Stages in buying a house

bri007 · 26-11-2018 8:46pm #1

Hi all,

We are close to going sale agreed on a house; we are the highest bidder for the last week! just a bit confused as to what to do next;

Should we get a solicitor ASAP?

Should we look for mortgage protection now.

I know we have to get a surveyor ourself so I am currently looking up one to view the house.

Timeline wise, say we go sale agreed this Friday, we pay a booking deposit to the EA, then we get the solicitor to do the rest is it? How long roughly does it all take until drawdown from the bank if we go sale agreed this Friday?

Thanks, apologies for all the questions just a bit stressed trying to figure out what’s needed!

Andycap8 · 26-11-2018 9:49pm

How long is a piece of string?

It depends on the solicitors, the title documents, the state of the property, neighboring issues.
Is it registry of deeds or land registry.
There can be delays with your mortgage provider.
There can be delays with the survey.
There was a recent article about a new conveyancing initiative to be introduce to standardize the title docs.
The seller can delay things too to suit their needs.

We know people who closed (from sale agreed) in just under 3 months, we know people where it took 6 months. For ourselves, it took over 8 months but we had some serious title problems that needed to be resolved.

The day your solicitor gets a copy of the title documents he should be able to tell you if it will be problematic or not. Most likely it won't be.
Once you go sale agreed, let your bank/mortgage officer know and tell them you're target timeline.

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/the-way-we-buy-and-sell-houses-is-about-to-change-1.3703023

dudara · 27-11-2018 9:05am

It took us a little bit under 3 months, and while there were some delays, most were minor and didn’t really add much overall.

Get a solicitor engaged ASAP and get your surveyor in.

The_Chap · 27-11-2018 9:13am

Sale agreed to drawdown took just under 3 months here too, seems like the average timescale

bri007 · 27-11-2018 10:54am

Thanks guys I appreciate all the replies and help

Zebrano · 27-11-2018 11:01am

Took us 6 weeks which was exceptional to be honest as we were sale agreed on a few houses before and the gell through after months.
Are the other people in a chain as this will likley make it longer.
Also u need to pester all involved parties to get things moving aswell.

bri007 · 27-11-2018 11:11am

Thanks, what’s a chain, do you mean someone selling a house to buy another?

The house is empty, the person RIP and was left to family member, probate all through.

Wow 6 weeks that’s fast, also it’s good to know now that it can fall through as you have stated which we will need to be prepared for in case it does.

I have contacted a solicitor this morning just waiting on call back about an appointment.

Next step is to look at a surveyor - any recommendations PM me that would be great- Dublin. Getting different prices from quick search online, I presume the more the cost the better report they do and examination of the property.

Zebrano wrote: »

Took us 6 weeks which was exceptional to be honest as we were sale agreed on a few houses before and the gell through after months.
Are the other people in a chain as this will likley make it longer.
Also u need to pester all involved parties to get things moving aswell.

Mike3549 · 27-11-2018 4:57pm

I've read somewhere that its recommended to do structural survey first and if everythings is ok, THEN give them your solicitors details.
Who knows, there might be something wrong with the property and you might pull out, but you dont want your solicitor to charge you for that. Of course, they dont charge the full fee, but usualy theres already some work done on it

Daith · 27-11-2018 4:59pm

Mike3549 wrote: »

I've read somewhere that its recommended to do structural survey first and if everythings is ok, THEN give them your solicitors details.
Who knows, there might be something wrong with the property and you might pull out, but you dont want your solicitor to charge you for that. Of course, they dont charge the full fee, but usualy theres already some work done on it

Yes, this is something to consider (and probably the way it should be). Depends if the estate agent gets annoyed about allowing a surveyor without you giving solicitor details? Probably shouldn't be if booking deposit is paid.

laserlad2010 · 27-11-2018 9:22pm

The one thing I'd mention is that you're not sale agreed.

You haven't won the bidding process... yet.

What I would do is ring around and get, say, 3 solicitor quotes and 3 survey quotes and then wait. Once you're sale agreed and have paid the booking deposit you can fire ahead and engage your professionals.

I'm due to have a full survey carried out on Thursday on my property so if I'm happy with my report I can recommend you a Dublin based firm (although they have a wait time of approx. 3 weeks)

mkdon · 27-11-2018 9:31pm

i am also confused... so once go sale agree you transfer 10% of value of house to the estate agent without involving solictor?

also when does the rest of the money change hands? how long do i have to pull out and take back my deposit?

laserlad2010 · 27-11-2018 9:37pm

mkdon wrote: »

i am also confused... so once go sale agree you transfer 10% of value of house to the estate agent without involving solictor?

also when does the rest of the money change hands? how long do i have to pull out and take back my deposit?

Traditionally 5% of the deposit is paid to the vendors EA to be held in a separate account. Fully refundable until you sign the contracts. You should get a receipt too.

You can pull out any time before signing the contracts, as can the vendors, and the remainder of the money is due upon signing the contracts.

Daith · 27-11-2018 9:39pm

mkdon wrote: »

i am also confused... so once go sale agree you transfer 10% of value of house to the estate agent without involving solictor?

also when does the rest of the money change hands? how long do i have to pull out and take back my deposit?

You'll pay your solicitor the rest of the deposit minus booking fee. You have until you sign contracts to pull out. (Open to correction)

bri007 · 27-11-2018 9:40pm

That would be great if you could PM me the the contact details for the surveyor when they come out to you.

laserlad2010 wrote: »

The one thing I'd mention is that you're not sale agreed.

You haven't won the bidding process... yet.

What I would do is ring around and get, say, 3 solicitor quotes and 3 survey quotes and then wait. Once you're sale agreed and have paid the booking deposit you can fire ahead and engage your professionals.

I'm due to have a full survey carried out on Thursday on my property so if I'm happy with my report I can recommend you a Dublin based firm (although they have a wait time of approx. 3 weeks)

Daith · 27-11-2018 9:44pm

Remember, your bank will want to carry out a valuation too.

mkdon · 27-11-2018 9:48pm

even more confused .... so i go sale agreed... then what???

I hand over 5% of the 10% to the estate agent?

then get surveyor?

then get solicitor the rest is history?

confused.com

if takes 3 months. do you drawdown the money on the last day of the 3 months

please assist

laserlad2010 · 27-11-2018 10:12pm

Daith wrote: »

Remember, your bank will want to carry out a valuation too.

e150 with BOI. Only useful for the plot size really. The valuation came in precisely at what I paid for the property, funnily enough:rolleyes:

Daith · 27-11-2018 10:14pm

laserlad2010 wrote: »

e150 with BOI. Only useful for the plot size really. The valuation came in precisely at what I paid for the property, funnily enough:rolleyes:

Aye, bit of a joke but just highlighting it's an extra expense.

Mike3549 · 27-11-2018 10:37pm

mkdon wrote: »

even more confused .... so i go sale agreed... then what???

I hand over 5% of the 10% to the estate agent?

then get surveyor?

then get solicitor the rest is history?

confused.com

if takes 3 months. do you drawdown the money on the last day of the 3 months

please assist

You go sale agreed.
Pay EA booking deposit (we paid 5k 4 years ago).
Structural survey (recommended if second hand).
Valuation (thats for your bank, you dont need this if paying cash).
Then you get official loan offer from your bank for this property.
Sign contracts and pay the remainder of the deposit.
Get life assurance/ property insurance (if cash sale, then not required, but recommended) .
Pay solicitor their fee + stamp duty, land registry fee and other related charges.
Solicitor closes the sale.
You get the keys.
Congratulations, you are a homeowner.

I think thats everything, sorry if i forgot something

mkdon · 27-11-2018 10:43pm

thanks for simplifying

at what point does the solicitor become involved....?

Andycap8 · 27-11-2018 11:57pm

The solicitor should be notified once you go sale agreed. The estate agent will need to inform the seller's solicitor where to send the title documents.

Once you're sale agreed, contact your solicitor and let him know. Be sure to get quotes from a couple of solicitors. They are required to provide you with a fee estimate in advance of you retaining them.

dudara · 28-11-2018 4:38pm

Here’s a summary of our experience. Obviously this is our story and won’t be the same for everyone, but it might help you.

When we went sale agreed, we immediately transferred €10k to the EA as a booking deposit. Make sure you get a receipt.

We then engaged a solicitor (got 4 quotes and picked one) and shared their details with the bank & EA.

Then engaged a surveyor (again got 5 or so quotes). Picked one and put him in touch with the EA to arrange details. When the report came we shared with the bank.

The bank appointed an independent valuer, which we had to pay for. They organized their visit themselves. Once this was done, the bank issued the loan offer formally to us and our solicitor.

In the meantime, our solicitor received the contracts from the vendors solicitor and they started working through the details.

Once our solicitor was comfortable, she called us into her office to sign the contracts and our loan offer. At this stage we transferred the balance of the 10% purchase deposit to her. Our closing date was set for 3 weeks in the future and she would request the funds from the bank in 2 weeks. This would allow a week’s buffer if any problems arose.

We immediately put house insurance & life protection in place. I had heard that life protection could be a minefield so I had already started the process a few weeks earlier and we had been approved. Then it was simple to complete the paperwork.

We put the start date on both insurances to be about a week before the planned closing date. The house insurance company had to provide a letter of indemnity to the bank and that took us a few days to sort out.

In the end, all the final bits went smoothly and we actually closed about 4 days earlier than planned, and I picked up the keys from the EA that evening.

bri007 · 28-11-2018 5:01pm

That’s a great help thanks a mill, really good information and breakdown of the stages involved.

dudara wrote: »

Here’s a summary of our experience. Obviously this is our story and won’t be the same for everyone, but it might help you.

When we went sale agreed, we immediately transferred €10k to the EA as a booking deposit. Make sure you get a receipt.

We then engaged a solicitor (got 4 quotes and picked one) and shared their details with the bank & EA.

Then engaged a surveyor (again got 5 or so quotes). Picked one and put him in touch with the EA to arrange details. When the report came we shared with the bank.

The bank appointed an independent valuer, which we had to pay for. They organized their visit themselves. Once this was done, the bank issued the loan offer formally to us and our solicitor.

In the meantime, our solicitor received the contracts from the vendors solicitor and they started working through the details.

Once our solicitor was comfortable, she called us into her office to sign the contracts and our loan offer. At this stage we transferred the balance of the 10% purchase deposit to her. Our closing date was set for 3 weeks in the future and she would request the funds from the bank in 2 weeks. This would allow a week’s buffer if any problems arose.

We immediately put house insurance & life protection in place. I had heard that life protection could be a minefield so I had already started the process a few weeks earlier and we had been approved. Then it was simple to complete the paperwork.

We put the start date on both insurances to be about a week before the planned closing date. The house insurance company had to provide a letter of indemnity to the bank and that took us a few days to sort out.

In the end, all the final bits went smoothly and we actually closed about 4 days earlier than planned, and I picked up the keys from the EA that evening.

Stages in buying a house

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