An important difference affecting the whole attitude to buying and selling a home in Scotland is that your solicitor plays a much bigger role in the process. In most cases, solicitors act as the selling agents for a property - not estate agents.
'In Edinburgh, 90% of all sales of second-hand homes are handled by solicitors,' says Ross Kennedy at Edinburgh solicitors, Dundas & Wilson. Other cities are different: in Glasgow, for example, only 30%-40% are handled by solicitors.
You appoint a solicitor as soon as you have seen a home you'd like to make an offer on. Your solicitor will then contact the selling agent to inform them of your interest in the property, or 'note interest'. As solicitors are more involved and there are fewer estate agents, the system is fairer and more certain for buyers in many ways. There is no risk of gazumping, as Ross Kennedy points out. 'There are strict law society guidelines to stop solicitors getting involved in it. They are also on hand to guide home buyers through the process.'
The way the purchase price is set is another major difference. In England and Wales, the seller decides the asking price and potential buyers can offer below that figure. In Scotland, however, the seller fixes an 'offers over' price or 'upset price' inviting only offers above that figure, which is therefore advantageous for the seller. 'They will usually set the price 10%-20% below what they hope to get but in reality they can often get more than they expect,' says Ross Kennedy. Conversely, the buyer may end up paying more than the lowest amount the seller is willing to accept, something that does not happen south of the border.
