Buying a house 2012

killers1 wrote: »

What ages are you? Was your other post under a different name?

That was my wife. I'm 34 and my wife is a little younger

We broke our cherry yesterday, put in our first offer on a house for 75% of the asking price. There's another house we really like too but it's outside of our budget going based on what we've currently been approved for.

wandatowell wrote: »

Hey Everybody, just came across this thread and its been a fantastic read! So many people working hard and earning their homes. Really great to see. Anyways here is my story.

Single fella 28, public sector worker for 8 years. Managed to save 37,000 myself over the 8 years I have been working. (lived at home the entire time). Saw a house I wanted with an asking of 120,000 but managed to have an offer accepted in August 2011 of 84,000 and had keys in my hand in late September. No hassle except for the sellers solicitor is tbh wasn't on the ball at all.

Cue 5 months of total renovations. Everything from the electrics, windows, doors, heating, bathroom, gardens, insulation, plastering. EVERYTHING.

We tried to do as many jobs ourselves but plastering/windows/doors just seemed a lot less work to get them done by pro's (plus they werent expensive at all as its a mid terrace house.

Moved in, in February and happy out since! These bills are a pain though

Good to hear. Will hopefully looking forward to that stage very soon. Is it an old house? Dublin? Just wondering how you went about the renovation thing (insurance, planning, hiring architect, workmen, where to live in the meantime, etc.).

sarkozy wrote: »

Good to hear. Will hopefully looking forward to that stage very soon. Is it an old house? Dublin? Just wondering how you went about the renovation thing (insurance, planning, hiring architect, workmen, where to live in the meantime, etc.).

Cheers pal!

Best of luck with your place. Advice I would give is to budget as accurately as possible, checking, double checking, re-assessing your figures time and time again and of course updating the budget as you go along. I came in €2,000 over budget. Ouch! But Im very pleased as it shows I wasnt too far off.

Keep an eye out for builder merchants having sales too. I saved a few quid on my external boiler alone just by chancing my arm and walking into a store.

The house was built in 1954. We were pulling up the old carpets and lino in one (yes one) bedroom and between the lino and the floorboards there was a layer of newspaper (The Cork Examiner) dated April 13 1954 so I am guessing this was when the house was built/original owner moved in).

My house is in Midleton, East Cork. About 15/20 mins from Cork city. And its your typical 3 bedroom mid terrace dwelling.

For insurance I just got home insurance the second I got the keys in my hand.

Regarding planning, we were fortunate that the sellers wanted the deal to go through ASAP so we had access to the house anytime we wanted from the moment I handed over the deposit. This allowed ample time to take photo's, measurements, plan routes for the plumbing, brainstorm etc. There was no heating in the house so we had a free reign to place any rads etc anywhere that was convenient for us (major bonus). The only structural change to the house was to knock down a wall between the kitchen and living room. So no planning permission was needed. (maybe in a few years, we'll see).

As for hired help, as I said we had the windows guy install the windows/doors. Its was €300 to install 7 windows, 1 front door and 2 french doors at the back . There was one large double window and I had that replaced with the french doors as I was blocking up the existing the back door and putting a small window in its place. It turns out there is steel reinforcing along all the windows and the poor fella had an awful time trying to cut through it. Best €300 I ever spent.

Plastering we viewed as a very important part of the build and hired a pro in. It would such a shame to work our asses off only for us to ruin it all by making a heap of the plastering.

We did hire a carpenter to finish off the house as its all about the quality of the finish. He was paid $2,000 and did a fantastic job. Expensive (I think) but its the skill you are paying for. He also managed to put a wardrobe over my stairs which I can access from my main bedroom, This saves me so much space its unreal. Definately an idea you HAVE to take up if we have similar houses. I can send on details and pictures to explain in more detail.

We had the insulation done also, the attic, walls pumped and internal 64mm dry lining. Not 100% sure on the dimension of the drying lining. Thank you very much grant scheme!!

We done the wiring/plumbing ourselves. The old fella was a fitter in the ESB so he knows his way around projects like these. He got a mate of his to test the wiring of the house and it flew it. We didnt have a clue what to do when it came to wiring the plumbing in the house. Motor valves and stuff like that so we had a guy in for a couple of days so done that for us. Bad point being it took us over 6 weeks to complete the wiring phase alone Steady as she goes


I was still living at home so I didnt have any issue with renting a place to stay during the build. Me and the old fella were sick of eachother at the end though


If you have any more questions ask away and I'll try to help.

Woohoo!
Got keys on Friday. Thanks for all the advice I've managed to pick up from this thread. Mostly through lurking; I haven't been posting many personal updates cos I've been terrified of jinxing it.
Happy to advise on anything based on my experience now.
Ended up with Ulster mortgage as mentioned before; honeslty all been fairly painless once we got initial approval.
Cleared out remains of kitchen and bathroom over weekend, so now have an empty house to sort out.
Windows and plumbing are priority, then it's really just decoration and furnishing (hopefully) - looks like i'll be over in the DIY forum for next few weeks.
Congrats to those who have managed to complete the process, and good look to all starting or in the middle of it!!
DD

heltipp wrote: »

congrats delighted for you. we are in the final stages of closing and should be drawing downmortgage in the next week or so. as we are also with ulster bank just wondering did you have any issues when drawing down?

No, nothing at all., we submitted final bits and pieces to the branch on Friday27th at lunchtime (mortgage protection, letter of assignment).
Money was drawn down on Wed morning 1st Aug, and we had the keys on Friday evening 3rd August.

We were dealing with UB in Blackrock, and have no complaints at all.
I have heard some horror stories of delays, both online and from my solicitor, but suspect these were either in busier times or just due to certain branches/staff.

Know you had a few delays yourself, Hope it all goes smoothly from here on. All worth it when you get the keys!!

Could someone explain why it takes up to a week to have the last 4 months' bank statements printed off?

It really sucks that our lending institution has only asked for a raft of documentation the day we were to return contracts. It puts the whole timetable off and complicates matters enormously.

heltipp wrote: »

how come you are being asked for bank statements now. I thought once you got loan offer etc that you wouldnt have to provide any more of this documents.

I am in the same position with boi, gave in the e statements as they were, then gave in stamped e statements, have had loan offer but with a condition of submitting original statements. It will just be a tick box exercise for the, when they get them as i assume they have done the other checks using the other batches of statements i gave in.


Ridiculously expensive to get them, i am really annoyed about having to pay for them. If i hadnt gone to just getting estatements alone i would be getting them free every month but now that i require a few i am paying huge amountd for them. Robbers!

Annoying that boi wont acccept the e statements though, specailly stamped ones!

heltipp wrote: »

how come you are being asked for bank statements now. I thought once you got loan offer etc that you wouldnt have to provide any more of this documents.

Nail. Head. The whole experience for us has been a nightmare. Yes, we should have been asked this and more (though nothing out of the ordinary) prior to receiving the loan offer, but, with our application, we've fallen through every crack imaginable.

I am in the same position with boi, gave in the e statements as they were, then gave in stamped e statements, have had loan offer but with a condition of submitting original statements. It will just be a tick box exercise for the, when they get them as i assume they have done the other checks using the other batches of statements i gave in.

We submitted original statements, as required, months ago, but with the utter slowness of the lending institution, we required more up-to-date statements, which had been, by then, issued electronically. So we lost yet more time due to delays not of our own making.

This is still hanging by a thread for us.

Also, I need to know: what is the procedure for transferring a gift (from a parent) for the purposes of a mortgage application? EFT into my account (the letter from my parents notifying this has been received long ago)? Or is it drawn directly from theirs? Bit confused here. Still, we have sufficient savings as it stands to meet the loan criterion about quantity of savings.

sarkozy wrote: »

Also, I need to know: what is the procedure for transferring a gift (from a parent) for the purposes of a mortgage application? EFT into my account (the letter from my parents notifying this has been received long ago)? Or is it drawn directly from theirs? Bit confused here. Still, we have sufficient savings as it stands to meet the loan criterion about quantity of savings.

We just lodged the money in our bank account.The bank asked for a signed statement by my partents declaring that they would not seek repayment of the money.

Funnyonion79 wrote: »

I could be wrong, but I think the closing date in the contract is the date both parties work towards to close the sale. However if it doesn't happen on that date, I don't think it's any big deal.....but maybe Killers can give you more info there.

Tentatively hoping that my vendor's negative equity drama is almost at a conclusion.....we'll find out next Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed.

The closing date in the contracts is for guideline purposes only and is not set in stone... It's quite usual for either the vendor or purchaser to push this date out for a variety of reasons and it's no issue

villa1 wrote: »

heltipp wrote: »

we are just waiting on the sellers to return signed contracts now, waiting two weeks not. there is four of them as they inherited the house or something but still wish they would hurry up. I wont be able to relax until my solicitor has received the money from the bank, thats the bit i keep worrying about as you never know with these banks what they might do.

def the most stressful time i have ever put down.

I know exactly how you feel, Im so afraid the bank could change their mind at any stage or that the vendors might pull out, I dont think I can relax until I have the keys in my hand! It got to the stage where I just rang the vendors solicitors who were able to update me on everything and we should have the contracts by Monday.

Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now, hopefully I wont ever go through it all again!!

Don't be worrying about things you can't control like the vendor pulling out etc... Until such time as someone tells you the sale is not going to happen you have nothing to worry about. If you have a loan offer from the bank and conditions satisfied they don't 'change their minds'....

jay gatsby wrote: »

Hey guys,

Wonderful thread here, thanks for all the info - just have a couple of questions myself if anyone has the time to take a look.

Myself and my girlfriend have been approved for 170,000 (letter of offer on way to solicitor) for renovations to a house (gift from my father).

1. Mortgage interest relief - if we make one drawdown in 2012 will we be entitled to mortgage interest relief on the entire amount for however long the relief lasts?

2. The house will be unoccupied and basically a building site during renovations - will we still require home insurance before first drawdown is made?

Thanks guys

Yes, you'll qualify for tax relief at source for as long as it lasts and you'll also need buildings insurance in the course of construction which is updated to a full home insurance policy when the property is completed.

ectoraige wrote: »

We got word yesterday that our offer which was 87.5% of asking price was accepted! We're delighted, especially as we were willing to pay more for the property Of course now everybody is on holidays so will have to wait until Monday to get things rolling.

Congratulations!!!!!!! Best of luck with everything

Is it normal for an estate agent to not accept a bid "Subject to a Structural Survey"?

We're thinking of bidding on a house but the EA said you must get a survey first. We've bid before on houses but always before getting a survey done.

It's a really old house that has been renovated in last few year so it'll have to be a thorough survey but that'll cost somewhere between €300-€500.
I am not going to fork out that sort of money without being certain I'm buying the house.

sarkozy wrote: »

Silly question: what places has anyone bought big boxes and packing material for moving?

Last time, we had silly archive boxes for offices and they fell apart in seconds. I want proper removal man stuff.

B&Q have some of the Mover type large plastic crates, they looked to me like they'd be the right thing.

Ste- wrote: »

Ok may be a silly question but what banks seem to be the best at the minute ?
I know people say to check with them all , just see a few mentions of Ulster Bank, does anyone have an issues with them, ? or any problems with BOI or AIB ? What are PTSB like ? I know they don't do many rate changes etc.

Thanks.

We were advised by our broker, and family/friends that AIB was best option, next BOI.

Reality was AIB and BOI wouldn't lend us the ammount we wanted because we didn't have the demonstrated ability to repay that they demand.

So we're with Ulster in the end. I have not had any problems with them so far at all (only drew down 2 weeks ago); rates are slightly higher than the others, but for us it was only option to borrow the money we wanted.
Also, if you are going Ulster make sure you sign up to a uFirst current account with them as well, lowers your rate by 0.65% and the initial banks valuation is free (instead of approx 150).

You need to understand each banks lending rules, to figure out how much each will approve you for and at what rate, and just decide what is best for you really.

Happy to try and help answer some more specific questions if you have them.
Good luck!

professore wrote: »

That sort of money is nothing in the grand scheme of things if it stops you buying a money pit.

Oh I understand that but why can't I submit a bit subject to a full "Structural Survey"? Of course, I would get it checked out once I know that I am the person buying the house.