The Process of Offering for a Property

Whether you are buying a property for the first time or the twenty-first time, you will probably have questions about how the process of offering for a property works. Laura McFadzean, one of our Directors here at ELP Arbuthnott McClanachan and a conveyancing solicitor with over 13 years’ experience in this field, explains how we go about helping you to offer successfully for the property you want to buy.

Noting interest

The first step in the process of offering for a property is usually for us to contact the selling agents to note interest in your behalf. Noting interest does not bind you to anything, and it means that the selling agents will normally let us know if there are any developments regarding the sale of the property (eg if a closing date is set).

If yours is the first note of interest then it may be a good idea to make an offer at this stage, as you have a better chance of having an offer accepted when there is no competition. You can also negotiate on the price in this situation, whereas at a closing date you only get one chance and must, therefore, submit your best offer.

If the sellers do not accept your offer, or if you hold off on making an offer at this stage, and other people note interest then the selling agents will probably set a closing date.

Most of the time it will be in the sellers’ interests to set a closing date, but there is no requirement for them to do so. If the sellers receive an offer from someone else before a closing date has been set then they can accept it if they wish without giving you a chance to offer (even if we have noted interest on your behalf).

Closing date

A closing date can be set for a property when the selling agents have at least two interested parties. The closing date will be set for a particular time (usually 12 noon) on a date of the sellers’ choice.

Anyone who wishes to make an offer for the property must arrange for this to be done in writing through their solicitors before the closing date deadline. Offers are usually faxed to the selling agents shortly before the deadline.

The sellers will then consider all the offers and decide which offer, if any, they want to accept.

Fixed Price Properties

If a property is advertised at a Fixed Price then that means that the sellers will (almost always) accept an offer at the Fixed Price. Sometimes they may be willing to accept an offer at less than the Fixed Price and we will therefore always endeavour to negotiate the best price for you, but it is important to act quickly in case someone else makes an offer and you lose the property.

What information is contained in an Offer?

When we submit a written offer on your behalf, it contains the following information:

• Your name and address
• The property address
• The price you want to offer
• The date of entry (ie the date on which you will pay the money and receive the keys)
• Any extras to be included in the sale
• Any conditions on which the offer is made, eg subject to survey, subject to the sale of your own property, subject to receipt of your offer of loan for your mortgage
• An incorporation of the Combined Standard Clauses, which are used by the vast majority of solicitors and contain the standard fine print of the contract for the purchase of the property (see the Edinburgh Conveyancers’ Forum’s website for a copy of the Combined Standard Clauses as well as a Guide to the Clauses).

When discussing the terms of your offer with you, we will consider the Home Report for the property and advise you of any particular conditions you might wish to include in the offer. For example, if the surveyor has not checked the roof of an older property we might suggest that your offer should be conditional upon a satisfactory report from roofing contractors.

We will usually explain any other relevant information to the selling agents in a covering letter, including information that will make your offer more attractive, eg that you are a cash buyer or that you can be flexible on the date of entry.

There are many different potential scenarios, too many to cover here, but I hope you have found this brief summary helpful. If you have any queries or if you would like to discuss a particular property then please do not hesitate to contact me by phone on 0131 312 7276, or by e-mail to lmm@elpamsolicitors.co.uk.