Moving to Scotland
Discussion
Olivera said:
I visited Dumfries about a week ago, seemed a very good example of a dilapidated and deprived town centre. Also worth noting that if you're west of Dumfries then you're a pretty long way from anywhere.
Yes property might be cheaper, but unless you have specific reasons to choose D&G then I'd much rather live elsewhere, such as the Borders, Fife or Perthshire.
Yep: Dmfs is a sxxt hole. But you'd move to the area for the beautiful and peaceful countryside and not a lot else. There are some very nice towns and villages west of Dumfries.Yes property might be cheaper, but unless you have specific reasons to choose D&G then I'd much rather live elsewhere, such as the Borders, Fife or Perthshire.
But if you want pretty AND boutique stick to Gloucestershire.
loskie said:
Mains gas and sewerage that restricts you a LOT.
In an ideal world, I guess I should have quantified that I know we are unlikely to get all those at the same time.That said the place we are viewing on Thursday is on mains gas and sewer.
Amusingly its not got much in the way of internet though.
My wife is Scottish and we live in the Lakes. There are plenty of places outside of the national park that are reasonable for housing and/or have access to quiter parts of the national park.
You won't get the same sense of isolation as in parts of Scotland. Generally Scotland is a lovely country with great people. The west coast is wet, and I say this coming from one of the wettest places in England
parts of the east coast have relatively decent weather-some nice areas and beaches south of Edinburgh.
There's some quirks up there compared to living in England but house buying aside I don't expect you'll be exposed to any of these.
You won't get the same sense of isolation as in parts of Scotland. Generally Scotland is a lovely country with great people. The west coast is wet, and I say this coming from one of the wettest places in England
parts of the east coast have relatively decent weather-some nice areas and beaches south of Edinburgh. There's some quirks up there compared to living in England but house buying aside I don't expect you'll be exposed to any of these.
gotoPzero said:
Been quoted 0.75% + VAT from a Scottish solicitor today for buyers conveyancing,
Seems a lot! Is that par for the course?
With SDLT + Solicitor we are talking £30k...
Seems about right, perhaps solicitors only a little pricey but in scheme of things I’d go with recommendations rather than price. Seems a lot! Is that par for the course?
With SDLT + Solicitor we are talking £30k...
2.5yrs, quite similar budget. 28k SDLT, 3-4K Scottish solicitors, £5700 English estate agent, can’t recall english solicitors, plus removals and storage for 4 months, pushed us in excess of 40k. Could have had a nice 911 if I’d stayed put
But I’d not change it for the world.
Thanks.
So serious talk time....
Tomorrow we are viewing a place that, for example, is listed at 495k.
The HR value is 525k.
Is it likely that they will be expecting offers of closer to 525? Or even over?
The agent tells me they have 2 interested parties but no offers, but they expect them to go to final offers date soon.
We had an offer on ours today, so in theory we are good to go... but dont want to over offer.. IYSWIM.
So serious talk time....
Tomorrow we are viewing a place that, for example, is listed at 495k.
The HR value is 525k.
Is it likely that they will be expecting offers of closer to 525? Or even over?
The agent tells me they have 2 interested parties but no offers, but they expect them to go to final offers date soon.
We had an offer on ours today, so in theory we are good to go... but dont want to over offer.. IYSWIM.
gotoPzero said:
Thanks.
So serious talk time....
Tomorrow we are viewing a place that, for example, is listed at 495k.
The HR value is 525k.
Is it likely that they will be expecting offers of closer to 525? Or even over?
The agent tells me they have 2 interested parties but no offers, but they expect them to go to final offers date soon.
We had an offer on ours today, so in theory we are good to go... but dont want to over offer.. IYSWIM.
List price is close to meaningless. just based on what you say it will likely go for slightly over 525 but not much overSo serious talk time....
Tomorrow we are viewing a place that, for example, is listed at 495k.
The HR value is 525k.
Is it likely that they will be expecting offers of closer to 525? Or even over?
The agent tells me they have 2 interested parties but no offers, but they expect them to go to final offers date soon.
We had an offer on ours today, so in theory we are good to go... but dont want to over offer.. IYSWIM.
Though obviously there is a lot of missing info. How long has it been in and how serious is the interest? Notes? Is your solicitor local?
I sold my Aunt's house last year (May 2023) in Kirkcudbright. the home report value (Shepherds) was £250k that I was NOT at all comfortable with. After the initial few viewings I dropped the price and it sold for £238 last Oct.
My aunt paid £198k in Nov 2011. Did nothing to boost the value.
A good house and a price I was more than happy with. Don't be duped please OP.
I thought personally (and I'm no expert. My Aunts house was worth £220k)
As said. Do Not Be Duped.
My aunt paid £198k in Nov 2011. Did nothing to boost the value.
A good house and a price I was more than happy with. Don't be duped please OP.
I thought personally (and I'm no expert. My Aunts house was worth £220k)
As said. Do Not Be Duped.
gotoPzero said:
Thanks.
So serious talk time....
Tomorrow we are viewing a place that, for example, is listed at 495k.
The HR value is 525k.
Is it likely that they will be expecting offers of closer to 525? Or even over?
The agent tells me they have 2 interested parties but no offers, but they expect them to go to final offers date soon.
We had an offer on ours today, so in theory we are good to go... but dont want to over offer.. IYSWIM.
If you like it £545k would not be an unreasonable ball park to start withSo serious talk time....
Tomorrow we are viewing a place that, for example, is listed at 495k.
The HR value is 525k.
Is it likely that they will be expecting offers of closer to 525? Or even over?
The agent tells me they have 2 interested parties but no offers, but they expect them to go to final offers date soon.
We had an offer on ours today, so in theory we are good to go... but dont want to over offer.. IYSWIM.
HR +10%
If it gets a few interested parties though it could go up to £600k.
It priced in the middle of a stamp duty band (325-750) so its not got an obvious reasonable price cap.
So the prices I made up, but the actual difference between the list price and the HR price is £25k.
So its looking like we need to be offering close to if not slightly over HR?
We gave the nod to a Scottish solicitor today (they will be formally instructed once we make an offer I guess) as things are getting serious now, they can see the house out of their office window.... so yep they are local to it.
I spoke to them today and they said that property in the last couple of months has been flying so be prepared to pay over. But they also said it depends how many interested parties. At the moment its 2. 3 with us.
Its been on the market a couple of weeks.
So its looking like we need to be offering close to if not slightly over HR?
We gave the nod to a Scottish solicitor today (they will be formally instructed once we make an offer I guess) as things are getting serious now, they can see the house out of their office window.... so yep they are local to it.
I spoke to them today and they said that property in the last couple of months has been flying so be prepared to pay over. But they also said it depends how many interested parties. At the moment its 2. 3 with us.
Its been on the market a couple of weeks.
If things are serious, i believe you need a solicitor lined up to make a formal offer. You can decide whether you want to make a note of interest instead of an offer and there are pros and cons to this and even then think you might need a solicitor to make a note of interest.
If a closing date is then subsequently set (depending on interest) then you’ll usually have two weeks till close so it’ll pay dividends to find a solicitor quickly.
If you make an offer it’s the sellers choice whether to take it or go to closed bids. As to how much? Million dollar question. The advice we took was only pay what it’s worth it to you.
Good luck, exciting!!!
Edit : I now saw you posted whilst I was writing this, and it sounds like you have all in order. Best of luck !
If a closing date is then subsequently set (depending on interest) then you’ll usually have two weeks till close so it’ll pay dividends to find a solicitor quickly.
If you make an offer it’s the sellers choice whether to take it or go to closed bids. As to how much? Million dollar question. The advice we took was only pay what it’s worth it to you.
Good luck, exciting!!!
Edit : I now saw you posted whilst I was writing this, and it sounds like you have all in order. Best of luck !
Edited by thepritch on Wednesday 15th May 21:45
gotoPzero said:
So the prices I made up, but the actual difference between the list price and the HR price is £25k.
So its looking like we need to be offering close to if not slightly over HR?
We gave the nod to a Scottish solicitor today (they will be formally instructed once we make an offer I guess) as things are getting serious now, they can see the house out of their office window.... so yep they are local to it.
I spoke to them today and they said that property in the last couple of months has been flying so be prepared to pay over. But they also said it depends how many interested parties. At the moment its 2. 3 with us.
Its been on the market a couple of weeks.
Ignore the list price - or offers over - meaningless, they can set this at whatever they feel like.So its looking like we need to be offering close to if not slightly over HR?
We gave the nod to a Scottish solicitor today (they will be formally instructed once we make an offer I guess) as things are getting serious now, they can see the house out of their office window.... so yep they are local to it.
I spoke to them today and they said that property in the last couple of months has been flying so be prepared to pay over. But they also said it depends how many interested parties. At the moment its 2. 3 with us.
Its been on the market a couple of weeks.
Go by the HR valuation as a guide.
If a closing date has not been set, and you offer, unless its good enough to tempt the sellers to accept when they know there's other interested parties, then be prepared for them to refuse and set a closing date thereafter - as they know that at the closing date they'll either get a better offer from one of the other interested parties, or, you'll come back in with at least what you previously offered, if not more.
Have any of the supposed other interested parties formally noted interest? Your solicitor should find this out on your behalf, as once there are a couple of official notes of interest you'd expect a closing date to be set.
Edited by yellowbentines on Wednesday 15th May 21:49
yellowbentines said:
Have any of the supposed other interested parties formally noted interest? Your solicitor should find this out on your behalf, as once there are a couple of official notes of interest you'd expect a closing date to be set.
yes 2 notes of interestEdited by yellowbentines on Wednesday 15th May 21:49
going into solicitors office tomorrow for a chat
gotoPzero said:
yes 2 notes of interest
going into solicitors office tomorrow for a chat
2 weeks 2 notes, this market, i think you are looking at 20k over HR.going into solicitors office tomorrow for a chat
These dates notes are not as much as a confirmed bid as they used ot be. Some buyers prefer to stay stealthy and don't note at all. Agents push buyers to note interest to drum up interest, so there is a higher drop out rate. And agents increasingly willing to accept 'an email signially interest as notes, without the solicitor
If it does go to closing I'd be looking at something like 540 to be confidently competitive. THough it's quite possible it will go 10k either way.
We bought our house through a closing date final bid process.
Largely we ignored the home report valuation and offered what we thought it was worth to us. Whether we overpaid or underpaid is not an issue as we feel we paid the right amount for us.
You can tie yourself in knots trying to second guess the market, just offer what you think it is worth to you and be prepared to miss out if.
Largely we ignored the home report valuation and offered what we thought it was worth to us. Whether we overpaid or underpaid is not an issue as we feel we paid the right amount for us.
You can tie yourself in knots trying to second guess the market, just offer what you think it is worth to you and be prepared to miss out if.
skeeterm5 said:
We bought our house through a closing date final bid process.
Largely we ignored the home report valuation and offered what we thought it was worth to us. Whether we overpaid or underpaid is not an issue as we feel we paid the right amount for us.
You can tie yourself in knots trying to second guess the market, just offer what you think it is worth to you and be prepared to miss out if.
100% this. I think it’s the only way to do it. I don’t care now if I overpaid or otherwise, I just know what it means to us now. Largely we ignored the home report valuation and offered what we thought it was worth to us. Whether we overpaid or underpaid is not an issue as we feel we paid the right amount for us.
You can tie yourself in knots trying to second guess the market, just offer what you think it is worth to you and be prepared to miss out if.
thepritch said:
100% this. I think it’s the only way to do it. I don’t care now if I overpaid or otherwise, I just know what it means to us now.
Completely agree. However it's still a massively draining experience to get attached to a house that is (unknown to you) outside your budget and go through the process only to lose it. So it's useful to know roughly where the market will fall, even though its the outlier that will ultimately winlizardbrain said:
Completely agree. However it's still a massively draining experience to get attached to a house that is (unknown to you) outside your budget and go through the process only to lose it. So it's useful to know roughly where the market will fall, even though its the outlier that will ultimately win
Good caution / point 
I’ve decided after following this thread I’m not moving ever again! Too much stress!
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