Can you buy an Irish Property from Abroad?

creeper1

I'm in Ireland at the moment but I am planning on returning abroad to work in the near future.

I can start the process of looking for a suitable property and paying a booking deposit on something that I like.

However the process of actually closing the sale can be rather lengthy and I'm unlikely to be here for the entirety of it.

I will not need a mortgage.

I know that the best person to ask would be a lawyer but I thought I'd ask on here if anyone has any experience of doing something like this?

Also I am hoping to rent the place out while away.

Caranica

You don't have to be here to buy a property but you'd be foolish to buy something without setting foot in it.

You should read some of the threads in here about renting out properties. It's not for the faint hearted (I personally wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy).

quokula

I bought a house in Ireland while living in the UK, with the intention of moving back to Ireland after the purchase. It wasn't too difficult. That was a new build with no mortgage so it was quite straightforward. I'd viewed the show house personally when originally deciding to purchase. I then had a trusted family member do snagging with a professional snagger, while the solicitor handled all the paperwork and I stayed in the loop via phone and email. I just had to physically sign the final documents over registered post and everything went smoothly. Currency fluctuation was probably the biggest problem I hit. My savings were in GBP and the house cost a lot more by the end of the deal than the start of it because of currency devaluation which left me cutting it very fine on affordability. If you're going to be somewhere with a different currency make sure you have the funds for the purchase stored in Euros.

Aside from that, I couldn't move to Ireland for about 6 months after the house was finished and originally considered renting it out but chose to leave it empty because of the risks that come with that.

If anything hadn't gone smoothly I'd imagine it would have been much more difficult. I'm currently buying a different new build several years later as our family grows and this time the developer has been an absolute nightmare to deal with when it comes to completing the house and fixing snags, which would be even more difficult if managing from abroad.

AerLingus747

anyone managed to get a mortgage from abroad?

Geuze

I have neber heard of a bank abroad offering a mortgage on a house in Ireland.

Why would they?

Ezeoul

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058307224/can-you-buy-an-irish-property-from-abroad

If you're not going to be living here for the foreseeable future then I'd put off buying until you are back in the country and plan to be here to stay.

I wouldn't buy a property and rent it out now - you may never get the property back, the way things are going.

AerLingus747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120923707#Comment_120923707

other way round.... securing a mortgage in Ireland before moving back

Bluefoam

It can actually be easier to buy from abroad, but you generally need at least 30% deposit. This may be different for UK residents.

Bluefoam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120923707#Comment_120923707

It's generally done through a broker based in Ireland.

AerLingus747

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120951808#Comment_120951808

I had a high level look into it over a year ago.... 30% like as you said, but, rates were 6% upwards (at the time when 2-3 % was normal on fixed mortgages), which they said was "due to increased risk and lack of credit history".... which I don't understand, as there is a tax treaty in place between the UK and Ireland, so you can easily access tax and credit info from each other's state... from the UK they search via PRSI number or from Ireland, search via NI number.

Hence the curiosity.