Buying a house 2012

Felexicon wrote: »

Hi

We have our deposit saved for a mortgage.

Just wondering do we have to have the money in place for additional fees (solicitor,stamp duty etc.) before applying for AIP.

Also what is the current situation for stamp duty for FTB.


Also this is a really helpful thread thanks everyone for some solid advice.

You don't necessarily have to have the additional funds in place at AIP stage but need to cover off where they are coming from. If you are just looking for a figure you qualify for based on your income and proven repayment capacity the bank will be able to give you an amount that they would be happy to lend to you. You can always say that a parental gift is available to cover stamp duty (which as Yeboah said is 1% of the purchase price) and then by the time you find a property and have an offer accepted if you have the additional money saved then you tell the bank you no longer need the gift as you have the funds required. Nothing to stop you ploughing ahead to get your AIP at this stage...

Just want to say thanks to Killers1:) I had a thread up a few months ago about whether I would get a mortgage or not and if so how much - Killers1 told me I'd get 135k. My dad went into BOI today just to enquire for me and they said I'd qualify for....135k:) They obviously need to talk to me in person though!

I think if I find the right place then I'm gonna take the plunge this year!

killers1 wrote: »

Hi Leahyl,
You're very welcome, I'm glad the figures I gave you were accurate! Don't put all your eggs in one basket though as there are cheaper mortgage rates available out there at the minute... Thanks for your comment, much appreciated!

Well my own bank PTSB weren't very positive when my dad went in to enquire - they said they were lending and then in the next breath the guy said "we aren't very competitive"! If that's not putting me off I don't know what is!! So I'm not even gonna waste my time with them - they did the same with my brother when he was buying, not returning his calls, fobbing him off basically. They didn't even give my dad any information or anything.

With BOI they gave him a first time buyers pack to read through, which I probably could have got on the internet, but it shows they are interested I think.
My dad said they seemed very positive.

I have heard mixed things about AIB. I know they have the best rate out of the main banks (I think?!) but going on my brothers experience he said they were as bad as PTSB.

leahyl wrote: »

I have heard mixed things about AIB. I know they have the best rate out of the main banks (I think?!) but going on my brothers experience he said they were as bad as PTSB.

Just to contrast this, I've only just taken out a mortgage with AIB in the past month or so and have found them to be great throughout. I also applied with BOI and I found AIB were quicker to respond each time and have been very straightforward to deal with. So i wouldn't rule out the bank with the most competitive interest rate at the moment just on the experience of one person even if he is your brother. Might just be that he had a bad advisor in the bank so maybe try a different bank to him.

Hey guys, thanks for your input!

I asked my dad to enquire at AIB today for me (God my dad is beginning to sound like my personal mortgage shopper;)! Have no time cos am working all day)
so will get an idea then on whether they would be willing to lend.

Obviously, I will have to go in myself and talk with them in person.:)

sillyruby wrote: »

We have gone sale agreed and have mortgage and all sorted, got an independent surveyor to assess the house and he has turned up quite a few issues the major ones being the roof and stairs in the house not being up to regulations. Now he said he will sort the roof and few of smaller things but where do we stand on the others? Can we use some of them to reduce the current sale agreed price?This has cast doubt and a dampener on our excitement- main problem seems he and worker friends did a lot of work on the house.

The most important person here that you should be talking to in relation to this is your surveyor. You will NEVER get a blank survey back and there will always be some issues highlighted. I'd suggest talking to the Surveyor in detail about the issues to see if any of them are deal breakers or not. I presume when you said 'he' would get them sorted you meant the owner? There's no harm in letting him do the work and then getting your surveyor back to ensure they're happy with the works. Do not proceed until the property meets building regulations. If the other items are minor you can raise them with the owner to see how many of the issues they are willing to put right. If they are more serious issues you can try to use them to renegotiate the purchase price which may or may not be successful. When you buy a property there is also an element of you are buying it in the condition it's in and can't expect the owner to put every single item highlighted in your surveyors report right but then again there's nothing stopping you in asking...Ultimately if the Surveyor suggests you should walk away then take their advice...

Yeboah wrote: »

Still hoping for that Summer BBQ

I look forward to the invite.....:D

leahyl wrote: »

Just to update - my dad dropped into AIB and they said (just from my dad giving them some info about my situation/finances) that I would qualify for 105k which I thought was quite low considering BOI quoted 135k!

AIB's calculator changed recently and depending on the applicants salary the figures will come out significantly lower than other lenders.

Marco85 wrote: »

So they have moved the goalposts slightly. Do they do this often killers?

Generally only happens once a year to take into account any changes in the previous Budget like tax changes or TRS changes..but they could do it at any time if they wanted to.

Marco85 wrote: »

killers1 wrote: »

Generally only happens once a year to take into account any changes in the previous Budget like tax changes or TRS changes..but they could do it at any time if they wanted to.

What kind of drop are you looking at then? Spoke to you via pm couple of months back regarding figures. Missus on 25k gross in civil service and i am on 15k net self employed. Both 27,no dependants,no loans.

Hey Marco,
I have your details so I'll the figures for you again later when I back to the laptop tonight and send you a PM...tks

dove2011 wrote: »

Hi all,
This is a very informative thread and has provided me with an amount of information. I have applied to AIB for a mortgage for E96,000, I have the 8% deposit saved with AIB which has accumlated of 3 years of savings based on E250 per month. I put an offer on a house last monday with the view of been granted a mortgage which they accepted. The vendor is looking for a quick sale. I have till next Friday to confirm if I am granted a mortgage.
I am in full time employment with a salary of E30k, non dependants and first time buyer. The mortgage repayments will be less than what I save and rent per month; would you believe I would get a mortgage? How long do you think the process will take? Will the EA accept the letter in principle

I originally wanted to go with a broker but I had to ring few times to get an appointment after providing them with full details.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Dove2011,
Your salary of €30k will be sufficient to qualify you to borrow €96k (providing your not 50 yrs old or something like that!). When did you apply to AIB? If your rent & savings combined are a couple of hundred euro per month over the proposed repayment and you have been consistently saving/paying rent for over 6-8 months with evidence of same you should have no difficulty obtaining approval. I would be inclined to tell the EA next Fri that you have approval (even if it hasn't come through yet) and that you will arrange to pay the booking deposit the following week once you organise a solicitor and that the valuer will be in touch in due course. This will keep the EA happy and buy you some time until the approval comes through. Your booking deposit is fully refundable in any case. If for any reason your application was declined you can always just say you changed your mind about buying the property. As to how long it will take will depend on when your application was submitted and what level of documentation went it.

Regarding you trying to contact a broker it's unforgiveable in this market that they wouldn't return your call.

If you've any queries let me know...

Sonya.Max wrote: »

Hi!
Looking for some information about buying house with cash.
About a month ago myself and husband placed an offer on a house, which was accepted after 3 weeks. 2 weeks ago we paid deposit to EA and contacted solicitor, she took some info and said she will contact us when needed.
How long it usually takes to complete the sale?
I know a lot depends on solicitor..

Hi Sonya, if you are buying for cash i.e. without a mortgage, then the length of time it will take will depend solely on the solicitors. At this stage you will have given the EA your solicitors details. Your solicitor is now awaiting the contracts from the vendors solicitor. How long that will take will depend on how organised the seller is i.e. if they told their solicitor they were intending to sell the property the solicitor may have the Title Deeds from the owners Bank which will allow them to draw up contracts to send on to your solicitor. In a lot of cases it's not until the vendor accepts an offer that they tell their solicitor they are selling and at that stage the solicitor has to get a signed authority from their client to contact the owners lender to track down the title deeds... so depending on which scenario your seller is in this may take a few weeks or not. Then it will be a case of whether your solicitor is satisfied with the contracts once they receive them and if they have any queries to raise with the owners solicitor. It's only when your solicitor is happy with the contracts and title will they get you in to sign and a closing date is then agreed. Typical timeframe is 6-8 weeks but this can be done quicker or take an awful lot longer depending on the above.. I hope this helps but unfortunately it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string question and hard to put a definitive timeframe on it. When your solicitor receives the contracts it'll contain a provisional closing which is the timeframe the seller is hoping to work off and wants you to be in a position to close on that date. The closing date specified in the contracts is only for guideline purposes but should give you an indication of how quickly/slowly the vendor wants to move on this.

dove2011 wrote: »

Thank you so much for your insite Killer1 & MMC2010.
I applied to AIB last Monday but getting all the documentation it was signed off on wednesday, so Dublin should have it by Thursday. The mortgage coordinator informed me to call this Thursday..... I will take your advice Killer1 and inform the EA I was granted. If I want to provide a booking deposit; can I take monies out of the 8% I have saved??? Ya i will be going for a 32 year mortgage. I really can't see why AIB would turn me down as my credit history has been good but who knows.... Finger crossed and I will keep you informed. Yes very disappointed with my local broker... Killarney is not that big of a town so can't understand why they were so busy...

Yep, the booking deposit comes out of your 8%...Best of luck!

AquaDaisy wrote: »

Hi all you house buying geniuses

We are currently Sale agreed and have had both the structural survey and valuation survey done with, thankfully, no major issues.

There was one item on the Survey report however that I'm a bit confused about. The surveyor has recommended that the gas boiler is serviced 'prior to exchange of contracts'. Is the implication here that the vendor should service the boiler? If so, should they pay for it?? Presumably we cant arrange work on something that is not yet ours...

Anyone done this before or know what the normal course of action is?

Thanks a million in advance

That's a standard recommendation in all structural surveys. You can ask your solicitor to request a service history of the boiler from the vendors solicitor to ensure it was serviced regularly. Alternatively you can ask them to have it serviced prior to completing the purchase which they may or may not agree to and then you decide whether or not you proceed. As I said it's standard on all surveys so up to you how you proceed. Sometimes the seller will be willing to have it serviced other times they just say no and you do it after you move in. Not a deal breaker but you can arrange to access the property before you close to ensure it's working properly and bring someone with you to check the system.

It was the buyers bank process that took the bulk of the time in my case and don't forget the minute you sign, you have to wait a few weeks (which is agreed before signing) for the seller to move out.