Just had offer accepted on apartment.

fightingfit

Just had my bid accepted for an apartment in a v busy city centre.
I am first time buyer and shall be putting down about 10%-15% of amount.
The amount in my opinion is quite good, its in the 140k-160k region..
This apt has fantastic potential in my opinion and with some work and improvement in the general surroundings it should be worth more long term.
Its right in the middle of a city centre in a block overlooking a river.

Anyone got any advice for first time buying of apt?? Anyone gone thru it lately?
All advice greatly accepted..
Probably looking at Permanent TSB for mortgage..

Sponge Bob

management company, check every detail !!!!!! solicitor !!!!

Kerryman123

In my experience, probably the most important factor when buying a house is having a good solicitor. Try to find one that is recommended by someone who you know and trust.

When I was buying my house, my solicitor found some discrepencies on the deeds for the house which was never spotted by the seller's solictor when they bought the house a few years before!

Also, don't be afraid to deal directly with the banks as oppose to using a Broker. Some brokers can be slow and frustrating to deal with i.e. loosing documents, not sending information to the bank as quickly as they could etc...

I dealt directly with BOI when getting my mortgage and I found it very effective and smooth. It didn't save me any money just less hassle!

Thats my tuppence worth anyway!

Paulw

I was lucky - I had a great mortgage broker and a great solicitor. Everything went just fine.

One thing - read everything. Read all the contracts and documents. It may be boring and hard to understand, but it is important. Especially when it comes to the management company and such.

Dutz

Pm Me and i can put you on to a gr8 solicitor and sort out a good rate for you - work in a brokers so we have affiliations with sols with good rates

Victor

Dutz wrote:

Pm Me and i can put you on to a gr8 solicitor and sort out a good rate for you - work in a brokers so we have affiliations with sols with good rates

How do we know you aren't really a solicitor and that you will just recommend yourself?

00112984

I'm at the end of this process right now and my advice is to be as obnoxious and pushy with solicitors, estate agents, brokers etc as possible!

Ok, well, maybe not "obnoxious" but do try to meet the broker (if you're using one) and solicitor as early into the process as possible. When paying the deposit, insist on meeting the estate agent the vendor has appointed (if there's one involved in your case).

We used an excellent mortgage broker who I would have no hesitation recommending (no- I'm not spamming for business myself; I'm not in anyway involved with brokers/solicitors or mortgage companies). If you're in Dublin and want some referrals, IM me.

The whole process can be very frustrating (our offer was accepted in August and we've still not signed contracts). Whether you do use a broker or go directly to the banks, I'd recommend sorting out your life assurance ASAP. This was the big delay for us. I'm in my early-twenties and boyfriend is 30 and we don't have any medical conditions (both non-smokers, not heavy drinkers, etc). We assumed that it'd just be a matter of ticking boxes and signing forms but that wasn't the case. A family medical condition on my boyfriend's side (that we hadn't even thought about) ended up with him needing a medical, a delay getting an appointment, the clinic losing his urine sample and (today- he's on the phone to them as I type) trying to get an urgent appointment to give the urine sample again before they close for Christmas.

Buying property never goes smoothly. That's why I'd really recommend a broker- there were aspects to buying our property that we never knew about and probably wouldn't have been able to figure out ourselves.

Anyway, best of luck and I hope it all goes well for you.

hiscan

00112984 wrote:

I'm at the end of this process right now and my advice is to be as obnoxious and pushy with solicitors, estate agents, brokers etc as possible!

Ok, well, maybe not "obnoxious" but do try to meet the broker (if you're using one) and solicitor as early into the process as possible. When paying the deposit, insist on meeting the estate agent the vendor has appointed (if there's one involved in your case).

We used an excellent mortgage broker who I would have no hesitation recommending (no- I'm not spamming for business myself; I'm not in anyway involved with brokers/solicitors or mortgage companies). If you're in Dublin and want some referrals, IM me.

The whole process can be very frustrating (our offer was accepted in August and we've still not signed contracts). Whether you do use a broker or go directly to the banks, I'd recommend sorting out your life assurance ASAP. This was the big delay for us. I'm in my early-twenties and boyfriend is 30 and we don't have any medical conditions (both non-smokers, not heavy drinkers, etc). We assumed that it'd just be a matter of ticking boxes and signing forms but that wasn't the case. A family medical condition on my boyfriend's side (that we hadn't even thought about) ended up with him needing a medical, a delay getting an appointment, the clinic losing his urine sample and (today- he's on the phone to them as I type) trying to get an urgent appointment to give the urine sample again before they close for Christmas.

Buying property never goes smoothly. That's why I'd really recommend a broker- there were aspects to buying our property that we never knew about and probably wouldn't have been able to figure out ourselves.

Anyway, best of luck and I hope it all goes well for you.

i think you need a medical if you are borrowing more than 400k

Victor

Oh, if time is important to you, make sure that this is included.

hiscan

hiscan wrote:

i think you need a medical if you are borrowing more than 400k

Given recent interest rate hikes, I presume the medical is needed to check the sanity of anyone borrowing more than that...;)

00112984

Deleted User wrote:

Given recent interest rate hikes, I presume the medical is needed to check the sanity of anyone borrowing more than that...

Call the men in white coats for me then!

If what Hiscan said about medical being required for mortgages of more than €400k, any reason why my boyfriend needed to do a medical but not me? I'm just curious. If anything, he looks healthier on paper than I do.

Victor

Who is the main earner?

00112984

Victor wrote:

Who is the main earner?

We're pretty much even- slightly higher income from me (of €1k). I think it's because of his family medical history.

I wonder how the OP is getting on?

fightingfit

hey thanks for all for replies..
Have paid 5k deposit but as with it being xmas things are slow..
Currently doing all research on building, mgt company etc..
I have an excellent solicitor who I am very happy with and comes highly recommended and fees are quite reasonable due to the referral.
Overall I am getting the property at 15k cheaper than any comparable property nearby and I believe with a refurb it will make a huge difference.
Any more advice is gladly received.