to start with.

How exciting! We spoke on my thread recently re relocation. I have been visiting and really liked Broughty Ferry, also South Queensferry, but preferred the Ferry. I also looked all along the south Fife coastal ie. Elie, Pittensween etc, all lovely but I am wanting a little bit more going on in terms of shops etc. I haven't been to see Dunbar but its next on my to visit list.

Will watch your progress with interest :)

@WalkingSeason

I am really glad to hear that you are visiting various places as well.

Broughty Ferry sounds lovely too.

Yes I see what you mean about Fife, I have been warned as well that I might fell a bit isolated there.

I really loved Fife, particularly the places I mentioned above. What was a little offputting though was only a couple of shops and high levels of holiday lets so less community, I'm just talking about Elie and Pittweenseem (which I know I am spelling wrong), but I loved both of them.

Can you recommend anywhere to stay in Dunbar when visiting to scope out the area?

@ WalkingSeason I was staying in Edinburgh as a base while visiting various places so unfortunately I did not get to find out about nice places to stay in Dunbar. But I will need to go back soon so will have to find out too! :)