Page 2 - Buying a House in Scotland - FAQ
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BUYING A HOUSE IN SCOTLAND - FAQ
Do you always need a deposit to buy a house or can you get a 100% loan?
It depends on the mortgage market at the time – but 100% mortgages are pretty well a thing of the past. Better
to assume you need a deposit of at least 10% - some lenders want even more. There is however a number of
schemes allowing first time buyers in Scotland to obtain an interest free loan for the deposit. Again the
availability of these schemes varies from time to time.
If someone in my family lends me 10% of a deposit to buy a house and I get a 90% loan can my
family member is named on the title of the house so they would get their money back on a sale?
The lender will not usually allow them to go on the title. But you can set up a legal agreement between you and
them which ensures they get their money back on a sale and even a share of the gain in the house price if you
want. Such an agreement and the relative legal documentation should be put in place when the house is bought.
I want to buy a house with my girlfriend but we don’t want to marry. Can both our names go on the
title deeds?
Yes they can. There can be future complications if you fall out and want to sell but again that can usually be
provided for on a simple agreement when you buy.
In Scotland I’m told once an offer for a house is accepted – that’s that and you can’t be gazumped. Is
that true?
Gazumping is pretty well unknown in Scotland. This is probably because lawyers are involved right from the offer
stage and “formal” or potentially legally binding offers are submitted at an early stage in the process. But when
an offer is “verbally accepted” that is not legally binding, a binding contract is only achieved when the various
clauses in the offer are agreed in writing between the lawyers. That can take a little time – some weeks
nowadays. Occasionally offers do “fall through” but not many.
How long does it take to buy a house in Scotland?
Well it depends. If the seller has all the documents available, the title is ok and it is a cash purchase it can take
as little as perhaps a fortnight. However hardly any purchases are like that. The “date of entry” is the date
everything settles and it is agreed by the buyer and seller in the contract negotiations. Sometimes both parties
want this date to be early sometimes they want it to be late. The average time between an offer going in and the
house changing hands is usually anything between 8 - 12 weeks or so.
Are carpets and curtains included in purchases?
It depends on what the parties want. Carpets and curtains are like say fridges and freezers “moveable items” and
they are not transferred automatically to the buyer. The buyer should specify what moveable items he wants in
his offer and the seller will either agree to leave them or not. There can be a bit of negotiation over these items -
sometimes buyers even pay extra for certain items. It is all down to what the parties want.
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