Buying Property in ScotlandWritten by David Miles
Buying a house in Scotland is slightly different from buying a house in other parts of UK. It's not particularly complicated, and buying north of border can often be quicker, but for those relocating from England and Wales there are a number of points you need to bear in mind. Agreement in principle Before you begin house-hunting in Scotland you need to have an agreement in principle for your mortgage. An agreement in principle takes form of confirmation from your lender that, subject to various conditions, they are prepared to give you a mortgage up to a certain amount. This amount will be based on your income in much same way as it is in rest of UK. Without an agreement in principle in place, any offers you make on properties are unlikely to be taken very seriously. Sealed bids In England and Wales, houses are normally advertised at a given price and vendor accepts that he may well have to settle for a price that is lower than original asking price. Under Scottish system, vendor sets a price and invites offers in excess of this via a sealed bids system. Although this type of secret bidding is sometimes seen in rest of UK, it is normally only in cases where property is particularly expensive or desirable. Commitment When you buy a house in Scotland, if your offer is accepted, you are immediately under an obligation to buy that property. This is why an agreement in principle is required before you go house-hunting. By contrast, in England and Wales, you can pull out of buying property without penalty up until time when contracts are exchanged. The Scottish vendor is also committed to deal as soon as he accepts buyer's offer. Hence risk of gazumping (where vendor later accepts a higher offer from someone else) is removed. Solicitors Because of earlier commitment to buy, solicitors play a much greater role in buying and selling of homes in Scotland. In many cases solicitor will act as selling agent for a property rather than an estate agent. The actual house-hunting process in Scotland is much same as anywhere else. But don't forget, when you are looking at properties, that advertised price is minimum you will have to pay, and is not a starting point for bargaining downwards. As a buyer, you will need to appoint a solicitor before, or as soon as, you see a property you want to make an offer on. Once you are ready to make an offer, your solicitor will contact selling agent and ask them to "note interest". Finalising mortgage After this, you will need to finalise your mortgage application by going back to your lender and providing details of specific property you are planning to buy. Once this is done, lender's valuation and your own survey can be carried out. Arranging a survey Although your own survey is not compulsory, it is strongly recommended that you have one done before making an offer. Because you are legally committed to buy property once you make your offer, it is important to know as much as you can about its condition. The results of survey will help you as well when it comes to deciding how much to offer.
| | Beware of Bogus Credit Repair Companies! Written by Omar M. Omar
So-called "credit repair" companies claim they can remove negative information from credit reports. Advertising as "Credit Advisors," "Credit Rating Correction Services" or "Credit Consultants," they trumpet variations on this message: "Turned down because of bad credit? We can help!" Many of these companies charge hundreds if not thousands of dollars for promise to "clean up" bad credit reports. But truth is, these companies can only do what you could do yourself--at no charge. Nobody can remove negative information that is accurate from your credit report. No company has a "secret" ability to remove all negative information. But this doesn't stop their claims. This deceptive quote is from a credit repair company brochure: "Charged-off accounts, collection accounts, judgments, tax liens, repossessions, and even bankruptcies can be removed from your credit records in less than one year (five to seven month average)." One tactic is to bombard credit reporting agencies with requests to verify information. If a credit reporting agency cannot verify an entry within 60 days, it will remove information from report. But if information is later verified to be accurate, it will go back in report. Before you even consider signing a contract with a company that promises to repair your credit, remember these facts: ·You may obtain a copy of your credit report on your own. ·You have right to dispute entries in your credit report.Beware guaranteed credit offers! Credit repair and other companies often claim they "guarantee" to get you a credit card, regardless of your credit history. In fact, these companies do not always honor their guarantee. Sometimes, they'll just take your money and run--you will not get any credit, regardless of what they promised. If they get you a card at all it often will be a "secured" bank credit card, with high up-front "application" fees, that requires you to deposit and keep several hundred dollars in a savings account, or a card that only allows you to buy items in a catalogue from a business that you probably never heard of. (You can apply for a secured credit card by yourself. For a free list of banks that do not charge application fees for secured cards, see information from Consumer Action in "For More Information" section below.) Credit repair companies often advertise on television, in newspapers and even on matchbooks. Sometimes they require consumers to dial a "900" telephone number to get more information. Calls to 900 numbers can cost $2 or $3 a minute, so listening to a few minutes of information about cards can be expensive. Some companies try to get people a credit card by having them apply using financial information of other people with good credit histories. It is a criminal act to apply for credit under someone else's name--do not do business with one of these companies.
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