Buying a home with us

Buying a new home is always a major investment, both financially and emotionally. We can assist you through this complicated process so that your stress levels remain as low as possible.

We have one of the largest residential property teams in Scotland and more than 25 years’ experience of helping people buy and sell their homes. We can assist with negotiating your purchase and/or sale and advising at closing dates.

For further information please contact us today on: 01343 542 623

The buying process in Scotland

There are five distinct steps in the buying process, which we will endeavour to make as simple as possible.

1. Choosing

The correct advisers can make all the difference to the process of choosing a property. While many people start by looking online at properties the best person to start with is your solicitor.

Our Residential Property team are specialists with wide-ranging experience and a clear focus on all the issues. We can advise you about the different areas you may be interested in and point you in the direction of estate agents with a strong presence in the area.

2. Surveying

Since 2008 all properties coming to the market require to have a Home Report on the condition of the property. Whilst this can be helpful, Home Reports do not always provide all the information a prospective purchaser requires. We can examine the Home Report for the property you are interested in, and provide you with advice as to whether or not any further investigations into the condition of the property are required. If any further investigations by surveyors, structural engineers or timber specialists are required we can co-ordinate these for you.

3. Negotiating

There is no magic formula for calculating how much to offer for your desired property, however, we have a great deal of experience to place at your disposal. We can either negotiate a price with the seller (or their solicitor or agent) or advise you on negotiation tactics should you wish to deal with the seller direct. Where a closing date for bids on the property has been set, we can assist by making sure you are aware of which facts to focus on at the closing date and how to convert these facts into a price.

It is always important to remember you are not just investing in bricks and mortar, but you are purchasing a quality of life for you and your family. Only you can truly decide how much that is worth to you. We will provide you with advice on the level at which you should bid, taking into account the valuation of the property, the number of competing bids likely and your own personal circumstances.

4. Financing

How you will fund the purchase and how you wish to arrange your funding should be considered at an early stage. For the vast majority, a mortgage will be required. Whilst you may get lucky sourcing your own mortgage either online or with your own bank, it is likely that for a modest fee, a financial adviser will be able to obtain a better deal for you. Financial advisers may also have access to mortgages not available to borrowers directly on the web or through the branch of their bank or building society. We have contacts with several financial advisers and will be happy to suggest someone who can sort out the whole funding headache for you.

5. Conveyancing

As specialist conveyancing practitioners, who deal with the purchase and sale of property day in and day out, we understand that you are not just buying a house, but are perhaps buying your dream home. Subject to your instructions we will negotiate the missive, or purchase contract. We will forward to you copies of all of the contractual stages of the missive and will keep you advised of all progress made in the conclusion of same. On your behalf, we will:

  • Examine the title deeds to your property.
  • Provide you with a copy of these for your own information.
  • Raise any relevant observations on the title with the seller’s solicitors to ensure that you receive a valid title to the property you are purchasing.
  • Ensure that there are no matters contained with the titles which could materially adversely affect your interest in the property. This will guarantee that you encounter no difficulties when you come to sell the property later.
  • After settlement, a full statement laying out all financial aspects of the transaction will be sent to you and we will attend to the registration of your title and any loan documents in favour of your lender. As soon as the Land Register has returned your title documents to us, we will forward to you a copy of your title and the principal documents, where you have a mortgage, to your lender for their safekeeping, if required by them
Keep up to date with the latest property for sale in Moray

For full details and colour photographs of all the properties we have for sale or lease, please view our property list.

Useful links

Harper Macleod Personal Legal Services
Details of the other personal legal services we provide

Harper Macleod Legal Services
Details of our commercial & public sector legal services

Registers of Scotland
Scotland's national land and property registers

The Law Society of Scotland
The governing body of Shetland solicitors

Crofting Commission
Regulators of the crofting system

  • Thanks to Harper Macleod for attending so efficiently to our business. Melanie, please pass on our compliments to Ian and Karen. It seems so long ago that our house was sold in a matter of days.
    Lillian and Bob Roach
  • Karen, thank you for the amazing service you have provided in the sale of my house, I really appreciate everything you do.
    David Koch
  • The friendly team at Harper MacLeod have been so helpful throughout the sale of my property. They really made the sale hassle free. They kept me informed of what was going on during the process and they were always available to answer any questions that I had. I am delighted with the service they provided and I would highly recommend.
    Siobhan Leen
  • A sincere thank you to you and the team at Harper Macleod for all your help with this! I have nothing but praise for the way everything was handled. It's a rare treat nowadays to work with people that do what they say they are going to do, call you back when they say they will and generally work in such a professional manner.
    John Wills
  • Karen, we just wanted to thank you so much for your help in securing a buyer. You went above and beyond and we found you to be both knowledgeable and approachable. Thank you again.
    Fraser and Judy Weller
  • We just wanted to thank you both so much for ensuring our purchase went so smoothly. We really did appreciate the regular, speedy and clear communications from you both. As I wrote to Shannon, the scariest and stressful part was transferring the money!
    Kathy and Phil
  • Delighted with the service - 5 star. Please thank all of your team on the conveyancing side. It has been minimal stress, lots of compassion and understanding which I am truly grateful for.
    Author undisclosed
  • I was very happy with the service - Everything was done smoothly and efficiently and both of you were very approachable and had a friendly but professional manner. Sandra Glashan. Legal Dept. I was extremely happy with the service - You were great at keeping in touch and keeping me informed during the purchase of my first property, I can't fault the service that your provided. As a first time buyer you made it a very smooth transaction. Thank you so much
    J Thomson
  • "Rebecca, Thank you for your efficient and prompt dealing with my house and for keeping me up to date with everything.
    Really appreciate you having this all ready for me early as it helped with a very swift handover."
    Lorraine Kemp
  • Rebecca, we thank you for your efficient, calm and very reassuring work, which considerably reduced that selling and buying property normally entails.
    Doug and Cherry Howie