Closing Dates can be the bane of a property buyer's life.  There is always a conflict between wanting to buy a property for the best possible price and the fear of over-paying because of the temptation to pay too much in order to beat the other buyers to the prize and to prevent the frustration of losing-out on a house you've set your heart on.  I'm often asked the dreaded question: 'How much should I pay at a Closing Date?'.  This is a relatively easy question to answer, though not in one sentence!  However, when someone has missed-out on a few properties at Closing Dates, and they want to know exactly how much they should pay to ensure that they don't get 'beaten' at the Closing Date and yet to ensure that they don't overpay too...well, that's a slightly more difficult one to answer!  It's a question I was recently asked and that I responded to with a bit of details and I hope that by recounting it for you now it will help you if you find yourself in that situation.

Many property buyers in Scotland simply don't have enough cash sitting around to purchase a property without taking a loan. The most common form of loan that property buyers in Scotland take is a mortgage. But what are the different types of mortgage: interest only vs. capital repayment, variable rate vs. fixed rate, and what happens if you don't pay your mortgage?