So you’re in the process of buying a house in Ireland and you've just gone “sale agreed” on your new house and you want to know what happens next? Then read on.

"Sale Agreed" essentially means that the owner of the house is agreeable to selling the house to you but the offer is subject to contract meaning that either party can pull out of the sale up until the point at which the contracts are signed and exchanged.

At the "sale agreed" point, the auctioneer will ask you what solicitor is acting on your behalf and, once they have this detail, they will then issue a “sales advice notice” to your solicitor and the seller’s solicitor. The sales advice notice is a document setting out the terms agreed between the parties – basically it will set out the purchase price for the property, whether the purchase of the property is subject to a mortgage or not and the amount of a booking deposit paid to the auctioneer.

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Arrange a Structural Survey

When buying a house, the first thing you should do is obtain a structural survey report of the property from a suitably qualified Architect/Engineer/Surveyor, regardless of whether the property is new or old. Under Irish contract law, you purchase the property in its current state of condition and at your own risk. For example, if the contract states that the purchaser buying the property "as is", and it subsequently transpires after you have purchased the property that the roof needs to be replaced, you will have no recourse against the seller. A seller of a property is under no duty to a purchaser to ensure that the building is free from defects. Unless there is agreement on the point, it is up to the purchaser to satisfy himself/herself that the building is sound and fit for any particular purposes.

Contracts

Now that the seller's solicitor has received the sales advice notice from the auctioneer/estate agent, the seller’s solicitor will prepare the contracts and issue them, along with a copy of the title and planning documents for the house to your nominated solicitor. Your solicitor will not have any legal work to do until they receive the contracts and copy title for the house from the seller's solicitor however, they may discuss the type of property you are buying, how you’re financing the purchase, the house price and the closing date with you.

Title Investigation

Once your solicitor receives copies of the documents from the seller’s solicitor in the post or via email, he will immediately embark upon a perusal of the contract and documents furnished to establish the nature of the title being offered, a full description of the property, whether it includes any contents and what if any, special conditions the seller’s solicitor seeks to impose. The question of the title and the nature of the title is a matter for your solicitor to clarify and satisfy himself on before you will be allowed to sign the contract.

The full extent of the pre-contract enquiries and searches to be made will depend entirely upon the nature and title of the property that you are buying and careful consideration should be given to this aspect of the matter.

At Roe Solicitors, we prepare a detailed report for every purchaser advising on the title, planning and property taxes for the property being purchased along with advices in relation to the terms in the contract.

mortgage

If you are using a mortgage to part fund the purchase of your house, then the contract should be amended to be subject to loan approval such that if your cannot, for whatever reason, drawdown your mortgage, then you will be able to get out of the contract and get your deposit monies back.

Very careful attention should be paid to the precise terminology being used. If it is being made subject to loan approval, then a simple clause to that effect of itself may not be sufficient. All loan approvals of themselves contain conditions and if the contract is being signed before the formal loan approval document has issued then it is of critical importance that the contract is made subject, not only to loan approval, but subject to the purchaser being in a position to comply with any conditions attached, or that there are no conditions attached which the purchaser is unable or unwilling to comply with.

signing the contracts

Once the terms of the contract are agreed, you will sign two copies of the contract and your signature will be witnessed by your solicitor. The two signed contracts will then be sent to the seller’s solicitor along with a 10% deposit (this is 10% of the house purchase price less whatever booking deposit amount you have paid to the auctioneer). The seller will then countersign both of the contracts and return a dated and signed contract to your solicitor. You will then be in binding contracts and required to complete the purchase of the property in accordance with the terms of the contract.

Insure Your Property

Now that the contracts are signed, the beneficial interest in the property passes to you although the legal interest remains with the seller until the completion date. As such, you should put your buildings insurance policy in place when you sign the contract for the full reinstatement value of the house. If you are purchasing an apartment the property will already be covered by the block insurance policy of the Management Company.

closing date & gettng the keys

The contract will provide for a closing date upon which the sale of the house to you must complete. It will usually be 2 weeks from the date of the contract. If you are using a mortgage to purchase the property, your solicitor will liaise with your bank and/or mortgage advisor to drawdown your mortgage within this timeframe.

On the closing date (or shortly beforehand) the balance purchase monies will be sent to the seller’s solicitor (on trust) and the title documents for the property will be sent to your solicitor (on trust). Closing searches will be raised by your solicitor (to ensure there is no litigation pending against the property) and provided these are clear, the transaction will complete.

The seller’s solicitor will then email the auctioneer / estate agent confirming that the sale has closed and that the house keys can be released to you. Your solicitor will tend to the registration of you as owner of the property in the Land Registry. At this stage, you have just bought a house in Ireland.

WHY CHOOSE ROE SOLICITORS?

We have extensive experience in dealing with all matters relating to conveyancing and buying and selling houses in Ireland. For specific legal advice on buying a house, then please get in touch today.

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HOW TO BUY A HOUSE IN Ireland