Viewings and How to Offer
When you see a house that you may wish to offer for, it is important that you let us know as soon as possible. We can then note your interest with the selling agents. The noting of interest is an important step as it should ensure that you are kept informed of any potential interest in the property and allow you to offer should there be a closing date. Once you have had a chance to look at the home report (which includes a survey, valuation and property questionnaire, see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/BuyingSelling/Home-Report for full details) and satisfied yourself on this we can help you progress your interest by offering.
We will prepare and sign the formal written offer on your behalf: the main points on which we would require your instructions are price, date of entry and any moveable items, etc. included in the sale. the formal offer will also contain quite a number of technical conditions.
The offer and all of its conditions could be accepted outright by the seller – the offer would then be binding on both parties. More usually, some of the technical conditions in the offer will not be immediately acceptable to the seller. In those circumstances the seller’s solicitor would offer a qualified acceptance, accepting some of the conditions in the offer, and rejecting or modifying others. The exchange of formal letters between solicitors – the missives – will continue until all of the conditions have been agreed and the bargain concluded. If it is not in the missives, it is not in the contract, and it is therefore essential that you tell your solicitor when they are preparing the formal offer if there are any special conditions that you wish to include.
Before a formal offer is submitted the purchaser must be sure that they will have the purchase price available for payment on the date of entry. If all or part of the sale price is coming from the sale of another property, the availability of a bridging loan may need to be considered. It is unusual in Scotland for any payment of a deposit or part of the purchase price to be made prior to the date of entry.
