Harbor

  1. Noting interest – you have seen a house you like.  Phone us, and we can note interest on your behalf. 
  2. Making an offer – this is the beginning of the formation of a contract.  There are a great number of clauses which have to be satisfied before the contract is enforceable.  An offer is often subject to survey.  If the offer is accepted it is normal to instruct the survey at once, and it is important that you understand the difference between the various types of survey..   
  3. Forming a legally binding contract.  This is done by exchanging a special form of letter, and the letters are sometimes referred to as missives.  The offer is the first letter.  Either party can pull out without penalty until the contract is formed, so it is important to make sure the contact is formed as quickly as possible.  You may find yourself in a chain at this stage, as it is rare for people to want to conclude a contract for a new house before they have concluded the contract for their present house/arranged a loan.  Once a legally binding contract is formed, the chosen date of entry can only be changed by the agreement by both parties.
  4.  Conveyancing is carried out by the solicitor, and she will also deal with documentation from the lender.  If there is more than one person on the title deeds, you have to consider whether you want the title to the property in joint names with or without a survivorship clause (ie if one person dies, the other owns the whole property automatically).  Please remember to discuss this with the solicitor.  If you do not raise the issue, the title will be taken without a survivorship clause.
  5. Before you move in:  we shall need money to pay for the property in cleared funds.  The lender (if any) sends the money directly to us, and we ask you for the balance, including the fees, outlays and stamp duty about a week before the date of entry.  
  6. We deal with paying the land tax (formerly stamp duty) and registering the deeds.  Sometimes the deeds are returned quickly from the Registers of Scotland, but sometimes it may take years for the Registers to complete their administrative process.  The title is returned to us and we then send it to your lender.  If there is no lender we ask you if you want to keep them.  It is useful to have the deeds, but if they are destroyed they are easy to replace as they are registered in a public register.