Currently buying/selling a house? How is it going? READ MOD NOTE POST #1

lfen

Due to snag this Tuesday. Will post an update for those in similar position.

darlett

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

And where am I meant to buy this stuff?

I got a beast of an inflatable air bed in Tesco last year. I imagine they will have a fair chunk of stuff like that to chose from, a camping chair or 2 etc.

guyfawkes5

givyjoe wrote: »

Haven't look recently, but I thought Amazon were only delivering 'essential' suppliers like cleaning products, PPE etc for a number of weeks due to demand.

I've ordered a few non-essential things off them the last week or two. The delivery times are a bit delayed, but nothing adverse happened other than that.

Millem

guyfawkes5 wrote: »

I've ordered a few non-essential things off them the last week or two. The delivery times are a bit delayed, but nothing adverse happened other than that.

Me too and have more coming.

akesha

Given the situation and with signed contracts exchanged, EA locked up in her home, and having the closing date in two weeks or less (depending if solicitors can do their job)... would be appropriate to contact buyers directly to talk about the situation? I have their email, but I always contacted them through EA/solicitor.

dowhatyoulove

Claw Hammer wrote: »

I doubt if your current landlord will be in any hurry for you to leave. How will he source new tenants or get any work done on the property?

He’s not - but we are keen to get out. Our rent is at least €600 more than our mortgage payment - the house isn’t particularly suited to our needs so unfortunately I’m thinking of my family - not my landlord.

Mixmistro

Waiting to drawdown still. Contracts were signed well before the crisis kicked off. Am a few weeks past the closing date now. Solicitor was saying last week that it was hard to get through to the bank and even when you do they are understandably down to a third of their staff (either through working from home or maybe redeployed to deal with mortgage 'holidays'). I presume nothing is guaranteed to go through now even when a formal loan offer was confirmed, contracts exchanged and all the paperwork is in, but I don't know for sure of course what is transpiring behind the scenes at the bank in regard to their ability or desire to complete.

Sesame

akesha wrote: »

Given the situation and with signed contracts exchanged, EA locked up in her home, and having the closing date in two weeks or less (depending if solicitors can do their job)... would be appropriate to contact buyers directly to talk about the situation? I have their email, but I always contacted them through EA/solicitor.

Not unless absolutely necessary. Solicitor works as a middle man for a reason. If you contact them, they will then see that as free reign to get onto you about boiler issues, a wonky cupboard, etc.
Also, it becomes more personal and emotive. Keep it as a business transaction.

akesha

Sesame wrote: »

Not unless absolutely necessary. Solicitor works as a middle man for a reason. If you contact them, they will then see that as free reign to get onto you about boiler issues, a wonky cupboard, etc.
Also, it becomes more personal and emotive. Keep it as a business transaction.

We have a clause in the contract saying that they accept the state of the house as is - so if they see a problem afterwards, they cannot get onto us.

If they have doubts I will happily respond... I also did have questions when I bought it :rolleyes:

It is very frustrating to wait for solicitors - we have been waiting for a week to know if they agree to have an earlier closing date - which we don't know is possible now. But we would like to know their thoughts about the situation and how to proceed now.

guyfawkes5

I know delays can be frustrating and it can be very tempting to reach out to the other party as they're just as motivated as you to close quickly.

I would advise against it though, as you may get a very upset EA who thinks you're trying to cut them out of the sale or a solicitor who thinks you're trying to beeline to signing contracts without due diligence.

As mentioned, you may also expose yourself to being contacted either now or down the road with questions you didn't anticipate.

fliball123

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Any risk in sending a booking deposit in the current climate in case the EA went bust?

I was always under the impression the deposit goes into the sellers solicitors account and that all solicitors in Ireland need a separate client account and indemnity insurance in case they go bust. If the solicitor goes bust the deposit can be paid by this insurance

akesha

guyfawkes5 wrote: »

I know delays can be frustrating and it can be very tempting to reach out to the other party as they're just as motivated as you to close quickly.

I would advise against it though, as you may get a very upset EA who thinks you're trying to cut them out of the sale or a solicitor who thinks you're trying to beeline to signing contracts without due diligence.

As mentioned, you may also expose yourself to being contacted either now or down the road with questions you didn't anticipate.

We have already signed contracts - we are just trying to get an earlier closing date as the house is already prepared for them. But yeah, I understand the point.

TheSheriff

akesha wrote: »

We have already signed contracts - we are just trying to get an earlier closing date as the house is already prepared for them. But yeah, I understand the point.

As a buyer, I would be delighted with the level of communication you propose !!! Especially in such uncertain times, the buyer is probably equally as stressed.

I would fire ahead and contact them.

If worried about follow up just create a new email address (takes all of five minutes) and when finished, don't use it again. It's very easy in the modern world to cut communication.

Also, re the EA getting annoyed mentioned above, they work for YOU. They are still getting paid, who cares what they think.

Bargain_Hound

To update: We went sale agreed at the start of March, delay getting the valuation done due to no access to property. This was done eventually last week. We are now waiting for bank to send our solicitor the loan offer for the property. This morning the bank followed up with us requesting more documentation in relation to one of our jobs as they fall under a risk category due to the pandemic. More delays. Things not looking good.

FutureGuy

Three sale agreeds over the last three years. Lots of hassle and heartbreak at the time. Allworked out for the best.

Finally getting keys the nicest house of the three tomorrow, 25k cheaper than them too.

wirelessdude01

Mrs just picked up the keys. Foreman said no keys will be handed over for the foreseeable after 6pm until sites are reopened.

thunderdog

BOI Mortgage advisor indicated that the freeze on LTI exemptions should only last 2 weeks. I’m not convinced, I’d imagine the banks will hang on a lot longer than that before opening the exemptions back up again

guyfawkes5

thunderdog wrote: »

BOI Mortgage advisor indicated that the freeze on LTI exemptions should only last 2 weeks. I’m not convinced, I’d imagine the banks will hang on a lot longer than that before opening the exemptions back up again

The way it was phrased to me in the same conversation with BoI is that LTI exemptions are expected to form 20% of their total mortgage lending, and they since they nudging above that number recently because of a very active first quarter, they're holding off for a bit to let that proportion tick back down, and that process could take a while since mortgage numbers are so low right now (in terms of new applications and existing applications collapsing).

ZX7R

guyfawkes5 wrote: »

The way it was phrased to me in the same conversation with BoI is that LTI exemptions are expected to form 20% of their total mortgage lending, and they since they nudging above that number recently because of a very active first quarter, they're holding off for a bit to let that proportion tick back down, and that process could take a while since mortgage numbers are so low right now (in terms of new applications and existing applications collapsing).

BOI still giving exemptions but are tighten up on there credit rules

Nijmegen

In terms of our own sale, the estate agent has helpfully gone to ground. Like, you're being paid on commission to close this thing, communicate, even if all you had to say was "Gee, the buyers went to ground!" But I guess you never know what someone's personal circumstances are at the moment... But then EAs don't have the best rep to begin with...

guyfawkes5

ZX7R wrote: »

BOI still giving exemptions but are tighten up on there credit rules

I was talking to them late last week and they said they wouldn't even take applications for LTI exemptions at the moment, but that might change in the short term but with no definite date. They recommended to check again in maybe two weeks.

ZX7R

guyfawkes5 wrote: »

I was talking to them late last week and they said they wouldn't even take applications for LTI exemptions at the moment, but that might change in the short term but with no definite date. They recommended to check again in maybe two weeks.

No bank will be taking new applications for mortgages for the next two weeks either way.
Irish banks won't be paying dividends till at least October.
Thats going to make it stricter to get a mortgage
New mortgages will be given with exemptions but you will need a perfect credit history, that may change in the future regards exemptions.
At the moment bank of Ireland are still issuing exemptions

scarepanda

For anyone that have recently received keys, are you planning on moving now or waiting until the restrictions are lifted?

IvoryTower

Spoke to my mortgage person in Ulster bank today, said they're proceeding as normal until they hear otherwise. My application on hold cause missus passport out of date. I'm buying a family home so price drop wont matter but I'd prefer to get it through on the current rates rather than to see what they're like in a few months. No idea what's right tbh just a guess. Passport offices closed anyway so nothing I can do for now.

wirelessdude01

scarepanda wrote: »

For anyone that have recently received keys, are you planning on moving now or waiting until the restrictions are lifted?

Well we can't move as we have no fridge or cooking facilities. Also broadband is a requirement for us as well and nothing happening with that for the moment either.

scarepanda

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Well we can't move as we have no fridge or cooking facilities. Also broadband is a requirement for us as well and nothing happening with that for the moment either.

I get ya. The new house has fridge/freezer and cooking facilities. We think we can get temporary internet set up that will be good enough for work purposes.

We are moving 10km, and can do it on our own, so we wouldn't be interacting with anyone, basically going directly house to house. We wont be able to pay for a mortgage and rent for long which is our biggest problem.

cd76

Housebuying wrote: »

We received the contracts just before the first lockdown so we haven't signed anything.

Anyone else just going to pull out? I think house prices will drop. I don't have any concerns in getting another mortgage as my LTV was small.

So it's all speculation at this stage. I'm a long time looking for the right house and was delighted to be sale agreed but can't help but think, this time next year we could get real value.

Previously burnt in the last financial crash so don't want to be in that situation again.

Pull out now. The market will CRASH big time for a few reasons.
- We are facing 15% to 30% unemployment.
- Rental market already hit hard as all Airbnb business is gone so lots of 1 and 2 Beds and others coming on stream in last few weeks ... see Daft.ie
- This means lots of good rentals at lower prices.
- Executor Sales will increase due to the older population being hit hard sadly dying ....especially in Dublin)
- I am an investor waiting to invest in 2 or 3 properties and I was talking to Estate Agents at 2 of the biggest EAs today - Sherrys & DNG .. both said the same thing. They were very depressed and have said since Friday the phones have been hopping with people pulling out of "Sale Agreed" properties.

Be wise .. do not fall into the same trap as in 2008 - 2009 pull out now. You'll get the same house for at least 30% less in 6 months. This of it people will get some supports from the Gov and Banks for about 3 months.. after that they will struggle and have to sell up. If I were you I'd look for a nice rental now.. bargain hard and sign up for one year with one month notice. Then in the Autumn(but realistically next spring) you'll be ready to get a great deal.

Don't listen to any crap from EAs who say the market is stable. I am telling you now it is crashing hard. Get your solicitor to pull put now.
Best of luck. You wont regret it.

Deco99

cd76 wrote: »

Pull out now. The market will CRASH big time for a few reasons.
- We are facing 15% to 30% unemployment.
- Rental market already hit hard as all Airbnb business is gone so lots of 1 and 2 Beds and others coming on stream in last few weeks ... see Daft.ie
- This means lots of good rentals at lower prices.
- Executor Sales will increase due to the older population being hit hard sadly dying ....especially in Dublin)
- I am an investor waiting to invest in 2 or 3 properties and I was talking to Estate Agents at 2 of the biggest EAs today - Sherrys & DNG .. both said the same thing. They were very depressed and have said since Friday the phones have been hopping with people pulling out of "Sale Agreed" properties.

Be wise .. do not fall into the same trap as in 2008 - 2009 pull out now. You'll get the same house for at least 30% less in 6 months. This of it people will get some supports from the Gov and Banks for about 3 months.. after that they will struggle and have to sell up. If I were you I'd look for a nice rental now.. bargain hard and sign up for one year with one month notice. Then in the Autumn(but realistically next spring) you'll be ready to get a great deal.

Don't listen to any crap from EAs who say the market is stable. I am telling you now it is crashing hard. Get your solicitor to pull put now.
Best of luck. You wont regret it.

What's pull put? I haven't heard of it before. Will my solicitor know what I'm saying?

lfen

Bargain_Hound wrote: »

To update: We went sale agreed at the start of March, delay getting the valuation done due to no access to property. This was done eventually last week. We are now waiting for bank to send our solicitor the loan offer for the property. This morning the bank followed up with us requesting more documentation in relation to one of our jobs as they fall under a risk category due to the pandemic. More delays. Things not looking good.

What bank are you dealing with?

lomb

cd76 wrote: »

Pull out now. The market will CRASH big time for a few reasons.
- We are facing 15% to 30% unemployment.
- Rental market already hit hard as all Airbnb business is gone so lots of 1 and 2 Beds and others coming on stream in last few weeks ... see Daft.ie
- This means lots of good rentals at lower prices.
- Executor Sales will increase due to the older population being hit hard sadly dying ....especially in Dublin)
- I am an investor waiting to invest in 2 or 3 properties and I was talking to Estate Agents at 2 of the biggest EAs today - Sherrys & DNG .. both said the same thing. They were very depressed and have said since Friday the phones have been hopping with people pulling out of "Sale Agreed" properties.

Be wise .. do not fall into the same trap as in 2008 - 2009 pull out now. You'll get the same house for at least 30% less in 6 months. This of it people will get some supports from the Gov and Banks for about 3 months.. after that they will struggle and have to sell up. If I were you I'd look for a nice rental now.. bargain hard and sign up for one year with one month notice. Then in the Autumn(but realistically next spring) you'll be ready to get a great deal.

Don't listen to any crap from EAs who say the market is stable. I am telling you now it is crashing hard. Get your solicitor to pull put now.
Best of luck. You wont regret it.

That's crazy talk if your buying a family home. The price is blended over 25 years so makes no odds.

Sure if your an investor a classic rule is s notnto catch a falling knife. The banks lend at 2x to investors vs home owners so that 200 grand apartment is really 400 grand. It's a totally different game dude.

I signed at 450k and am praying the vendor co signs and completes so I can get on with my life.
Well off people don't consider their home an investment it is merely a place to live and plan your move to make more cash.