9-Step Guide To Buying A New Home In Scotland
Buying a new home isn’t something most of us do very regularly and the homebuying process can seem very confusing. Scotland has its own legal rules and terms and here Estelle Sykes, sales director for Barratt Developments Scotland, takes us through the process step-by-step.
1. Get your finances in order
Firstly, you need to check how much you can borrow, how much your deposit will be, and get a mortgage agreed in principle. This doesn’t tie you to anything. You can always choose a different provide later.
2. Find a solicitor
You will need a solicitor to take care of all the legal aspects of the home-buying process. Remember to shop around for the best rate and make sure the one you choose specialises in Scottish conveyance (preparing the property transfer documents).
Traditionally, in Scotland, you need to find a solicitor right at the beginning of the home-buying process, as they will make offers on your behalf.
3. Find your new home
Now you know what kind of price range you can afford (remember that you may have to pay Land and Buildings Transaction Tax), you can start the exciting bit.
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4. Get the home report and survey
In Scotland, you will receive a Home Report from the seller. This consists of three documents:
- The Single Survey – an assessment of the condition of the home and a valuation
- The Energy Report – an assessment of the energy efficiency of the home and its environmental impact
- The Property Questionnaire – extra useful information such as Council Tax banding
Your mortgage lender will probably ask for a separate survey to be commissioned and submitted too.
5. Reserve your property
In the traditional homebuying process, this stage is similar to the ‘make an offer’ stage. Once your home is reserved, no-one else will be able to reserve it.
6. Arrange your mortgage
There is a lot of choice when it comes to choosing your mortgage – which lender to go with, how you’d like to repay your mortgage, how you’d like the interest calculated and which offers to take advantage of. Do plenty of research online or through a mortgage broker.
7. Complete the contracts
This is when your solicitor steps in to officially transfer the property from the seller to you – known as ‘conveyancing’. Amongst other things, this involves making sure you’ll have complete ownership of the property and that there aren’t any local plans afoot that may affect the value of the property.
8. Complete settlement and disposition
The final part of the conveyance step is the exchange of contracts. This is when you pay your deposit and means both you and the seller are committed to the deal.
9. Move in
The best bit! Before you move into a Barratt Developments home, we’ll invite you to your New Home Tour and Demonstration. We’ll demonstrate your new home to you, ensuring that when you move in you know where everything is and how it works. Then the keys are yours and you can move in!
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