The MOV8 Scottish Property Market Jargon Buster!

“Solicitors” and “Estate Agents” – what’s the difference in Scotland?

In a lot of Scotland, the answer is...‘not much’!

MOV8 Real Estate is actually a firm of solicitors.  However, our primary business is as estate agents.  Strange?  Well, compared to the rest of the UK, yes!

In Edinburgh over 90% of property is sold by solicitors, regulated by The Law Society of Scotland.  Only about 10% is sold by estate agents who are regulated by, well...noone.  In Glasgow the market is dominated by estate agents.  However, in Aberdeen it is again solicitors who sell nearly all property. Although we are technically a firm of solicitors, when it comes to selling property we work in exactly the same way as estate agents do: conducting viewings on behalf of our clients; advertising in estate agents’ property portals; and negotiating with all of the potential property buyers to achieve the best final selling price. 

“Conveyancing”

'Conveyancing' is the legal process that actually transfers ownership of the property from one person to another (i.e. to ‘convey’ the ownership from one party to another).

“Note of Interest”

This comes from a solicitor, on behalf of their client, saying they will want to Offer, and effectively asking the solicitor/estate agent acting on behalf of the seller not to sell the property to anyone else without first contacting them to allow their client to put in an Offer, usually at a Closing Date (see later).

“Closing Date”

A day and time by which anyone who wishes to buy a particular property must make an Offer on that property.  A Closing Date is usually set when enough Notes of Interest have been received.  Why?  Because all potential buyers are told of the number of Notes of Interest, and the more people are interested in offering, the more likely it is that a high price will be achieved. 

“Viewing” and “Open Viewing”

“Missives”

This is simply the traditional Scottish legal word for ‘contract’ in the residential property field.

Missives is another word for ‘letters’.  To this day, the contract for the purchase of a property in Scotland is concluded by an exchange of letters.

When Missives are ‘concluded’, this means that there is a binding contract between the property seller and the property buyer.  In other words, at this point the property buyer cannot change their mind about purchasing the property and there will be severe financial penalties if the property buyer is unable to pay the purchase price at the Date of Entry (see below).

In Scotland, unlike in England and Wales, the contract is often concluded several weeks before the money is paid and the keys are handed to the buyer. 

“Date of Entry”

This is the date on which:

• the property buyer pays the purchase price to the property seller
• the property seller gives the keys to the property purchaser.

It's sometimes also referred to as the 'settlement date'.

In Scotland, an offer on a property must be in writing before it is binding: oral offers are not worth the paper they’re not printed on.  However, potential buyers and/or their solicitors may call us to make an oral/verbal offer, prior to making a written offer, just to ‘test the water’.  The prospective buyer will then engage his/her solicitor to submit a written Offer to buy the property (usually by fax, followed-up in hard-copy).

“Survey”

A Chartered Surveyor will do the Survey on a property either prior to, or after, someone makes an Offer on a property, essentially to see what the property is worth and/or whether it is falling down or structurally sound.  They Surveyor will usually need to collect keys from our offices for access.

It used to be common in Scotland to make an offer on a property 'subject to survey'.  This is now less common because Home Reports mean that less buyers need to get a survey done on the property they are looking at buying.

Offers Over is similar to the system of ‘sealed bids’ in England and Wales.  Fixed Price is more similar to the usual ‘asking price’ system in England and Wales.  Offers Around and Offers in the Region of are just different ways of saying the same thing.

Where a property is Offer Over the seller is inviting bids in excess of that ‘asking price’ (it is really more of a ‘starting price’ than an ‘asking price’).  This can be particularly confusing for callers who are not used to the Scottish property system.  It is less common since the introduction of Home Reports in Scotland.  The successful Offer can be anywhere between 1% and 100% over the 'Offers Over' price, depending on the level of interest in the property.  Of course, if the property is seemingly worth £200,000 and the Offers Over price is set at £230,000, it will probably sell for less than the Offers Over price!

Where a property is Fixed Price then the first person who makes a written Offer for that amount of money, with a suitable Date of Entry, who has funds in place (i.e. they have been approved for a mortgage), and who is in a position to conclude Missives quickly, will be successful.  In practice, the successful Offer is often slightly below the Fixed Price.

Offers in the Region of and Offers Around pricing is far more common now that Home Reports have given all property buyers in Scotland, since 1 December 2008, a very good idea of what a property is notionally worth prior to them submitting an offer.  The successful offer may be over or under the asking price: it depends on the level of interest in the property.