Help...Notes of interest/closing dates

OH MY GOD!!!!  So, we now have 3 notes of interest in our property.  The estate agent wants to know if we want to go to a closing date...   I can't decide since i've now turned into an ostrich...anyone think that 3 is enough???

what is a note of interest?

Carol is in Scotland - house buying is different up there.

i've never bought a house in either england or scotland. I just don't know what a note of interest is

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to set a closing date.  Aren't they usually about 2 weeks or so anyway?  Sounds like you are doing well to have 3 interested already.  Good luck!

what is a note of interest?

Sorry...should have explained...and I may get this wrong!

So, here (in scotland) property is put on the market at offers over.  We have open viewings and anyone interested puts in a 'note of interest'.  Normally you get a set of 'notes of interest' and once you have enough the estate agent puts a closing date.  All the people who put in notes of interest are notified of the closing date and that's when they must put in an offer...if they want to. 

The trick is to get the balance right.  Not enough notes of interest and there's not a good bidding war...but if you wait to get more then you run the risk of waiting too long and people lose interest

I suppose this might not be the place to ask if people aren't familiar with the system...but I went in to a mild panic at the thought of a closing date and want to ask as many people's advice as possible    I may yet ask the person sitting next to me on the train tonight!

Sorry...should have explained...and I may get this wrong!

So, here (in scotland) property is put on the market at offers over.  We have open viewings and anyone interested puts in a 'note of interest'.  Normally you get a set of 'notes of interest' and once you have enough the estate agent puts a closing date.  All the people who put in notes of interest are notified of the closing date and that's when they must put in an offer...if they want to. 

The trick is to get the balance right.  Not enough notes of interest and there's not a good bidding war...but if you wait to get more then you run the risk of waiting too long and people lose interest

I suppose this might not be the place to ask if people aren't familiar with the system...but I went in to a mild panic at the thought of a closing date and want to ask as many people's advice as possible    I may yet ask the person sitting next to me on the train tonight!

man that sounds stressful, but then again at least you get bidders against each other rather than the one offer at a time thing in the states. I would assume that's advantageous. I guess by waiting too awfully long you can lose your interested parties?

I assume the flip side of risk is that if you wait too long, some of the people who put in "notes of interest" may have been forced to look elsewhere if they were in a hurry to buy?

Sounds like a frustrating system.  Easier said than done, but try not to panic....every thing will work out.  Good luck.

Stressful and frustrating...yup!  I have no idea why we do things this way.  The positive side is that you (potentially) get into a bidding war which drives the selling price up, the down side is that you have no idea what you will sell for until you get the offers...makes looking for the new house a bit of a mystery in terms of how much you can spend. 

Anyway, we went with the advice of the Estate Agent and set a closing date...they're keen to act swiftly to make sure we don't lose potential buyers...so next wednesday at 12 noon is our new d-day! 

Thanks for all the input.

are you obligated to accept those offers? though if they really are putting in offers at or above the price you set is there a bad outcome to be had? (or do you put lower than you really want to entice offers/bidding?)

good luck by the way!

Thanks Julia 

I asked the same question...no, we don't have to take the offers.  They've given us an amount that they expect we'll get so that's kind of where my expectations are.  If by some miracle someone gives us more than that then we'll accept it.  If the offers are lower then we can either accept or reject and then continue with the marketing of the property as it stands or then move to a 'fixed price'...!  It seems that there's no limit to how many times you can set a closing date?

I just want it to be over, we have open viewings here too which means that between certain hours on thursday nights and sunday afternoons you have to sit and wait for the door to go!  Aaaggghghhh!

Just an update for anyone interested...but WE SOLD OUR FLAT!  In the end we got 2 offers and we accepted the highest one (surprise surprise)...so the stress of selling is over, now on to the stress of moving and buying.

Glasgow here we come! 

Well done!  Good luck with the move.

Congratulations.  Did you get what you were looking for?

Thanks Karin and Kathleen...

Yes, I got more than I was looking for which was a huge relief given all the hype around the housing market slowing down