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