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Noting Interest, Closing Dates and Making Offers

Noting Interest, Closing Dates and Making Offers

Find out about how to note interest, closing dates and making offers on a property and how we help and give you guidance.

Once you have found a property you like, you will need to know what to do next and that means finding out about noting interest, closing dates and making offers. In this section if the Cameron Stephen Guide to first time buyers in Edinburgh, we explain all about this.

You have been out to the usual round of Sunday viewings and there is one property that really takes your fancy; you can see yourselves living there and it is within your budget. What do you do next?

Email us the details

The first thing you should do is to email us with the details. All we shall need is a note of the address of the property and the name of the selling agents.

What we do after that

We shall get hold of copies of the sales brochure and home report, contact the selling agents to note our interest, and find out how long the property has been on the market, how many other buyers have noted their interest and if a closing date has been set.

We then report back to you with our unique Property Information Summary Report.

Our report will provide a summary of the property asking price, home report value, indicate any issues identified in the home report, tell you the number of notes of interest at the moment and generally give you all the information you need at this point.

Added Value

Our report will also include useful information giving you an indication of the amount of the deposit you would need were you to offer the home report value and 10% over home report value based on a 90% loan to value mortgage.

First time buyer in Edinburgh?

Fixed Legal Fee of only £750 (inc. VAT)

We know that it is expensive for young people to buy their first property which is why we try to give a little help by offering our first time buyer clients a special fixed legal fee.

“Noting Interest” Explained

So, what is noting interest and what is the value in noting interest?

Noting Interest is simply us phoning the selling agents asking them to note our interest on your behalf so that if the sellers decide to set a closing Date for Offers, we shall be advised of that Closing Date.

Noting Interest doesn’t bind you or the seller to anything. It doesn’t bind you to make an offer at any Closing Date and equally doesn’t require the seller to let us know if they receive an offer or indeed prevent the seller from accepting an offer from someone else.

If it’s not really binding on you or the seller then what’s the value noting interest? The point is simply to make sure that if the seller does set a Closing Date then we shall be advised of it and so you won’t miss out on the chance of offering. This is useful/necessary because not all property portals give information that a closing date has been set or indeed notify you.

Tip – use the ESPC to search for properties and use the Watch service

One of the advantages of searching for properties on the ESPC website is that if you do sign-up and save the property to your watch list then you will receive notice of a closing date if the selling agent does add that notification – although most agents do, there are still some that don’t.

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Do you need to wait until a Closing Date is set before making an offer?

No.

However, if at the time we note our interest and report back to you, a Closing Date has been set, then you will have to wait until the Closing Date before you can make your offer along with the other buyers.

But if no Closing Date has been set, then we are free to make an offer.

Do you want to go ahead and make an offer on the property?

You will probably want to go ahead and make an offer.

But just a word to the wise. If when we report back to you that there are two or more other buyers who have noted interest already then it is likely that your offer will trigger the seller’s decision to set a closing date. If that is likely, then you might decide to hold-off making the offer for fear of tipping your hand, but since a closing date is the likely outcome, we would still recommend you to go ahead and make the offer (even if not your best offer) as you never can tell. The seller might just be prepared to accept.

Making an Offer

We will probably have most of the information we need from you to make the offer, but in order to make the offer we shall, in total, need the following information:

  • Your full name;
  • Your current home address;
  • Confirmation that you have a mortgage agreement in principle; and
  • The price you wish to offer.

Depending on what the Home Report discloses, we shall also discuss with you if your offer needs to be made subject to getting additional information or reports (for example a damp specialist report or roof report).

We can also give you advice on what price to offer or starting offer if we think it might be necessary to negotiate.

We can also discuss with you any special requirements you might have about the Date of Entry (the date we would complete the purchase) but otherwise, and generally, this date is a Friday 7 or 8 weeks after the day we make the offer and the offer is accepted.

Negotiations

Usually, but not always, the initial offer will be verbal rather than in writing. So, we phone the selling agent and put in your offer. The agents will then take instructions from the seller.

It is quite common to have to negotiate then on the price to see if you and the seller can agree the price. If that is the case, then we shall keep in contact with you. Hopefully, the price can be agreed and at that point, we submit the agreed offer in writing to the selling agents.

Closing Dates

In the current housing market in Edinburgh it is likely that you will have to offer at a Closing Date and so you are best to know what this involves.

What is a closing date?

The goal of the seller is usually to achieve the best (highest) selling price he can get. The seller can achieve that goal if there is more than one buyer wanting to buy their home.

So, the system has developed in Scotland that buyers note their interest in a property and once the seller thinks he has enough buyers interested, a Closing Date is fixed in order to give all buyers a chance to make their best and final offer.

You are best to think about a Closing Date as being like an auction where you are only allowed to put in one bid and not knowing who else might be making an offer or what price they are offering. So, in essence, each buyer puts in their best and final offer.

When will the seller set a Closing Date?

Usually, the selling agents will recommend the seller to set a closing date once they have 3 or more buyers noted interest. The actual Closing Date can be any time on any day of the working week, although the usual time is 12 noon and the usual day is a Friday.

What we do when notified a Closing Date has been set

We shall ask the selling agents how many other buyers have noted interest and then report back to you to give you full details of the Closing Date and let you know by when you need to give us your instructions on what price to offer.

Added Value

Also, time permitting, we shall call the selling agents again the day before the day of the Closing Date to check if there has been any change in the number of buyers who have noted interest and give you a final update.

Tip – Use the time to get a second viewing

Generally, once your offer is accepted, you will not be allowed to go to view the property again until the Missives (the Purchase Contract) is concluded and legally binding, so we do recommend that you try to get in a second viewing of the property if possible.

What happens on the Closing Date?

And when will we find out if our offer has been successful?

We ask you to give us your instructions no later than a couple of hours before the Closing Date to give us enough time to prepare and submit your offer to the selling agents.

After the Closing Date, the selling agents then take instructions from the sellers as to which offer they wish to accept.

Usually, we find out the same day if our offer is successful. If there is to be a delay in the decision then we shall let you know and generally keep you updated.

If our offer is not successful, are we told the sale price?

No. That information is private and confidential between the seller and the buyer. Eventually, once the sale is complete the information will become available but not before.

What we do try to find out is a rough estimate of how much lower our offer was than the highest offer and most agents are prepared to give you a rough idea.

Can we increase our offer after the Closing Date?

No. At the Closing Date you only get to make one offer which should be your best and final offer.

What happens if our offer is successful?

Congratulations! We then need to start on the purchase process proper.

Buying

For all things buying property related, see our BUYING page.

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