How to sell your home in Scotland
Selling a property in Scotland for the first time? Let ESPC guide you through every step of the process with our handy guide to selling your home, from first stages to concluding the missives, to make the process as smooth and simple as possible.
Nine easy steps to selling your home
Simply follow these simple steps to help you sell your home in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife and the Borders.
Step One: Get your property valued
When you’ve decided to list your home for sale, you should get it valued to find out how much your property is worth.
You can arrange a free property valuation with an ESPC solicitor estate agent today, to start your selling journey on the right track and boost your chances of selling your property for a higher value.
We recommend getting a couple of agents in to value your home, so that you can find out more about what they offer, their pricing and their experience of selling in your local area.
Find out how much you could get for your property.
Step Two: Appoint a selling agent
After you’ve gotten your property valued by selling agents, you need to choose one to take you through the rest of the selling process.
ESPC solicitor estate agents are experts in the local property market and can take care of the entire selling process, from marketing the property to the legal process. Choosing a solicitor estate agent means that they can help you with securing your next property purchase too.
They are also duty-bound to provide the best service possible to you and work to stay up-to-date with any changing guidance and legislation on selling a property in Scotland.
Step Three: Look at your mortgage options
When you decide to sell your property, it’s also a good time to determine your financial situation, so that you can take your next steps confidently.
Seeking independent mortgage advice can help you to make decisions about your mortgage and what your best options are. The team at ESPC Mortgages can offer help and advice specific to your individual needs.
Step Four: Prepare your home for sale
Before you put your home on the market, you should make sure that it’s in the best condition possible. You should try and remember what attracted you to the property initially, and enhance those areas to show the property in its best light.
Think about how a potential buyer would view your home, and spruce it up where you can. You want the photographs to show your home in its best light and make it as appealing as possible.
Complete any repairs or maintenance work that needs doing, and freshen up any tired décor - whether that's a lick of paint, repairing a crack or just brightening up the bathroom grout, it all makes a difference.
Tidy up, and clear the clutter – moving things into storage is a great way to open up your space and create an open, inviting space for buyers. Remove personal effects, like family photographs, and make sure everywhere is clean and fresh before your home is photographed for sale.
Speak to your selling agent for their advice, and read this handy guide for more top tips on getting your home ready to sell.
Step Five: Arrange a Home Report
A Home Report is an essential document when selling your property; it looks in detail at the property and assesses its condition in order to determine its value and if it’s mortgageable. You will usually need a Home Report in order to sell a property in Scotland.
The Home Report will contain information about your home, and includes a Property Questionnaire for you to complete, a Single Survey (which looks at your home’s condition, value and audits its accessibility) and an Energy Report.
A surveyor will need to visit your home in order to produce the Home Report, and they will advise you on any extra health and safety precautions they are taking due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Costs vary but your solicitor estate agent can give you plenty of details on pricing and their preferred suppliers.
Step Six: Market your property
Now it’s time for your home to go on the market!
You’ll have a suite of photographs, a property schedule, and you’ll likely have a virtual or video tour as part of your marketing package, for buyers to watch first before they decide on a physical viewing. You can choose to share these on social media if you feel comfortable with it.
Ask your selling agent what other services they can provide to market your property to the best advantage. When marketing your home with an ESPC agent, you could take advantage of a range of additional marketing activities to boost your home’s prominence in the market, including premium listings on our website, or adverts in our monthly magazine.
Step Seven: Conduct viewings
When your home goes on the market, interested buyers will book appointments to view your property.
Viewings should be done virtually in the first instance, so you’ll likely have a virtual or video tour as part of your marketing package, for buyers to watch first before they decide on a physical viewing.
Your selling agent will be able to advise you on all stages of viewings, and provide guidance on how to ensure both you and the viewers stay safe during physical viewings.
Step Eight: Negotiate offers
If a buyer wishes to purchase your property, they’ll either submit a formal offer, or a note of interest.
If they make an offer, you can choose to accept it or negotiate on the price – your selling agent can negotiate this and other matters, such an entry date, on your behalf.
If they submit a note of interest, this means that the buyer is interested in making an offer on your property. If you receive one or more notes of interest, you can set a closing date, which means all offers should be submitted by that date for consideration.
However, you don’t need to set a closing date if you don’t want to – your solicitor estate agent can advise you on this.
Step Nine: Conclude the missives
After you’ve accepted an offer on your property, your solicitor will work on the legal aspects of the sale, to ‘conclude the missives’ – this means making a binding contract between buyer and seller, after which neither can withdraw from the sale without penalties.
The buyer’s solicitor estate agent will also complete further checks on the property, before drawing up the new title deeds and transferring ownership of the property.
Once that’s complete, the money from the sale will be collected, with arrangements made to discharge and repay your existing mortgage on the agreed date of entry.
And that’s your property officially sold!
Find out more about selling your home
Remember to check out our Seller FAQs and find much more information about selling your property in our Useful Info guides.
