Steps involved in buying a home (2024)

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Introduction

At some point in your life you may want to buy a home. This page covers thedifferent stages involved in doing this.

There are no residency-based restrictions to buying property in Ireland. Youcan buy property here if you are an Irish citizen, EU/EEA citizen, non-EEAnational or even non-resident in Ireland. However, owning property in Irelanddoes not mean you have the right to live here. Your rightto live in Ireland depends on your personal circ*mstances and is separateto property ownership.

Before you decide to buy

Find out what you can afford

You should review your budget to find out how much you can afford in monthlymortgage repayments. You should ensure that you have enough to cover all the costs involved in buying ahome, for example, mortgage costs, legal fees, insurance and stamp duty.The amount of money you can get as a mortgage loan, and the amount you need asa deposit are governed by Central Bank lending limits - see Taking out amortgage for details of these rules. The Competition and ConsumerProtection Commission (CCPC) has a budgetplanner that you can use to see how much you can afford each month.

Get a solicitor

While you are looking for a property, you should hire a solicitor to do theconveyancing. Conveyancing is the legal work involved in buying orselling property. Conveyancing charges can vary between solicitors, so it isworth contacting several solicitors to compare prices. You can use the LawSociety’s website to find a solicitor in your area.

Find a property you like and can afford

Property websites, auctioneers and estate agents are the main ways to findproperties that are for sale. You can find a publicregister of auctioneers and estate agents on theProperty ServicesRegulatory Authority's website.

Sometimes individual sellers advertise property themselves. Newspapers mayalso have property supplements or publish advertisem*nts about properties forsale.

The Property Services Regulatory Authority publishes a Residential Property PriceRegister, which contains information on residential properties bought inIreland since 1 January 2010. You can check the register to see how much waspaid for a property. This can be useful to find out the price properties havesold for in the area you are looking to buy.

All homes for sale must have a BuildingEnergy Rating (BER). A BER will tell you how energy-efficient the home is.It will help you make an informed choice when comparing properties.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends that you check whetherthe home is in a High Radon Area on its Radon Risk Map and enquire about if ithas been tested for radon. More information on radon in homes is available fromthe EPA and in our page on measurementof radon levels.

The CCPC has a checklist of what to consider when Lookingfor a property (pdf), and another checklist with questions you can ask toFindout more about a property (pdf), if you are particularly interested in aproperty.

Get a survey

A seller does not have to tell you about defects in a property. So, beforeyou finalise the purchase, you should get a survey of the property to find outif there are any defects. The survey will help highlight any issues you may nothave been aware of when you made your offer. For example, if your surveyorfinds that the roof needs to be replaced, you could change your offer toaccount for this, or decide not to buy. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) isthe professional body for chartered surveyors.

Get mortgage approval

Very few people can buy a home without getting a mortgage. Amortgage is a long-term loan secured against the property you buy. This meansif you don’t repay your mortgage, you may lose your home.

There are different types of mortgages and different mortgage providers.Contact several different mortgage providers to find out who can offer you thebest deal. More information on mortgages and choosing the best one for you isavailable from the Competition and ConsumerProtection Commission (CCPC). The CCPC has a mortgagecalculator that shows what your monthly repayments will be depending on theamount you borrow, how long the mortgage will last and the interest rate.

You can get mortgage approval in principle before you start to look for aproperty. This lets you know how much you have to spend. However, when you finda property you like, you must get formal mortgage approval before you sign thecontract for sale (see below). If you sign a contract for sale and then don’tget mortgage approval, you will lose your deposit and there may be otherpenalties.

For more detailed information, see our page on taking out amortgage.

How to buy the property you want

In general properties are purchased and sold either by:
• Private treaty
• Public auction

Private treaty sale

A private treaty sale is where the property is not put into an auction. Youcan contact the seller or the seller’s agent, usually an estate agent, toagree a purchase price.

If there is an estate agent involved, once you have agreed to buy theproperty you may need to pay a booking deposit to the estate agent. The legalprocess to buy the property may only start when the estate agent receives yourbooking deposit. This deposit is refundable up to the signing of the contractfor sale (see below).

Your mortgage provider will give you formal mortgage approval and issue youwith a loan pack. You will need to think about mortgage protection insurance and homeinsurance. You can organise these with your mortgage provider but it isadvisable to shop around. When your solicitor has checked the contract forsale, you will sign it and pay a deposit (less any booking fee).

Public auction

Auctions are usually advertised in a local newspaper, estate agent or by asign on the property. Generally, the seller or the auctioneer will set areserve figure for the property. The reserve figure is the value the propertymust reach at auction. If the property does not reach the reserve figure itwill be withdrawn from the market.

The seller can also withdraw the property from the market at any time duringthe auction, even if it has achieved the reserve figure. The seller can alsosell the property before the auction.

Before the auction takes place, your solicitor should check the contract forsale for the property (issued by the seller's solicitor) and all titledocuments that are referred to in that contract. When your solicitor hassatisfied their enquiries, you can organise a survey of the property to ensureit is sound. You should also get formal mortgage approval for the property youwant to bid on.

The successful bidder immediately pays a deposit and signs the contract forsale (see below). It is important to get home insurance as soon as possible.

Estate agents and auctioneers

Estate agents and auctioneers act on behalf of the seller and in theseller’s interest. There are rulesand a Codeof Practice outlining how they should behave when delivering theirservices, and they are regulated by theProperty Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA). If you have a complaintabout an estate agent or auctioneer, you should contact the PSRA - see 'Whereto apply' below.

Signing the contract for sale

Closing the sale

Requisitions on Title and Deed of Conveyance

After signing the contract and before the completion date of the sale, yoursolicitor raises some general queries about the property with the seller'ssolicitor. Requisitions on Title are a standard set of questionsrelating to the sale of a property that deal with such things as whetherfixtures and fittings are included in the sale.

When your solicitor gets a satisfactory reply to Requisitions on Title, theywill draft a Deed of Conveyance which is then approved by the seller'ssolicitor.

Your solicitor will check that there are no judgements against the seller(for example, bankruptcy or sheriffs' searches). Your solicitor should alsofind out where the title to the property is held (either in the Land Registryor the Registry of Deeds) to ensure that there is nothing unusual relating tothe property, for example, an outstanding mortgage.

Once the Deed of Conveyance is approved by the seller's solicitor, yoursolicitor will contact your mortgage provider to request the approved loancheque. This is the remaining balance of the purchase price. It is paid to theseller's solicitor and all documentation, and keys to the premises are handedover to your solicitor.

Stamp duty

Your solicitor will calculate how much stamp duty is due on the property and request thisamount from you before the sale is closed. The stamp duty is paid to the Revenue Commissioners, who placea stamp on the deeds. Without this stamp, the deeds cannot be registered. Thedeeds name the owner of the property.

After the sale is completed

Deeds

Once a sale is completed, your deeds,showing the new ownership details must be registered with either the Registryof Deeds or the Land Registry. Tailte Éireann  isresponsible for both systems of registration.

Your solicitor will help you to finalise the deeds to your house with TailteÉireann. This can take months or years to complete. Even if this does take along time, you are still the owner of the property and, if you want, you cansell the property before registration is complete.

Moving house

There are many things to do when moving house, for example, redirecting yourpost and changing your details on the electoralregister. More information is available in our page on moving to a new home.

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