Buying a house anywhere can be difficult enough and very stressful however if you have never bought a property in Scotland it can be a very daunting task. I am currently looking to buy as a first time buyer and thought I would share some of my own house-hunting experiences along with what I have learnt from seeing friends and family buy and sell houses.
Where To Find Properties To Buy
There are many places that you should look and it can depend on what kind of property you want to buy and where in Scotland you are looking.
Many people place their properties up for sale with solicitors who have grouped together in the different regions of Scotland to create weekly property listings papers and websites. To find the relevant website for the region you are looking to search, you ought to visit Scottish Solicitors' Property Centres - http://www.sspc.co.uk/
Other websites you should look at include s1homes.com and rightmove.co.uk. Sometimes people try to save money by selling their property on their own which means they aren't always that well advertised. To find these properties you should look around the area you want to buy in and also check out the local papers.
If you like the idea of buying a historic property that is in urgent need of renovation you can have a look at http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk. Please bear in mind that this isn't for the faint-hearted because you will probably have to jump through a lot of hoops and cut through a lot of red tape in order to achieve the home you want.
There are also a number of government bodies in Scotland such as Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) and Scottish Water who sell off land and properties every year. To find these properties easily just go to http://www.scottishproperty.gov.uk/search/ and do a search.
How Much To Pay?
A lot of people get very confused about the Scottish system of deciding on a price to pay. When you see a property advertised you will often see it listed as Offers Over, Offers in the Region Of and Fixed Price.
The idea behind the offers over system is that when there are many people wanting to buy the same house they will pay as much as they can in order to be the buyer. Unlike a traditional auction, when you get into the offers over system, your solicitor places a sealed bid for the amount you want to pay.
When the seller receives all the bids they will choose who they want to sell to. Normally they will sell to the highest bidder however sometimes they will look at what entry date you are looking for or anything else for that matter.
When there is a lot of demand for a property you will often find the highest bidder places a bid which is 30 to 40 percent over the "offers over" price. However it really depends on how much demand there is for the property. If it's been on the market for many months you should try to negotiate a price instead.
Because of the current recession and the slowing down of house sales, many properties are being listed as "offers in the region of." This just means it's open to negotiation and you can try to offer a little bit less if you want.
For properties advertised as a "fixed price" this just means that this is the amount the seller would like to receive. Sometimes the amount is perfectly reasonable and causes a lot of interest so you will probably end up paying the full price. However if it's been on the market for ages you can go in with a lower offer.
Sold Prices
If you want to get an idea of what you should pay for a property you should find out what similar properties sold for. You can do this free of charge so there is no need to pay anything to do this. You can have a look at rightmove.co.uk or nethouseprices.com.
The main problem with doing this is that you are only told the price it sold for. Of course, you might have two properties that are side-by-side and look exactly the same as each other but the value might be totally different.
For instance, where I used to live, the house next door was sitting empty for years. The owner also didn't do any real maintenance on the property apart from cutting the hedge and the lawn. The result was that when he went to sell the house, no lender would provide a mortgage because they felt the condition of the building was too bad. Because of this it had to be sold to a cash-buyer at about 20% of what it would have if it had been in good condition.
The only way you would've known this is if you were able to get your hands on the schedule of the sold property so that you could see what condition it was in. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any companies providing copies of past schedules. Which is a shame because it's certainly a service I would pay money for.
Note Of Interest
If you are really interested in a particular property but you're not ready to go ahead with buying it, you can get your solicitor to lodge a note of interest with the selling agent. Basically this just means that if there is a closing date for offers; an offer had been placed on the property or it is being taken off the market, you will be notified of this.
Home Reports
Since 2008, all homes that have been put up for sale need to have what's called a "Home Report." which is the same as having a survey done. Basically the seller pays for this and it contains lots of information about the condition of the property and how energy-efficient it is.
Before the home reports were introduced, it used to be the case that they buyer would pay for a survey. The problem with this was that buyers would really like a property, have a survey carried out then they would put in an offer and the offer would have been rejected due to being too low. This process could happen numerous times and thus result in the buyer wasting thousands of pounds.
It was argued that if the seller commissioned the home report, the surveyor would be biased towards the seller. So if you are worried about this, you can always have your own survey carried out by another surveyor.
Personally, I love being able to get copies of the home report before seeing the property because I can then get an idea of what condition it is in. If there is too much work to be done, I simply don't bother making an appointment for a viewing.
However, I have noticed that some surveyors are more lenient than others. In the home report, the surveyor gives a rating depending on how urgent the repair required. So "1" means that no repairs are needed immediately. "2" means that work will be required some time in the future, whilst a "3" means that work is needed urgently.
There was one property I saw that had the older style of electrical box. There was nothing actually wrong with it other than it was the older style. Yet the surveyor gave it a "3." On the other hand, another property with a similar older-style electrical box was given a "1."
Things To Consider When Buying A Home
Drainage
Scotland can be a pretty wet and damp place so when buying a house try and avoid a property which is in a low-lying area. Ideally it should be on a hill or raised area of ground so that the water from surrounding ground can drain away from the house. If you are looking at buying a house which is in a low-lying area make sure you take extra care to see what the damp meter reading is and whether there's any green mildew growing around the house.
Flooding
Some of the rivers in Scotland can burst their banks when there is heavy rain and/or snow melt. Hopefully this will not happen too often however if you are buying a house near a river, find out whether it's prone to flooding and how high the ground is in relation to the river. It's best to choose a home which is a good bit above the level of the river so that if the worst happens, you shouldn't be affected. http://www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/flood_map.aspx
Noise
Make sure you find out exactly what properties and businesses there are near to the property you are looking at. One day we went for lunch at Cairndow Stagecoach Inn and we were shocked to hear guns firing. It turn out that right near by there is a clay pigeon shooting club. All I know is if I bought a house in Cairndow I would be livid and upset to have to put up with the horrendous racket. Imagine a nice sunny day and you want to sit outside to enjoy the sunshine and then you hear guns firing!
Wind Farms
We all know that governments around the world are looking to invest in "green" technologies such as wind power. Most people are in favour of this however when it comes to wind farms people will often object because they don't want it in their "back yard." These kinds of people are called NIMBYs meaning "Not In My Back Yard."
Personally I don't mind wind turbines as I think there is something sculptural about them. What concerns me is the "unknown." If a wind farm is proposed in an area you simply don't know how big it's going to be and how close to habitation it will be. If you want to avoid buying a property near a wind farm or proposed wind farm you can find a map here: http://gis.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/mapsWindFarm/
Shared Maintenance
If you are looking to buy a flat then you might automatically assume that if any repairs needing done on the roof or other structural areas will be paid for by all of the other owners. Normally this is the case however it really depends on what it written in the title deeds. So try and find these details out before you waste time and money having your solicitor carrying out searches.
Sunlight
As you should know, Scotland has a lot of hills. The problem is that in the winter these said hills can block out a lot of light because the sun really doesn't reach that high in the sky. If you are viewing a house in the middle of summer when the sun is at its highest you might think the house is beautiful and sunny. However you could end up getting a bit of a shock when winter arrives and you realize you're in the shade 100% of the time. A house in the shade of a hill is also a cold house. So when viewing a property in the summer, make sure you have a look at where the hills are located to the south of it.
Google Street View
Although a lot of people have complained about Google's new "Street View" I have found it to be very useful for my house search. Due to the fact that I'm searching in areas that are quite far away and also in areas I've never been to, I can get a really good idea of what the area is like before even going there.
Often estate agents only want to show you the best views of a property and therefore very conveniently omit details of the scrap car yard or the sewage works that's located next door. Often we have discounted a property because we didn't like the look of the general area. Therefore it's saved us a lot of time and hassle.
My main problem with Google Stree View is that you are taken to the centre of the postcode which means it’s often a struggle to find the property that’s up for sale. Especially if it’s a rural property and the postcode covers a large area.
Please note that I am not a solicitor or an estate agent and the above article is based on my experiences and research that I have done. Hopefully you will have found it of assistance and will have learnt something new.
