Properties are most commonly offered for sale at an “offers over” price. Purchasers who are interested in a property being sold at an “offers over” price will usually “note interest” in the property through their solicitor. If a prospective purchaser is the only party interested in a property at a particular time then they are free to submit an offer, which the seller is free to accept or to decline or to negotiate on. However, if there is more than one prospective purchaser who has noted interest in a property then it is highly likely that the seller will fix a “closing date” at a time of their choosing. The seller is not obliged to do so and it is not impossible that a seller will accept an offer without fixing a closing date. When a closing date is fixed the seller of a property invites all prospective purchasers to submit their best offer for the property, at an agreed date and time. 

 

Sometimes properties are marketed at a “fixed price”. When a property is marketed at a “fixed price”, the seller will usually accept the first clean offer (i.e. not subject to survey) for the property which they receive, subject to agreeing other matters such as the entry date and which white goods and other moveable items are to be included in the price. The seller is not legally obliged to accept the first or any offer of the fixed price that they receive, although it would be normal for the seller to do so. Fixed price properties are usually sold on a “first come, first served” basis.  

 

A prospective purchaser can lodge a note of interest in a property through their solicitor. Once an interest has been noted, the property will  usually not be sold without the person for whom the interest has been noted being given an opportunity to offer for the property. When a closing date is fixed for a property, the selling agent will normally advise all solicitors who had noted interest on behalf of prospective purchasers of the closing date, in order that all prospective purchasers have an equal opportunity to offer for the property. It should be noted that the system of noting interests is a convention rather than something which is legally binding, so whilst it would be unusual for a seller to agree a sale of their property without giving all parties who have noted interest the opportunity to offer at a closing date, legally, there is nothing to stop a seller from agreeing to such a sale. 

 

Prospective purchasers may be interested in more than one property at a time and it is perfectly legitimate for them to have lodged a note of interest in more than one property at a time. 

 

At a closing date all prospective purchasers who wish to offer will submit their best offer to the seller’s solicitor, at an agreed time. Following the closing date the seller then decides which, if any, of the offers received they wish to accept. The seller will usually, but not always, accept the highest offer received. The seller is not under any obligation to accept the highest offer, or any offer, received at a closing date. At the stage where an offer has been “accepted” at a closing date it should be noted that whilst the purchaser and the seller have reached agreement in principle on the main terms of the purchase/sale, there is nothing legally binding about the arrangement until such time as “missives have been concluded” (See below). 

 

The current norm is for offers to be submitted on a “subject to survey” basis. If a seller agrees in principle to accept a purchaser’s offer then the purchaser will normally instruct a valuation or a survey immediately. Within one or two working days the purchaser's solicitor will normally  confirm to the seller’s solicitor whether or not the purchaser is happy with that survey or valuation and, accordingly, whether or not they wish to proceed with the purchase.

 

The two main types of report which are available to purchasers are the Mortgage Valuation Report (often called a “Scheme 1”) and the Homebuyers Report (often called a “Scheme 2”). The Mortgage Valuation is the more basic of the two reports and is approximately half the price of the Homebuyers Report. Which type of report is appropriate for a particular purchaser and a particular property very much depends on the particular circumstances of the transaction. Which type of report is the right report for you is something that one of our solicitors will be happy to discuss with you. 

 

“Missives” is the technical word for the contract for the purchase/sale of the property. When the missives are concluded the contract between purchaser and seller becomes legally binding, but is not legally binding until then. The process of adjusting and agreeing the terms of the missives is conducted between the purchaser’s solicitor and the seller’s solicitor, on the instructions of their respective clients.   From the time that an offer is agreed in principle it typically takes around two weeks to progress to the stage where missives are concluded, although the process of concluding missives can sometimes be much quicker, and sometimes much slower, than that. 

 

The missives take the form of formal letters which are exchanged between the purchaser’s solicitor and the seller’s solicitor. These formal letters are signed by the solicitors as agents for the purchaser and the seller. Many purchasers and sellers do not realise that they do not sign the missives themselves. Purchasers and Sellers should be aware that the missives concluded on their behalf by their solicitor make them party to a legally binding contract for the purchase or sale of a property, even though they will be unlikely to have signed anything personally. 

 

In Scotland land and buildings are usually owned outright and can usually be disposed of freely by the owner. The title to the property may  contain conditions which relate to maintenance obligations which attach to the property, the permitted use of the property, etc. As part of the process of completing the Conveyancing for a purchase/sale the seller’s solicitor will exhibit the title deeds to the property to the purchaser’s solicitor. The purchaser’s solicitor will then examine the title deeds on behalf of the purchaser, to ensure that the title is in order, and will report to the purchaser in relation to any significant matters arising from the examination of the title deeds.