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Buying Property Solicitors
Buying Your Home
WARNING. Buying a house is a stressful process. The good news is it is a rite of passage, you will get there. And our Buying Property Solicitors are here to guide you.
When you decide that you want to buy a house you should shop around to see what bank can offer a loan that suits you. When you have completed the application form and provided all the documentation your mortgage application will be assessed. The bank may provide you with what is known as Approval in Principle. This is comparable to an estimate of the amount that you may be approved for and gives you an opportunity to consider potential properties you wish to buy while you wait for the formal Letter of Offer from the bank. Once you know how much money you can borrow, together with whatever money you have, that will be your budget.
Your budget must take into consideration costs associated with buying the house and not just the cost of the house. The typical costs associated with buying a house are (1) stamp duty, (2) Property Registration cost & (3) Solicitor fees / costs. There may be other costs like management fees or apportionment for local property tax, etc. Your solicitor will be able to advise you.
In relation to your solicitor, you should shop around. The solicitor will be able to give you a guide on the level of costs associated with buying the house. It is important to remember that the solicitor fees should not be the overall determining factor when choosing a solicitor. It is important that you find a solicitor that you can work with. The solicitor client relationship is important when buying a house.
Why is the solicitor client relationship important? This relationship is important because your solicitor is the only person in the transaction who is looking after your interest. This is because the seller and their solicitor are looking after the seller's interest, the estate agent is employed by the seller thus their obligation is to the seller and the bank want to lend the money as that is how they make their money. Your solicitor is there to protect your best interest.
Now that you have found a solicitor that you can work with the hard work begins.
What our buying property solicitors can help you with
- You need to start the search for the house that is right for you.
- When you find the right house, you make an offer for the property to the estate agent. If your offer is accepted, you then pay a booking deposit and give the estate agent our details.
- Do not be too disheartened if your offer is not accepted or if somebody else out bids you, this is the way of the world.
- If the offer is accepted, congratulations, you pay the booking deposit. The booking deposit is refundable if you do not sign the contract.
- The contract will issue to your solicitor. We will examine the contracts and title deeds to ensure that the vendor is entitled to sell to you as well as ensuring that the title good marketable title and that there are no onerous conditions in the contract. We will insert any special conditions into the contract which you may require, for example if you are applying for a mortgage the special condition would be inserted to state that the contract is subject to the purchaser being able to drawdown the mortgage funds.
- The loan pack from the bank should also issue to your solicitor around this time.
- The solicitor will review the terms of the loan / mortgage.
- When the terms of the contract are agreed, and the mortgage facility is in place the solicitor is happy for you to sign the contract and pay the balance of the deposit. Local Solicitor will arrange for you to sign contracts of sale and return them to the vendor’s solicitor together with the deposit (usually 10% of the purchase price). The vendor’s solicitor will then arrange for the vendor to sign the contracts and will return one part. Once contracts have been signed and the deposit paid there is a binding agreement in place.
- You may want to get your own survey done before you sign the contract and pay the balance of the deposit.
- Once you sign the contract and pay the deposit you are committed and will lose your deposit if you pull out.
- When the seller signs and returns a copy of the contract local solicitor will apply to the bank to drawdown the mortgage funds.
- When the funds come in your solicitor will send them to the seller solicitor
- The seller solicitor will release the title documents.
- The closing searches will be done at this stage. (do not worry your solicitor will explain this to you). Local solicitor will order a set of searches against the vendor and their property. These searches are carried out by a third-party service provider to ensure that the vendor is not bankrupt (a bankrupt person cannot sell a property), or that there are no judgments or undisclosed mortgages registered against the property. It is also possible to check whether there are any plans for road widening, etc. This is an additional search which is available at the request of the purchaser
- When the searches are done the money will be released to the vendor and the keys will be released to you.
- Congratulations you have your keys.
- 17 Local Solicitor will then arrange for the Stamp Duty to be paid on the deed of transfer.
- Once the deed is stamped Local Solicitor will arrange for the transfer to be registered so that you are recorded as the owner of the property. Local Solicitor will also register the mortgage with the Property Registration Authority.
- Once you are registered as owner and the mortgage is registered on the property Local Solicitor will lodge the title deeds with your bank who will hold onto them until you repay the loan or sell the property.
- The whole process can take approximately 8 weeks, but this will depend on the complexity of the transaction.
Local Solicitor knows that buying your house is one of the most stressful life events. We firmly believe in the concept that an informed client is a happy client thus we will update you on all matters to ensure a smooth and stress-free process.
The list above sounds easy however that whole process can become stressful because you are trying to balance the pace at which the seller wants to move, the pace at which the bank wants to move and the pace at which you can move. Do not worry it happens to everybody and it is a usual part of the process. Hang in there you will get over the line. Remember it is a rite of passage.
This note is an overview and explanation of the general process in buying a house. It is not to be taken as legal advice. Please consult Local Solicitor for legal advice. If you need to get involved in a contract Local Solicitor is in your corner to help you through the process. You can contact Local Solicitor by telephoning 01 8438138.
What else can our buying property solicitors help you with
WARNING. Buying a house is a stressful process. The good news is it is a rite of passage, you will get there.
If you need to get involved in a contract Local Solicitor is in your corner to help you through the process.
When you enter into a lease agreement on a commercial property it is important that you understand the terms of the lease. Local Solicitor can assist you in understanding the terms of the lease as well as assisting you in negotiated the best possible terms for you.
A landlord must ensure that the rental property is in a proper state of structural repair (internally and externally).
The landlord must ensure that electricity or gas supplies are safe and in good repair, and that every room has adequate ventilation and heating that tenants can control, and both natural and artificial lighting.
Shop around for mortgage interest rates. Banks are offering attractive products these days especially about mortgage interest rates. Also included in the attractive products are the incentives that go with some of these products. Some banks offer cash back however other banks are offering to pay a contribution towards the cost of switching. In some cases, borrowers may be getting more in the contribution than they are paying in costs. Could you get a lower rate by switching?
Local Solicitor receives a lot of enquiries about property being sold at auction. Property is usually sold at auction by a receiver. This usually occurs where a Bank has appointed a receiver to sell the property. As the receiver is appointed by the Bank, they will have little or no knowledge of the property.
The average time frame from going sale agreed to getting the keys can be around eight weeks. The entire process to include loan approval and going sale agreed can take longer.
The buyer will need to; (a) work out how much they can afford to spend on a house, (b) find a mortgage provider, (c) find a house, (d) go sale agreed, (e) find a solicitor to act on their behalf, (f) deal with the estate agent, (g) deal with the bank, (h) deal with the solicitor. If there is a broker involved and or tax reliefs or grants etc this will also have to be factored into the sequence of events. Once the contracts have been received by us and your loan offer is in place, we will investigate the title and raise our pre contract enquires. Once the pre contract enquiries have been satisfied, we will ask you to attend the office to sign the contracts and your loan offer. The contracts are then returned to the vendors’ solicitor with an agreed closing date. Once the vendor returns the signed contract to us, we can request your mortgage funds.
This is when your solicitor will investigate the title of the property to ensure that all is in order. This will involve checking on planning, architects’ opinions on compliance, position of the property (certified copy folio and filed plan), to ensure there are no unusual burdens on the property and charges etc.
Unregistered title is the old format of recording transactions involving land. Unregistered title is property that has not been registered with the Land Registry. There is more work and time involved in this type of conveyance as each Deed must be read carefully and the chain of title must be accurate. First registration with Land Registry is also required and there is usually an additional fee for this type of conveyance.
This is title registered with Land Registry. The ownership of the property along with any burdens or charges affecting the property are recorded with the Land Registry. The Land Registry produce a document called a folio showing the information associated with the property.
If you are taking out a mortgage, the bank will ask you to fill out a gift letter. The bank will also send a Deed of Confirmation document to your solicitor which is required to be filled out by the person giving you the gift. This document is a deed that confirms that the person giving you the gift has no interest in the property and they are not part of the conveyance and do not have an interest in the property.
You need to advise your solicitor and furnish the HTB application code and HTB access code. When you have signed your contract and loan offer, you need to upload these to the HTB website to obtain your claim code and advise your solicitor of the code. They will then advise the vendor’s solicitor of the claim code to enable their client (the developer) claim for the HTB amount from the scheme.
You will be in a position to sign the contract when the following is complete:
1. Your solicitor is happy that the title is in order.
2. Your loan offer and solicitor loan (legal) pack have been received by your solicitor.
This can be signed in the bank by the purchaser; however, it is recommended that you take legal advice on this. You should arrange an appointment with your solicitor to attend their office and go through everything with you.
The bank will issue a loan offer to the purchaser directly however they also issue a legal loan pack to the purchasers’ solicitor, as there are several legal documents that are required to be signed by the purchaser and solicitor.
This is when the lender indicates (a) that they will lend you money & (b) how much money they are prepared to lend. It is subject to you meeting certain conditions prior to the bank issuing loan.
This can often happen, if you are purchasing a new build or there is a delay in the purchase. The following are options:
1. You can ask the bank to extend your loan offer.
2. You will have to reapply for another loan offer.
It is preferable to notify your landlord once you have signed contracts and an agreed closing date for the sale. Unfortunately, this is not always practicable and as such it will be a matter for circumstance.
This can be done at any stage before drawdown of the mortgage funds if your means allow, that said it must be in place before the drawdown of the funds.
This can be done at any stage before drawdown of the mortgage funds if your means allow, that said it must be in place before the drawdown of the funds.
This can be done at any stage before drawdown of the mortgage funds if your means allow, that said it must be in place before the drawdown of the funds.
Snagging is a process of the purchaser checking a new build for minor faults that need to be rectified before completion of sale. The vendors’ solicitor will inform you when you can snag, normally by issuing a Notice of Completion letter, which allows 14 days to complete the snag and close the sale. You are advised to get an experienced person to compile the snag list so that you can ensure that all the relevant works are listed.
When the snagging is complete you should be satisfied with the finished product and therefore in a position to close the sale i.e. hand over the money in return for the keys. This is normally done when the property is complete.
This normally only affects new builds. The vendors’ solicitor issues this letter to the purchasers’ solicitor to allow the purchaser 14 days to complete the snagging, draw down funds and close the sale.
When your solicitor forwards the Request for Funds form to your bank, a drawdown date must be inserted on the form (normally 5 working days from issue of form to the bank). Once your loan application and all the necessary documents have been passed by the bank’s legal department and gone through “final checks”, the funds should then issue from the bank to your solicitors’ client bank account. When the funds have been received, the mortgage has then been “drawdown”.
Once your mortgage has been drawn down and transferred to the vendors’ solicitor, your solicitor will prepare for the closing of your purchase. There are some final legal matters to do on the day of closing, such as closing searches and checking the closing documents. Once this is done, your solicitor will confirm that the sale is closed, and you can then collect the keys.
