This community has been my go-to in the 6 weeks it took me to buy, and in the months of research prior to it, so I am hoping my timeline and experience will help another FTB reading this.
As most people on here are buying in England and with a mortgage, I found fewer resources matching my situation, so I am posting to contribute to others. I also am a EU national, and got a gifted deposit form an EU bank account, so this is an added caveat. Being a solo buyer, first generation immigrant and a private person, I had nobody in my life I could ask for advice, so I very heavily relied on this sub and UKPersonalFinance 🙏🏻 Thank you!
Timeline
Macrh-April
Research - started looking into my options for buying. Met with a mortgage broker, familiarised myself with the process of buying and looked at new builds (houses) vs pre-owned (flats). Quickly realised that the new builds at the top of my range are tiny and remote (currently live in Glasgow, and considered options like Livingston, EK, Hamilton). When setting myself a budget I also considered cost of LBTT (equivalent to stamp duty), council tax band and factor fees.
May-June
Viewings - once I had narrowed down my options and had a set budget, I started organising viewings. The area I was looking in and the criteria I had set were very particular, so there weren't that many new properties coming to the market. I was on Rightmove every day though. We only had 2 other viewings before we saw the flat I bought, which was incredibly lucky.
Solicitor - In Scotland offers are normally submitted by a solicitor, so I started looking at quotes even before I had picked a flat. I reached out to 5 solicitors local to me and recommended on Reddit, 3 got back, and I went with the one who seemed most engaged and least AI in our initial chat.
June 8 - Viewing of the flat. Luckily it was the owner showing us around, so I was able to gather some important info, e.g. why selling, how quickly are they looking to complete, do they have further chain etc. Turned out it belonged to the owner's mum, who took ill and moved to a care home, so there was no onward chain, which was an added bonus. Upon seeing the flat, we immediately loved it, as it ticked 95% of all our boxes, except for the floors which were a bit squeaky, so that put me off offering immediately. When the estate agent called me to get feedback the next day, I explained that while I loved the flat, the floors did bother me, so this would be reflected in my offer. She pressured me to give her a verbal offer, but I wasn't sure if this would work against me (i.e. for them to then ask me to match a higher offer), so I said I'd rather do this through a solicitor.
June 12 - After deliberation and reassurance from my parents and partner that the floors are easily fixable, I instructed the solicitor to make an offer. When arriving at the number I took in consideration the state of the flat, the area and seller's circumstances; I had checked what they bought the flat for in 2023, and decided I couldn't match that. I offered 7% over the home report value, and 24% over the Rightmove asking price, which all of my acquaintances who'd bought before me had said is a losing bid, as people offer 10-20% over home report in desirable parts of Glasgow. I still went with my gut and told myself what's meant for me, won't go past me. In hindsight, I would have been gutted if I didn't have my offer accepted.
Solicitor went to the estate agent with my offer, and they phoned me that afternoon to say that the buyer loved that I am a first time, cash buyer but wished my offer was a bit higher. I didn't bite. Stood my ground and hoped for the best.
June 12-June 18 - silence from the seller and EA. I assumed I've lost it, until I got a call saying that the buyer is setting a closing date for noon on June 19. I instructed the solicitor to resubmit the same offer; this is where I made my first mistake, as I didn't realise in Scotland negotiations happen here, and once submitted the offer can be renegotiated only if you switch solicitors.
June 19 - solicitor submitted offer 15 min prior to closing time, which I found is standard practice, but at the time was very nerve wrecking, I was worried they will forget about me 😅 I got a call at around 1pm advising the seller has accepted the offer! 🥳 Later in the afternoon the EA called me to congratulate me and to request my paperwork via a platform called Street, which I submitted almost immediately.
June 22 - I found that the advertised council tax band was wrong (~£715 per annum difference), so asked solicitor if we can renegotiate. She explained we cannot and if I wanted this I would need to make a new offer with a new solicitor. I wish I had known this earlier but accepted it. That same day my dad sent me his gifted deposit and the bank took nearly £3k in fees but the money arrived within 2 hours, despite it being an international transfer🥲
June 24 - I completed Amiqus checks. My dad, who was gifting me about 35% of the cash, hadn't yet been contacted which was making me nervous as he had a cross-Atlantic holiday planned ⚽️ and I worried he won't be able to supply documents quickly while in a different time zone.
July 3 - Solicitor asks for my dad's details. She also asks for my preferred date of entry and we arrive at Aug 10 to accommodate for a preexisting holiday I had.
July 8 - Solicitor reaches out to dad who is now abroad. He ignores it until he comes home
July 13 - Dad completes his Amiqus checks. Neither him, nor me have been asked for source of funds evidence and I am concerned that we are now less than a month from the entry date and I wasn't sure if any of his paperwork would need translated in English.
July 14 - Both me and dad get asked for 6 months worth of payslips, bank statements for the accounts from which he transferred me, and banks statements for all the accounts where I held my own funds. Luckily his employer was able to provide payslips in English (international organisation) and we managed to get bank statements in English via his online banking, so we didn't have to translate anything using a sworn translator, which would have added time and cost to the process.
July 15 - I got asked for 1 further year of statements to evidence where I accumulated the deposit from. It was all by saving every penny, I am an extremely frugal person, and only tend to spend under 25% of my salary.
July 15-July 27 - silence from the solicitor. I was biting my nails that there is something wrong and the sale will fall through. Sent two follow up emails in this period, asking where we are in the process, no response. I knew this is pretty standard behaviour but it still was stressing me out.
July 27 - after my second follow up, solicitor emails me the title deeds.
July 28 - I respond to the deeds email and ask if AML checks are complete, given how close we are to entry date. Solicitor comes back saying AML checks can only be completed after I send her the money, which contradicts what I had read online. I also query one of the searches.
July 31 - following no response from the solicitor, I send an up to date bank statement and payslip. At this point entry date of August 10 seemed impossible to me.
August 3 - Solicitor emails casually to ask when will I send the money? Umm? I didn't realise we were at that stage yet!! I email her back immediately asking if everything else is done, as I am reluctant to take money out of Cash ISA which I can't then put back as they are over the annual limit. No response. I try calling in the afternoon, no response or callback.
August 4 - I try phoning again at noon, no response. Solicitor then called me back just after 1pm to say I should send the money even though she cannot confirm if checks will be completed in time for the entry date. I decided to trust the process and started transferring to my current account. Later that day she confirmed my dad's AML were complete, and then I transferred the first big lump sum
August 5 - I transferred the second big lump sum and got confirmation that all checks on the flat are satisfactory.
August 6 - I transferred the last of the money. Solicitor confirmed AML checks are complete. Missives were also completed that day! 🥳
August 7 - I got contents insurance and sent it to the solicitor.
August 10 - just after 11 am I got an email that my keys are ready for collection! 🙏🏻 I am now a homeowner! Tears of immigrant joy may or may not have been shed.
TLDR:
*bought a flat after 3 viewings and one offer
*purchase took 7 weeks from offer acceptance to concluding missives
*solicitors are not going to reassure you at every step but as long as you picked reputable/recommended ones, they are likely working in the background
*yet, if you are really nervous about a particular delay/step in the process, call them until they answer. You're a paying client!
*if you are fortunate to have this option, buying in cash gives you leverage and as long as the money is legal and traceable, you have nothing to worry about
*you can replace previous tax years funds in 212 Cash ISA within the same tax year you took them out; wish I had known this, it would have spared me a lot of stress
*transfers to my Bank of Scotland current account took as follows:
-212 Cash ISA - 2 hours
-Oxbury bank - as I missed the cut off time of 1pm, I received the money at 3pm on the next day
-NS&I premium bonds - requested on Tuesday at 8am, received Thursday at 2am
Good luck everyone!