Galbraith, Castle Douglas

The process of making an offer for a residential property in Scotland is not as complicated as you might believe. We are always available to chat through the process with you, but this quick guide is a great starting point:

1.) You Will Need a Scottish Solicitor

Scotland has a separate legal system to the rest of the UK, so to give yourself the best chance of having an offer accepted you should ideally be registered with a Scottish solicitor before you start your property search. Formal identification is required in order for a solicitor to accept you as a client.  Having a solicitor already engaged means when you find your ideal property you will be ready to take action quickly.

2.) Noting Interest

Tell us you like the property and are interested in making an offer for it. If you are not quite ready due to your own sale/financial situation, you can 'Note Interest' in it, or have your solicitor Note Interest on your behalf. Registering your interest does not mean you will be informed of all other interest in the property, but you will be given advance notification of any Closing Date set so that you have the chance to make an offer on that date. However, prior to a closing date being set you may be approached by the agent to gauge your ability to proceed.

3.) Making a Verbal Offer

If you are in a position to proceed, it is best to contact us as agents for the seller and discuss the offer you wish to make. We will advise you as to whether this is likely to be acceptable to the vendor, and negotiate with you on their behalf. This way, all parties come to an agreed figure and conditions, and saves you the time and expense of having your solicitor submit a written offer that may be rejected.

4.) Making a Written Offer

Once you have agreed a purchase price verbally, you  then instruct your solicitor to submit an offer to us on that basis, along with any other conditions which apply - such as Date of Entry (the date you pay the purchase price and get the keys), survey, sale of your own property etc.

NB. UNDER THE ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATIONS 2017 WE ARE NOW REQUIRED TO CARRY OUT INDENTITY CHECKS AGAINST ALL PURCHASERS - this must be provided by you direct before offering or sent by your solicitor along with your offer.

5.)Missives

On receipt of the formal offer and id checks we pass your offer to the vendor's solicitor, and then the two solicitors proceed through the legal process of 'missives' with the aim of concluding the contract (similar to exchanging contracts in England).  This process can take anything from days to months depending on the various offer conditions and legal hurdles.  Meantime we will mark the property either 'Offer Under Consideration' (if there are uncertain conditions to be met such as the sale of your property) or 'Under Offer' (where your offer is straightforward).