Featured properties for sale

Marine Lodge, 21 Westgate
Offers Over £360,000

11 Bank Road
Offers Over £395,000

'Iona' 37 Dunbar Road
Fixed Price £355,000

Purchasing a House

Whether you are a first time buyer or are purchasing another house, it is essential to have your finances arranged. There are many different kinds of loan available and you will need to decide exactly how much you need to borrow. Your loan will depend on how much you earn and can afford to repay each month. If it is a second or subsequent house purchase, the amount you expect to receive for the sale of your existing property will also be taken into account.

At this stage your solicitor can help you by giving you an estimate of the fees and outlays that will be involved in purchasing a property. The latter includes government duties such as Stamp Duty and the fee payable to the Registers of Scotland for registering your deeds.

When you have found a suitable property your solicitor can note your interest with the selling solicitor and arrange to have it surveyed. If the valuation is acceptable, your solicitor will then submit an offer and try to negotiate a price which is acceptable to you and the seller. However if someone else wants to buy the same property, then it is likely that the seller will fix a closing date, when all the purchasers will put forward their best offer. It is likely that the seller will accept the best offer. If your offer is acceptable to the seller, we will then enter into missives on your behalf.

Missives is the name given to the exchange of letters between solicitors which together make up the contract between you and the seller.

Once the missives have been concluded, then neither you nor the seller can withdraw from the bargain without incurring considerable financial penalties.

Your solicitor will then go ahead with checking the title deeds to the property, reporting on this to you and drawing up the new title deed transferring the property into your name, as well as the security deed which you will have to grant to your Bank or Building Society.

Shortly before the date of entry, we will have received the loan instructions from your lender, will draw up the security deed for your signature and will ask you to produce any funds that you are contributing to the price of the property. It is normal for the fees and expenses of the transaction also to be settled at this time.

If it is the second or subsequent purchase, your solicitor will also have obtained a redemption figure from your existing lender and checked the amount with you.

The date of entry is the date when the price has to be paid to the seller in exchange for the title deeds and the keys.

Once you have taken entry to the property you must let us know if there are any problems. Always test the gas, electrical and heating systems and any appliances that you are purchasing. In the terms of the missives, you will have the right to claim from the seller but only within a certain time period.

Thereafter your solicitor will send the deed in your favour to be stamped (if appropriate) and then to the Registers of Scotland for registration. Once the deeds are returned by the Registers of Scotland, they will be forwarded to your lender who will hold them for the duration of your loan.

The above is a brief résumé of house purchasing under the Scottish legal system. Inevitably there is often more to an individual purchase.

At the same time as purchasing your first or subsequent property, we would be able to give you advice on Wills which you should seriously consider as soon as you become a homeowner. In addition if you wish financial advice we can direct you to a Financial Advisor, as appropriate to your needs.

Paris Steele W.S. have many years experience in the purchase of residential property in Scotland and will be glad to advise and assist you in this regard.