Selling your home with us

If you're looking to sell your home, then look no further. Whether it's a large family home, an estate with land or a one-bedroom flat, our in-depth knowledge of market conditions means you can achieve the best result for your property.

Our full-time Property Manager, Susan Breen, has extensive experience of the local property market and under her guidance we provide a comprehensive service to assist you with selling your property – from the initial marketing to final settlement of the sale.

As solicitor estate agents, we also offer a full conveyancing service and one of our lawyers will undertake the legal work involved.

REQUEST A FREE VALUATION

A guide to selling your home

Marketing your property

Susan and her team will be delighted to discuss how best to market your property, taking full advantage of the range of marketing tools at our disposal. During this initial conversation we will explain the whole process, including advice on the Home Report. We'll help you to complete the property questionnaire, carefully collate all the information required, take photographs and advise on how best to show your property. We will also provide you with an estimate of our fees and outlays for the transaction.

Home reports

Following legislation brought into force in Scotland in December 2008, properties have to be marketed with a Home Report. The Home Report is a pack of three documents.

Single Survey

The Single Survey contains an assessment by a surveyor of the condition of the home, a valuation and an accessibility audit for people with particular needs.

Energy Report

The Energy Report contains an assessment by a surveyor of the energy efficiency of the home and its environmental impact. It includes an Energy Rating in much the same way as there is for a new cooker or fridge, and also recommends ways to improve the energy efficiency. All properties for sale require an Energy Report, irrespective of whether or not a full Home Report is required. A copy of the energy report is held in the property and also at our office.

Property Questionnaire

The Property Questionnaire is completed by the seller of the home. It contains additional information about the property, such as Council Tax banding, alterations, and other important information that will be useful to buyers.

Home Reports can currently be obtained from local surveyors. We can arrange this for you if required.

Setting an asking price

Using our extensive experience of the local property market we will discuss an appropriate asking price with you, taking into account the valuation contained in the Home Report and current market conditions, with the aim of achieving the best possible price for the property. Properties are generally advertised at or around valuation, however, sellers are free to market their property at whatever price they wish. Properties are usually advertised at an “Offers Over” price, or sometimes at “Offers in the Region Of” as a general guide. Occasional we may recommend a “Fixed Price”, where the first firm offer received at the asking price is accepted.

At this stage we will require sight of the title deeds to the property to enable us to check everything is in order. If you have a mortgage the deeds will be with your lender. We will ask them to send the deeds on to us.

Initial title checks

Once the deeds have been received we will obtain an Ordnance Survey comparison report (“Land Report”) if the property is being sold for the first time since the Land Registration system of recording property ownership details was introduced to Shetland in 2003. Under this system, the title a purchaser receives is in the form of a Ordnance Survey map-based Land Certificate. The Plans Report compares the extent of the property as described in the title deeds with the OS map. If this highlights any discrepancies these may need to be remedied.

We will also ask you whether any alterations have been carried out to the property which would have required planning permission, a building warrant and / or any other consents. This is important because if not dealt with early on it can result in delays later.

If we have not acted for you before we will need to obtain proof of identity from you to comply with Law Society Regulations.

Susan Breen
Property Manager and Registered Paralegal
tel
mailto
Keep up to date with the latest property for sale

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 Services for Businesses & Organisations
Details of our commercial & public sector legal services

The Highland Council - Council Tax
Details of the Council Tax rates in Inverness

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

SPC Scotland

Highland Solicitors Property Centre

Estate Agency Shetland
Property in Shetland from our Harper Macleod colleagues

  • The service we received was first class from Susan who took us through the sale process so professionally from start to finish. The understanding and care was greatly appreciated.
    Dylis Stretton
  • We found that during the selling of our house and the buying of our new property that everything was very professionally handled by Harper Macleod staff and in particular by yourself. At the time of selling and buying can be a very anxious time but you managed to ease it along for us causing us very little to no stress at all. Once again I can only say thanks to you for all that you did for us.
    Charlie Ross
  • I can confirm I was happy with the estate agency service provided for the sale of my property and was more than happy to recommend the service to others.
    Graeme Johnston
  • I am absolutely delighted with the way in which Harper Macleod handled the sale of y house. Everyone involved was incredibly helpful and I could not have asked for a more supportive service. The fabulous photos created by the property department resulted in a huge number of hits online and I was inundated with requests to view.

    The experience, knowledge and understanding of their legal team meant that the sale was completed swiftly and efficiently.

    Thanks to the team at Harper Macleod, the sale of my house was more successful than I could ever have hoped for.
    Donna Munro-Main
  • Harper Macleod's house sale package was a huge bonus keeping our costs fixed and predictable. However, looking back we felt, most importantly, very reassured by your compliments on the attractiveness of our property and your confidence in our prospects for a sale. Your experienced estimate of how long it would probably take was helpful for our plans and indeed proved to be exactly as you forecast.

    Being a complex sale of several adjoining parts you seemed quite positive about the outcome and promoted the brochure with your excellent photos to a wide range of buyers and steered the viewings carefully to a successful conclusion. Your professionalism and confidence in completing all these taks on our behalf was so much appreciated. Certainly we would recommend your services and Harper Macleod in general - indeed have done so already.
    Rob and Lyn Howard
  • I am delighted with the service I received and would again pass on my thanks to you, Susan, and the rest of the team. I shall certainly recommend your firm to any of my colleagues and friends requiring legal assistance North of the Border.
    Graham Ford
  • The marketing of the property and communication with regard to the sale has been superb.
    Drew Logie
  • I used Harper Macleod to sell my property, from the moment I first contacted them I found them to be extremely helpful and efficient, they made the whole selling process stress and hassle free, I thoroughly recommend them.
    Zoe Adams
  • From the initial contact to the final transfer you were most helpful, professional and effective and always reacted in a prompt and friendly manner. It was indeed a pleasure to work with you on the sale.

    From your company's standpoint, the one-stop-shop, single contact point approach to marketing and conveyancing, I see as a strong competitive advantage for HM, and a welcome simplification for the client. It does however require multi-skilled professionals to operate successfully in this manner and we admired your proficiency in meeting both the marketing and legal requirements throughout.

    Thank you Susan for all your help.
    Ron Lamond
  • A highly professional yet friendly, personal service ensured the sale of our house was stress free from start to finish. I would definitely recommend Harper Macleod for their local knowledge and great value for money.
    Hannah