Signing Contracts - What to look out for?

CreativeSen

Hi there, the long process of house buying continues. We are due to sign contracts this week. From what i understand, this commits us to following through with the purchase and once we sign and the vendor signs then it is officially "Sold"?

Im not expecting the keys to be handed over this week but what should i expect? Do i need to have the full 20% deposit cheque with me? Stamp duty cheque?

I have quotes for Home Insurance and Mortgage Protection but I haven't activated them. Should I?

I know the solicitor will have all of the answers but i want to be prepared for the conversation. Its my first time buying and I am tired by how much haggling and negotiating is required.

Thank you!

1hnr79jr65

CreativeSen wrote: »

Hi there, the long process of house buying continues. We are due to sign contracts this week. From what i understand, this commits us to following through with the purchase and once we sign and the vendor signs then it is officially "Sold"?

Im not expecting the keys to be handed over this week but what should i expect? Do i need to have the full 20% deposit cheque with me? Stamp duty cheque?

I have quotes for Home Insurance and Mortgage Protection but I haven't activated them. Should I?

I know the solicitor will have all of the answers but i want to be prepared for the conversation. Its my first time buying and I am tired by how much haggling and negotiating is required.

Thank you!

From what i understand, this commits us to following through with the purchase and once we sign and the vendor signs then it is officially "Sold"? This depends on the contract and what is agreed, however i would imagine there is always room to escape before mortgage draw down is handed over, after that you would be committed.

Im not expecting the keys to be handed over this week but what should i expect? Do i need to have the full 20% deposit cheque with me? Stamp duty cheque? It would be preferable if you did a swift transfer of the deposit to "other parties" solicitors account. The stamp duty for sale is organised by solicitor to be paid along with folio and any other misc charges.

I have quotes for Home Insurance and Mortgage Protection but I haven't activated them. Should I? This should be activated from day you recieve the keys and the deeds have been transfered.

Buying a home is a long process, myself and my fiancee are buying our first home together and after 2 years of searching, we are almost at staage of drawdown of mortgage. We just waiting on engineers report and we good to go. The process for buying this house is at 2 months so far and will probably be total 3 months by time we recieve keys.

All you can do is be patient, worrying wont get you in there faster, what i can say is keep regualry in contact with solicitor to make sure they doing everything on time, it is about the only element you can control.

Purple Sheep

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

I have quotes for Home Insurance and Mortgage Protection but I haven't activated them. Should I? This should be activated from day you recieve the keys and the deeds have been transfered.

For what it's worth, my bank insisted these two had to be in place already before the funds could be released.

I'm not sure at which stage stamp duty and the like need to be paid though I'd like to know as well. Closing date approaching!

busylady

Stamp duty would usually be paid to your solicitor just before the closing date. A contract deposit is usually 10% of the purchase price less the booking deposit. The balance is then paid on the closing date.

The home insurance and mortgage protection have to be with the bank before they will issue the loan funds. Your solicitor will go through all these details with you when you go to sign the contracts.

muraliinformal

Hi there, I am at the stage of signing contracts for a new build. So, I'm just wondering, what to check in the contract ? I know its solicitor job, but, i just wanted to prepare for the conversation. And also, I heard sometimes, few solicitor's miss things, so, I just wanted to get my head-around the contract before signing.

Appreciate your handles.

Thanks!

Markitron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/104925880#Comment_104925880

Same with me, both insurance policies had to be in place before the final transaction could take place. I paid the stamp duty and solicitors fees the day before drawdown, though I don't think this was 100% necessary.

LunaLoo

Make sure contract has a get out clause that will cover you if bank find any reason not to approve you. A lot of estate agents are trying to have them removed now because it can slow down the process

spaceHopper

Have the mortgage protection in place now, it's the one thing that can catch you our, answer one medical question wrong, for example you or your OH ever had depression, or something like you have a medical condition that is managed

chops018

As above - make sure there is a subject to loan clause incase for whatever reason you can't draw down your loan, protects the deposit. If you're selling and using those funds to buy the new house make sure you've a subject to selling your current house clause. Also, if it's a new build, try have the price variation clause removed.

Otherwise, leave it to your Solicitor as you generally won't know a lot of what the clauses mean or how they can impact you. The Solicitor will make sure there is nothing glaringly obvious that is burdensome or onerous to you. If the Solicitor makes a mistake on something major that they should have spotted then the firm should have professional indemnity insurance which is there incase you sue them over their error. They will also check to ensure the title is ok, any planning permissions are ok and that there is certs with same and things like LPT and NPPR are sorted, other things then like Declarations of Identity and all that will be checked by the Solicitor too.

Have a good engineer or surveyor on stand by too. They are brilliant for ensuring the property is structurally ok and that the boundaries on the ground are as per the map with the folio or deeds. They may also be able to confirm that all the services to the property are within the boundaries or that the appropriate easements are in place if they go through another property or land. As above the engineer or surveyor should have insurance there incase they miss something major and you have to sue them.

muraliinformal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119372766#Comment_119372766

Thanks for your time in posting such a detailed post, I appreciate that. Sure, i'll make a note of it and discuss with the solicitor.