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Why you need a solicitor before you bid
In England offers are usually made verbally to the estate agent, but in Scotland the formal steps of buying all go through a solicitor, and the ones that decide whether you get the house happen quickly:
- Noting interest. Your solicitor tells the seller’s side you are interested. That is how you hear if a closing date is set, and it commits you to nothing.
- Submitting the offer. A formal written offer, from your solicitor to the seller’s. On a closing date it has to arrive by a fixed time, often noon, and late offers can be ignored.
- The missives. The letters that turn an accepted offer into a binding contract. Until they conclude, either side can in principle still walk away.
That sequence is why the advice is to instruct a solicitor before you start viewing seriously. Otherwise you can end up phoning round firms on the same day you find the place you want.
No firm pays to be listed and none is ranked. Each entry is checked by hand on the firm’s own website: that it is a firm of solicitors, that it acts for people buying homes, and where its offices are. Nothing is copied in bulk from any register. The lists are not exhaustive. To correct a detail or suggest a firm, email michael@savvywebsite.co.uk.
What to read before you instruct one
Two things make the first conversation with a solicitor far more useful. Know what the Home Report actually says, including the repair categories and the valuation, because that is the document they will work from. And know how much cash an offer above the valuation really needs, because your lender lends against the valuation rather than your offer, and that decides how far you can go.
Homes in Edinburgh achieved on average 101.5% of Home Report valuation
Median 26 days to sell. Across Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders, 72.8% of homes sold at or above their Home Report valuation and 17.3% went to a closing date.
Bidding on a specific property?
An area average cannot tell you what the flat you viewed on Saturday will go for. That takes its street, its comparables, and how often homes like it go to a closing date.
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