Buying a Show House

iwantthat

So we paid the initial deposit of the house and have sorted our mortgage. Bank came through just on this Friday.

We are first time buyers and buying a semi-d show house. The sale includes only the flooring and carpeting. All the furniture e.g Beds, Sofas, Curtains, Shelves will be taken away.

I would like to ask the community here to advise me on the following...

• I have the solicitors, now what I should ask her in terms of the contracts.
  
• For the show house, we are paying a little extra. Should the extra be included in the house price on contracts or should it be a separate invoice?
  
• What about snagging of the house. What should be checked? Bear in mind that it is a show house we are buying.
  
• We already have a life insurance policy of about 800K from last about 3 years. Should we take out another policy for mortgage protection or use the current one.
  
• The HTB grant, we already applied and know what amount we are getting. Can I ask revenue to look at the application once again with a chance to increase the amount we are getting based on what we have paid so far again this year in taxes? Is it a possibility. What else has to be done in terms of claiming it.
  
• Anything more I should know...?

Thank you all in advance for your help.

wirelessdude01

What are you getting for the higher price? I always thought that the show house was sold with contents.

iwantthat

The contractors want to shift the contents to the new show house and don't want to sell.

What we are getting is fully carpeted upstairs and floors downstairs.

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

What are you getting for the higher price? I always thought that the show house was sold with contents.

Babyboy09

iwantthat wrote: »

The contractors want to shift the contents to the new show house and don't want to sell.

What we are getting is fully carpeted upstairs and floors downstairs.

Did you compare the cost of carpeting against the increased price? Will walls need to be repaired and repainted when shelving/pictures are removed?

Were the builders amenable to an offer on the entire contents.

We bought a show house and it worked out well but bear in mind also that the carpets had indents from heavy furniture and there was fading in the back bedrooms (the place was unoccupied for many years- this is probably not the case for yours)

iwantthat

Builders just were not interested in selling the furniture. So didn't take any offer at all. They did say that all the walls will be fixed after removal of the furniture/contents.

I also shopped around for the flooring and carpeting and it seems like I would pay a similar amount if I get them myself. So not worried about paying a little extra.

Babyboy09 wrote: »

Did you compare the cost of carpeting against the increased price? Will walls need to be repaired and repainted when shelving/pictures are removed?

Were the builders amenable to an offer on the entire contents.

We bought a show house and it worked out well but bear in mind also that the carpets had indents from heavy furniture and there was fading in the back bedrooms (the place was unoccupied for many years- this is probably not the case for yours)

L1011

Is your existing life insurance policy assignable to a lender? If it isn't the lender won't accept it

I have 4x salary cover from my employer which would cover my mortgage twice and then some (bought with a decent deposit at the bottom of the market; cheap house rather than huge salary!) and they won't even consider it as valid. Managed to get Zurich for 9.90 a month though.

iwantthat

Thank you for your reply.
I will check with my company, Irish Life.

L1011 wrote: »

Is your existing life insurance policy assignable to a lender? If it isn't the lender won't accept it

I have 4x salary cover from my employer which would cover my mortgage twice and then some (bought with a decent deposit at the bottom of the market; cheap house rather than huge salary!) and they won't even consider it as valid. Managed to get Zurich for 9.90 a month though.

iwantthat

Any help from anyone

tradesman

iwantthat wrote: »

So we paid the initial deposit of the house and have sorted our mortgage. Bank came through just on this Friday.

We are first time buyers and buying a semi-d show house. The sale includes only the flooring and carpeting. All the furniture e.g Beds, Sofas, Curtains, Shelves will be taken away.

I would like to ask the community here to advise me on the following...

• I have the solicitors, now what I should ask her in terms of the contracts.
  
• For the show house, we are paying a little extra. Should the extra be included in the house price on contracts or should it be a separate invoice?
  
• What about snagging of the house. What should be checked? Bear in mind that it is a show house we are buying.
  
• We already have a life insurance policy of about 800K from last about 3 years. Should we take out another policy for mortgage protection or use the current one.
  
• The HTB grant, we already applied and know what amount we are getting. Can I ask revenue to look at the application once again with a chance to increase the amount we are getting based on what we have paid so far again this year in taxes? Is it a possibility. What else has to be done in terms of claiming it.
  
• Anything more I should know...?

Thank you all in advance for your help.

Solicitor will sort out the legal issues for you (thats what you are paying them for)
Snagging - just because it is a show house does not mean it is finished to a high standard. I have recently inspected 2 show houses & they had the same issues as the rest of the development & sometimes show houses are the "guinea pigs" of the development. ie design mistakes / flaws are only found when the house is being built.
Insurance - I cant help you with.
HTB - Get on to revenue it wont cost you anything to ask the question. You could follow up with advice from an independent accountant you or a friend / work colleague may know. Good luck anyway