Buying A House

Finding Your House

See A Solicitor First

Arranging A Survey

Obtaining A Loan

Making An Offer

Insurance Of House And Contents

The Conveyancing

Buying A House
The majority of householders in Scotland now own their own homes, and the percentage continues to rise.

Owning your home gives a feeling of independence and offers an opportunity to plan the environment in which you live and improve upon it.

For most of us buying a house is the single biggest investment we are ever likely to make. For the first time buyer it is the first step in life's progress towards owning a dream home.

Whether we are first time buyers entering the property market or experienced purchasers it is a move that must be made with care.

What should be an exhilarating and profitable experience can turn into a nightmare and sometimes a considerable loss can arise unless expert advice is taken from the start.

There are four stages in house purchase:

• finding your house
• obtaining a loan
• making an offer
• the conveyancing

Hewats can help you with ALL of this and guide you through the maze from first seeing a suitable property to the handover of keys.

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Finding Your House
The first step is to work out your budget and the price range you can afford.

• How much are you likely to get for your present house?
• Or, as a first time house buyer, how much have you saved?
• What are you likely to get as a mortgage? Banks and Building Societies may lend at least three times the income of the applicant. If there is a joint loan to a couple, then the income of the lower earner will also be taken into account in computing the maximum loan available.
• Remember that there will be other costs, such as survey and legal fees, government registration dues, Stamp Duties, VAT, removal costs and possibly new furnishings.

You may find it helpful to prepare a specification for thetype of house you want.

• old or new· detached, semi-detached or flat
• number of public rooms and bedrooms
• the area you prefer to live in
• is it near a suitable school?
• how close are the shops and leisure facilities?
• transport facilities?
  
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For Property Purchase in Scotland Contact Hewats First
At a very early stage you need independent advice. We are independent of all financial institutions and other providers of financial services and will act for you putting your interests first and in your interests alone.

Let us see your house specification and talk to us frankly about the house you have in mind, the resources you have, and what you believe you can afford to borrow.

You will find that solicitors in Scotland buy and sell a large proportion of the domestic property that comes on the market.

Many Scottish solicitors have grouped together to establish Property Centres across Scotland which are handling a vast number of property enquiries each year. They provide visual, printed display and internet services to help the house seller and purchaser within each Property Centre. Hewats are members of the Solicitors Property Centre for South West Scotland which has offices in Annan, Dumfries and Castle Douglas. Most Solicitors Property centres produce a weekly or monthly list of available properties being marketed by Solicitor Firms in their area.

You should look at a number of houses to see for yourself what is available and get a feel for price and the market. When you have selected the one you want, contact Hewats at as early a stage as possible and we will have your interest in the property noted by the selling agent to ensure that you are given an opportunity to make an offer in the event of any closing date for offers being fixed.

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Arranging A Survey
Before Hewats make a written offer on your behalf, we can arrange to have a survey of the property carried out by a qualified surveyor.If you are borrowing money, the bank or building society must have its own valuation survey, for which you have to pay, to provide a clear indication of the value of the house for loan purposes.

This survey may not be a full structural survey, and banks and building societies need not reveal details of the report, although most will. If you wish to be completely safe you should have your own structural survey carried out, although that could be fairly expensive.

A House Buyer's Report and Valuation is offered by most surveyors, which is cheaper than a structural survey but more thorough than a valuation survey. This type of report will in most cases offer a reasonable compromise between cost and thoroughness.

Hewats will offer advice on the steps you should take regarding your survey and the need for it, and will obtain the appropriate type of survey report in accordance with your own choice. We have excellent contacts with a number of local and national firms of surveyors. We can generally obtain a written report on most properties in Scotland within two or three days and a verbal report in urgent cases.

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Obtaining A Loan
Most of us need a loan of some kind when we are purchasing a house.

If your aim for some years has been to own your own home, then you may have a bank or building society account, which will improve your chances of obtaining a loan from a lender with whom you have an established connection. What you can borrow will depend on a number of factors:

• the loan valuation placed on your property by the surveyor (which could be lower than the market price)
• the amount you and, where appropriate, your partner earn
• how much you can afford to pay each month taking into consideration all the other commitments you will have to meet
• whether you intend to repay the loan by instalments of capital and interest, or, by using an existing or new life insurance policy to pay interest only to your lender and a monthly insurance premium to an insurance company with the loan eventually being repaid from the proceeds of the policy.

If you are not using the insurance policy method of paying back your loan you should consider a mortgage protection policy which is a cheap way of guaranteeing that the loan will be repaid if you were to die before the end of the repayment period. Remember, in a joint loan, the policy can cover both borrowers. Your solicitor can advise you on the best method of repaying your loan to suit your own circumstances.

Remember your solicitor has to have the money from your loan as well as any funds from your own resources to complete the purchase on your behalf and he will do his utmost to ensure that everything is in place for completion of the purchase to take place as scheduled.

Sometimes the money to complete the transaction will not be available at the time entry is being given to your house, for example if you are waiting to find a buyer at the right price for your previous home. At this point you may need a bridging loan. We can assist you to arrange this through your own bank.

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Making An Offer
If you decide to go ahead, Hewats will prepare your offer for you and submit it in writing. If the seller decides to accept your offer in principle, his solicitor and yours will adjust the detailed terms of the contract by an exchange of letters ultimately resulting in a legally binding contract, (lawyers refer to these letters as "The Missives").

We can guide you on how much you should offer. The seller may advertise the property asking for "offers over £X". This is the "asking" or "upset" price. It may be too low or too high. We can advise you on how much to offer based on our own knowledge and experience of house prices as well as on the survey report.

Price is only part of the offer and it will require to include various important conditions which your solicitor will explain.

If you have any questions about the property do not hesitate to raise them with us. Are the green fields next to your property zoned for further development? Does the nice little cul-de-sac in which your house stands have its road maintained by the council or is it private and therefore your responsibility to maintain?

Remember too to let us whether there is central heating and/or double glazing in the property and whether you are coming to arrangements with the sellers about fixtures, fittings and furnishings - carpets, curtains, light fittings, wall mirrors, a removable garden shed and so forth either to be included in the price to be offered for by separate bargain. You must let us know about these things so that, if appropriate, they can be included in the offer. This will ensure that there are no wrangles at a later stage over what was intended to be included in the sale.

The offer will also stipulate the date of entry to the property - the date you are expected to pay the price and to receive possession of your house.

Never make a written offer yourself, and if you are buying a new house do not sign a builder’s standard offer of sale without taking legal advice.

The price you are offering for the house will not be your only expense. You may have to pay Stamp Duty, a government tax on the purchase of houses.

You will also have to consider other fees and outlays. Hewats will help you calculate all costs including VAT.

Remember, you can always ask us for an estimate of the total costs of purchasing your house.

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Insurance Of House And Contents
In contract law the building should normally be insured from the time we conclude the Missives on your behalf. In practice, we will normally stipulate that risk of damage will pass to you as purchaser at the date of entry. Sometimes insurance is dealt with by your lender. You will need to insure the contents when you move in or transfer your existing contents Insurance. Hewats will be pleased to advise you on this.

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The Conveyancing
Conveyancing is the conveying or transferring of the title of the property you are purchasing from the seller to you.

Hewats will obtain the title deeds from the sellers' solicitor and ensure that the seller really does own the property and has a good title to it and that there are no unusual conditions or restrictions on your use of the property.

We will check that all necessary planning permissions have been granted as well as many other matters with the Local Authority.

We will then prepare the conveyancing deed in your favour and have it checked by the sellers' solicitor, complete the loan documents, obtain the money from you and your lender to settle the transaction at the right time and arrange a bridging loan if required.

You can sometimes obtain access before the formalities are completed so that you can take measurements or obtain decorating estimates and so on. Ask us if this can be arranged.

The transaction will then be settled by paying the purchase price in exchange for the title deed in your favour and the keys of the property.

Hewats will have the title deed stamped if necessary and ensure that it is recorded in the appropriate official Register. A new system of Registration of Title is now well on the way towards encompassing the whole of Scotland though some areas remain on the older system of land records known as Sasine Registration. The changeover from Sasine to the newer Land Registration system involves two important changes to procedures.

Firstly, under Land Registration, the title is guaranteed by the State, and secondly, the system is computerised and map-based. In the long run this will mean a saving of time for solicitors and may mean lower legal charges when you come to buy or sell your house. However, when a house changes hands under the system of Registration of Title for the first time, the procedure is more complicated and can be more expensive than under the existing system.

Once the conveyancing is complete Hewats will account to you with full details of all the cash payments made on your behalf and the fees involved in carrying out the transaction for you.

Hewats can undertake all of these services for you. Our experience will help to facilitate a smooth house purchase process at what can be a stressful time.

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