buying my first home questions

Ohoopee

Hi, I have agreed to sale and my mortgage has been fully approved…the only thing left to do on my mortgage is for my solicitor to send in their documents. Sale was agreed end of January and I really thought I would be in the house some time next month (May). However, based on a recent letter from the sellers solicitor, it appears this situation has gotten more complicated.

There are two issues at play.

1. When the property was first built and purchased in 1988, the original owner purchased it as part of a help to buy scheme from the local county counsel. I'm sure of the details about this scheme only that it involved the local county counsel owning equity in the property. According to my solicitor, this won't affect me much. The county counsel is willing to release their equity and allow me to fully purchase the property as a freehold. I had to make a declaration that I planned on living in the property and that I didn't own any other property. We did this over a week ago. How long will it take for the county counsel to release their equity and allow me to purchase this property?
2. The other issue at play is the property is currently occupied. The original owner of the property passed away. I have no idea how long ago this occurred. At some point either before or after the owner of the properties death, members of the owners family moved into the property full time. The people in the house are aware the house is being sold as they have had to accommodate viewings, and evaluation. However, my solicitor believes they will probably be giving official notice to vacate the until the contract is signed. I have not been given a contract to sign due to issue 1. So I do not believe an official notice to vacate has been issued to the occupants. I know in regards to tenants and landlords and such that a certain notice period must be observed to give the inhabitants time to find other accommodation and move and how much time is allowed depends on how long the inhabitants have inhabited the property. Is this the same for this type of situation or is there a different established time period for this sort of situation?

I'm just trying to guesstimate when I will be able to move into my new home. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

danfrancisco83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058408025/buying-my-first-home-questions

How did you get a mortgage without vacant posession, I didn't think a bank would allow that?

Ohoopee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123401918#Comment_123401918

I had no issues…I have been honest with my bank through the whole process and my solicitor didn't act like it was a problem either. Maybe it is because it is family members of the original owner who were living there rent free with permission?

Princess Calla

With a very clean sale, as in the owner had already moved out , from viewing to moving in took about 6 months.

A friend of mine recently had a "small" issue on some part of the folio and it took a year....owners were also moved on.

This case sounds like an absolute nightmare.

Councils can take whatever length of time they want.

People living in a house rent free are not going to pack their bags without some amount of feet dragging. Are they the legal owners or cute wh*res that moved in after owner died and now a headache for the executor?

Unless you've already sunk a large wedge of cash I'd walk away. But then I'm fairly risk adverse.

Ohoopee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123402218#Comment_123402218

The people living there are family members, relatives of the original owner. I don't know the details but from what i have gathered, the original owner was put into a nursing home and they moved in while he was there and he then passed away. The gentleman apparently didn't leave a will so his family have decided to sell the house and split the money. I am assuming, although I don't know for sure, this includes the people who are currently living in the house. Maybe the people living in the house are part of the family involved in the sale which if so, maybe that means they won't require official notice? My solicitor didn't sound very concerned about any of this, said they have encountered all this before but also didn't really share any details.

Princess Calla

That does make sense but I would want reassurance that they have somewhere to go to.

charlesanto

It is reasonable to deduce that the deceased person who was in a nursing home was in the fair deal scheme, the loan must be repaid within 12months of the date of death.
Appart from that, the family will want the property sold.
I wouldn't be overly concerned about that.

I have no idea about the council aspect.

Ohoopee

I really hope I am not tied up in this for a full year waiting to move in. I guess I am lucky in that I am in a situation currently where I can wait, I am on a month to month lease and have lived at my current address for over 5 years and have a great relationship with the landlord, so I don't have to be out of my currant residence by any certain time but still, I really hope it doesn't take a full year.

coylemj

I do not believe an official notice to vacate has been issued to the occupants. I know in regards to tenants and landlords and such that a certain notice period must be observed to give the inhabitants time to find other accommodation and move and how much time is allowed depends on how long the inhabitants have inhabited the property. Is this the same for this type of situation or is there a different established time period for this sort of situation?

There's any number of red flags here….

1. Why do the occupants need an 'official notice' to quit the premises? If they're all on board, won't an e-mail or phone call do? Do they need a formal vacate order to get on the housing list with the local authority?
2. You say you don't know if the the occupants are getting any of the proceeds of the sale, I would make it my business to get an answer to that question. The house can't be sold until probate is granted so your solicitor should be able to find out - either ask the executor for a copy of the will or apply for a copy from the Probate Office.
3. If they are getting money from the sale, where will they live while they sort out a place to buy? If they're not getting any money from the sale, I would run a mile from this deal because they will have no incentive to move out so why would they? They can drag this out for years and continue to live rent-free if they choose to stay.

One thing to consider is to instruct your solicitor to withhold the money until the house is vacated i.e. make vacant possession a condition of the sale. That will put pressure on the family to get their siblings/cousins out of the house.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123402415#Comment_123402415

None of us here can tell you how this will pan out because every situation is different and we don't know the players…. But there are some things I'd be concerned about:

First of all you have no idea what is going on with respect to the owners, the deceased died intestate and some member of the family have taken possession of the premises is all you really know. The fact that the occupiers need "official notice" to vacate the premises suggest to me that they may not be in agreement and they may not want to vacate the premises….

I would also be concerned about a solicitor saying this was normal and he has had this before. The fact is he has no knowledge of what is going behind the curtain and he should be advising you accordingly on how to protect your interests. Do you know who is acting for the sellers?

As others have said instruct the solicitor that the sales contract must be for vacant possession and that there must be a vacant period of say two weeks before the contract can be signed and any the money handed over. During this period inspect the property to confirm this and ensure no subsequent damage has occurred to the property.