Buying house in Scotland

[nerobot]

Ahhh! What a nightmare!

Could someone please explain to me how you go about buying a house in Scotland (which is very different to the rest of the UK). I thought that you get a mortgage in principle, then look for a house, make an offer, then get the mortgage sorted out. However, I got a phone call yesterday from Natwest (or Halifax, I forget which), saying that I need to make an offer on a house before they will go through the mortgage process (i.e. not giving me a mortgage in principle).

Completely confused now. Any help or advice would be great.

Steven

[allotmentlady]

This might help you xx

Buying a House in Scotland

[bluemoon]

My brother did it about five years ago, after several months of confusion he eventually bought a new build. Basically told the builder's 'I want that one' and they did the rest.

[tiachica]

You could also try and get an independent financial advisor to give you quotes.

Saying that though, I had no problems getting a pretend mortgage quote from my banks... maybe they misunderstood what you are after?

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Last time we bought was a few years ago. Got the mortgage in principle, put the offer in via solicitor (then prayed it would be accepted), gave details of mortgage and deposit to solicitor, left him to it (apart from signing missives etc) As far as I know the system has not changed.

[nerobot]

Thanks for the replies. It would seem I as right in thinking I should get a mortgage in principle first. Perhaps there was a mix up between the two of us?

Steven

[Nessie]

Hi there
Good luck with it! I bought a cottage in scotland in August 2007.
I did everything backwards and was lucky not to lose everything. There are heavy penalties if a sale is not completed on the date it is supposed to.
You should however be able to get a mortgage in principle without making an offer. If your offer is accepted, you are comitted to that purchase, and you wouldn't want to comit unless you are sure you can gain the mortgage funding. If you have a house to sell in England this can cause further complications. My buyer wasn't under the same pressure as me to complete, and it was only because I drove miles to deliver some missing paperwork to his solictor in person that she took pity on me and rushed things through. If I was doing it all again I'd sell the english property first and then rent/stay with family whilst looking for a scottish property rather than try and get everything done together. It was in all honesty a complete nightmare but worth every bit of the hassle in the end!
The weblink allotment lady posted is good, and I found Moving house made easier | moveme.com useful for all the parctical things I had to remember to do.
Hope it all goes well for you.

[Hilary B]

In Scotland (unlike England) you can make your offer subject to any conditions you like to add (they may decline to accept some conditions) so maybe you should make 'availability of mortgage' one of the conditions? (explain why to the seller, they may be sympathetic).

[Alice]

Hello Nerobot, it's usual to get your mortgage sorted out in principle before making an offer on a property otherwise you might find yourself commited with no mortgage. An offer in Scotland is legally binding but you can make it subject to certain conditions. The usual one is subject to survey.