Selling house in England-buying in Scotland

[Paul Giverin]

Obviously in England when you move house, the whole chain exchanges
contract on the same day, ensuring no one is left without a chair when
the music stops but when selling in England an buying in Scotland (with
its different buying system), is there any way to ensure you a) don't
end up legally committed to leaving your English house and have the
Scottish sale fall through, or b) being legally committed to buying your
Scottish house and have your English sale fall through? Thanks.

[Alan]

Post by Paul Giverin
Obviously in England when you move house, the whole chain exchanges
contract on the same day, ensuring no one is left without a chair when
the music stops but when selling in England an buying in Scotland (with
its different buying system), is there any way to ensure you a) don't
end up legally committed to leaving your English house and have the
Scottish sale fall through, or b) being legally committed to buying your
Scottish house and have your English sale fall through? Thanks.

We're doing exactly the same thing.
Offer has been accepted informally, the formal offer , via the Solicitor
goes in next week.

I'm going through a mortgage broker to get a short term mortgage, but not
quite, a bridging loan. Luckily for us, the house in Scotland is 30% less
than what this one in England is valued at, so we should be able to get a
large short term mortgage, and pay it off when this house is sold.
The Scottish sale is unlikely to fall through when you have had your
offer accepted. If it does, you may be able to recover your costs from
the other party. That is the good thing about the Scottish sale rules.

It is the English sale where there is more of a chance of a problem. If
you cannot sell your present house in England, and have offered, and
accepted, the Terms of the Scottish purchase, then you may/will need to
do any of the following - be able to fund it some other way, negotiate
with the Seller to give you more time,or, pull out and pay the Sellers
costs.

You may need to take precautions with the English sale, and make sure a
Contract is in place that binds the Buyer to a certain date, that may be
possible, but it would cost, and many buyers wouldnt sign it. Or, get a
bridging loan in place before the sale, but dont actually take it out
unless the sale falls through. You could also get a good Estate Agent
(are there any, there must be some somewhere?) to vet the potential
buyers, and weed out those who may be struggling to get finance/sell
their own home.

[[e-mail]]

Post by Paul Giverin
Obviously in England when you move house, the whole chain exchanges
contract on the same day, ensuring no one is left without a chair when
the music stops but when selling in England an buying in Scotland (with
its different buying system), is there any way to ensure you a) don't
end up legally committed to leaving your English house and have the
Scottish sale fall through, or b) being legally committed to buying your
Scottish house and have your English sale fall through? Thanks.

a) no problem a Scottish sale gives a date of entry and sellers can't renege, particularly if you meet the asking price.

b) the reverse - a Scottish buyer can't renege either, and as English sales are plagued by STC you can easily get lumbered. Sound out your bank about a bridging loan to cover this eventuality.

[David McNeish]

Post by Paul Giverin
Obviously in England when you move house, the whole chain exchanges
contract on the same day, ensuring no one is left without a chair when
the music stops but when selling in England an buying in Scotland (with
its different buying system), is there any way to ensure you a) don't
end up legally committed to leaving your English house and have the
Scottish sale fall through, or b) being legally committed to buying your
Scottish house and have your English sale fall through? Thanks.

Yes, you find a Scottish seller willing to put up with the timescales of
the English chain and to only conclude missives simultaneously with
the English exchanging contracts. But it's likely to put you at a
disadvantage compared with other buyers.