So you want to buy in Scotland

IN THE FIRST OF A NEW SERIES, PROPERTY WRITER JOHN CORMACK LOOKS AT BUYING IN SCOTLAND

So you want to buy property or land in Scotland? Where do you start? Well, if you're looking to come to Scotland from overseas, there are a few fundamental questions to ask yourself. Where in the country do you want to be – a rural location or in the cosmopolitan central belt close to the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow?

Getting information is the next hurdle – but this isn't as difficult as it may appear. Most property in Scotland is sold on behalf of clients through lawyers, essentially firms of solicitors who have real-estate departments fully conversant with the processes of buying and selling property in the country.

The principal locations in Scotland are served by a network of property shops through which solicitors advertise and market their clients' property and land that is for sale. In Scotland there are seven such centres which pull together vital information on buying and selling.

Not only is property for sale on view here, but a wide range of information and general advice on buying and selling property is available from teams of knowledgeable staff. The property shop concept is complemented by web advertising and sales publications.

Simon Fairclough is marketing and PR director of the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre, through which some 90 per cent of property in and around the capital is sold.

He comments: “Using the services of a solicitor through one of our network of property centres is very important for those who do not know the system. Th...

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• By : John Cormack
• In : Contemporary Scotland
• Issue : 8
• Page : 34
• Words : 659