Buying houses in Scotland

We made on offer on our house before our mortgage was fully settled. And we didn't pay a deposit in advance. But once our offer was in and accepted, it was binding and we had to get the cash together. The deposit came from the sale of our flat (which we 'sold' the same day as we 'bought' this house, the money was simply transferred between solicitors) and the mortgage covered the rest - our solicitor made sure the money from that came in the day before completion. We were very lucky that the two sales fell together so well, it may be different for other situations.

Cash in full? Deposit? Eeek, hope not or we are screwed if we want to move. ?

You can put in an offer on a property, but (I believe) it isnt binding until the missives are signed. With my first purchase (first time buyer) I did this really early on, as I wanted to secure the property. When i was selling it and buying this place it was when the buyers were ready to sign the missives for their purchase (my property).

As for a deposit, is that not to the bank? Well, the mortgage provider, which would be the same as England?

Smiley's right, it's when missives are signed that it becomes binding, I'd forgotten that.

The actual cash transfer happens on the day you move into the property, you don't pay the cash upfront.

WsmileyS ? it used to be the case that buyers and sellers were happy to sign missives fairly early on in the process so there were no last minute pull-outs and it was a much smoother process than in England with no gazumping etc , but since the change in the economy it's increasingly common for it to be a bit of a nailbiter and people refusing to sign missives till the very last minute so they can pull out if their sale falls through, they can't get finances etc.

I've never heard of a deposit being paid, and you certainly don't need cash up front, but you'd be very foolish to sign missives without having the finances in place ?

He'll be a cash buyer when he's sold his place (he has a buyer) - and he has the money for a deposit up front. We're worried he'll miss out because he thinks he can't make an offer until his place is sold and completed. Daft.

I've never heard of a deposit being paid - but he can certainly offer and have his offer accepted without selling his own property (at which point estate agents are morally, but not legally, obliged to take the property off the market) The best thing to do would be to get him to talk to a scottish solicitor but he should certainly not sign any missives till his own place is sold ?

I can recommend a solicitor in Glasgow, if that's any use, Hazel. If he's a cash buyer, he'll be welcomed with open arms!

Theoretically speaking, if you offer for a house and it's accepted then it's a binding contract at that stage.

That never happens though. What happens is you put in an offer, the seller accepts it but subject to a number of qualifications and that can to and fro back between both parties and it's not until consensus on all the points in the offer is reached that missives will be concluded and then it's binding - similar to the exchange of contracts stage in England.

Gazumping/gazundering rather than being illegal per se is unethical and severely frowned upon by the Law Society and lawyers that engage in it for their clients can end up in hot water, that's why it very rarely happens.

The purchase price doesn't need to be paid until the date of entry. Obviously in the current financial climate it would be extremely wise for him to wait until he had exchanged contracts on the house in England (and/or had a definite mortgage offer although I see from your later post that he is a cash buyer so that isn't going to apply) before concluding missives on the property in Scotland. The only time I have heard of deposits being payable is where the house is a new build.

Is he going to want to complete on the sale in England and the purchase in Scotland on the same day? If so, there can be a bit of an issue there due to the way transactions are settled in the 2 jurisdictions - I understand that in England the money usually changes hands electronically whereas in Scotland it's more common to settle them by cheque (again except for newbuilds) - it means the money from the sale has to hit the English solicitor's bank account and then hit the Scottish solicitor's bank account before the Scottish solicitor can allow the seller to bank the cheque and due to the time it can take for money to float about it can be a bit of an issue - a lawyer will keep him right but could probably be quite easily resolved by either bridging or taking entry on the Scottish property a day or so after the English one has concluded.

Thanks Roobarb and everyone.