Buying a house 2013!

valleyoftheunos

I think 100K might be low for where you are looking. I have seen reasonable 3 beds for that sort of price range but only out in Dublin 13 and 15.

If you could raise your budget by 25k you would have a lot more options in Dublin 3,5, and 7.

LowKeyReturn

valleyoftheunos wrote: »

I think 100K might be low for where you are looking. I have seen reasonable 3 beds for that sort of price range but only out in Dublin 13 and 15.

If you could raise your budget by 25k you would have a lot more options in Dublin 3,5, and 7.

We're looking for something mortgage, but not expense, free. To be honest we don't even mind if there's no kitchen as long as the place is structurally sound. Properties are few and far between to be sure, hoping to see a small reduction in prices over the next year or so; we're in no rush.

That said I suppose if it does take a while and we keep saving the 125K bracket gets us something nice in Cabra.

valleyoftheunos

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

We're looking for something mortgage, but not expense, free. To be honest we don't even mind if there's no kitchen as long as the place is structurally sound. Properties are few and far between to be sure, hoping to see a small reduction in prices over the next year or so; we're in no rush.

That said I suppose if it does take a while and we keep saving the 125K bracket gets us something nice in Cabra.

It'd get you something in Cabra anyway:P I have friends living over there, they like it. I've been over a few times and the part they are in at least, doesn't seem like a bad area although it might have had a bad reputation in the past.

Best of Luck.

LowKeyReturn

valleyoftheunos wrote: »

It'd get you something in Cabra anyway:P I have friends living over there, they like it. I've been over a few times and the part they are in at least, doesn't seem like a bad area although it might have had a bad reputation in the past.

Best of Luck.

Thanks Valley - I'm a working class lad with a wife who doesn't mind an area with a bit of 'character'. She's lived there before. The other option is Inchicore. I think it's just a case of picking the right spots in some of these areas. I've been living between the Central Mental hospital outpatients and a rehab place quite happily for the last ten years!

EDIT: With any luck I'll find somewhere within staggering distance of the Kings Inn!

Dublin25

mel.b wrote: »

I went to view the house i am sale agreed on again tonight. One of my close friends has a sister who is an architect and who just happened to be visiting from Dublin so she came over and helped me measure up some rooms, talk about the ideas i have for redoing some of the rooms and also gave me some good ideas for some others

The agent has said that contracts should be with my solicitor in the next week...fingers crossed!

I'm curious, can you actually still go to view a house that your currently in the process of buying? I'd love the chance to be able to go in and measure up!
Do they charge for this priviledge? We've only about 2wks left Fingers crossed, so i could wait but i'm just curious.

mel.b

Dublin25 wrote: »

I'm curious, can you actually still go to view a house that your currently in the process of buying? I'd love the chance to be able to go in and measure up!
Do they charge for this priviledge? We've only about 2wks left Fingers crossed, so i could wait but i'm just curious.

I had no problem doing it - i just rang the agent and said i wanted to go and measure a few things to see if furniture will fit etc. I think it also shows that you are comitted to the place.

gmisk

+1 for the above. Shouldnt be an issue I got in to measure up last week.

valleyoftheunos

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

Thanks Valley - I'm a working class lad with a wife who doesn't mind an area with a bit of 'character'. She's lived there before. The other option is Inchicore. I think it's just a case of picking the right spots in some of these areas. I've been living between the Central Mental hospital outpatients and a rehab place quite happily for the last ten years!

You're dead right there

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

EDIT: With any luck I'll find somewhere within staggering distance of the Kings Inn!

Is that where you're off to? Its a lot of effort just to get to wear a wig while sitting around the Law Library with nothing to do!:D

Good to see you back round the boards;)

flyboy7

Hi, just a question re mortgage application. We are a one income family gross income of 42100 with one child. My partner receives maintenance paymemts of 3120 per annum. We have savings of 27500 proven I.e we save 1000 per month and pay 300 rent pet month. The mortgage we are hoping for is 135000. Our ages are 37 and 35. Would we qualify for this amount?

Ioisha

Hi,

First time poster on this thread but have been following it for a while which through your conversations I've had many questions/concerns answered.

My issue is that I have gone sale agreed on a house which is brilliant. However the vendor has just started probate proceedings. I have been told it can take 16 weeks. My solicitor has said we can go ahead and sign contracts and pay the 10% deposit before the probate is finalised. My concern is that the mortgage approval will run out by the time the probate is finalised and that we will lose our deposit.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar to this and if you can offer me any advice I would really appreciate it. The probate is being done via a solicitor and as there was a will I have been told it is straight forward. The probate office is in Dublin.

Thanks.

gmisk

I think when you get a letter of offer from your bank that gives you another 6 months (equivalent of mortgage approval) to get things concluded....I think.... It did in my case....this wasnt a probate sale though.

Ioisha

That would be perfect hopefully that will be the case. Many thanks for your reply gmisk :-)

gmisk

No problem at all!
I am with AIB btw....so it might also vary depending on your bank.

Ioisha

The mortgage is with ICS. I contacted them and they said the letter of offer is valid for 3 months however they look at it on a case by case basis and can keep it rolling depending on circumstances. So fingers crossed.

Would it be normal practice to sign contracts before the probate is finalised or do you wait to sign when the mortgage is being drawn down?

Thanks.

D3PO

Ioisha wrote: »

The mortgage is with ICS. I contacted them and they said the letter of offer is valid for 3 months however they look at it on a case by case basis and can keep it rolling depending on circumstances. So fingers crossed.

Would it be normal practice to sign contracts before the probate is finalised or do you wait to sign when the mortgage is being drawn down?

Thanks.

you wont sign contracts until the sale is sorted. You solicitor shouldn't allow you to. Re your comment about losing your deposit it is fully refundable this cannot be lost if the sale falls through so don't worry there.

Mental Mickey

engineermike wrote: »

Hi Micky,
You need to query that with the council. Contact their helplines / the appropriate dept. And pose your question if your combined incomes are below or on the threshold, they may review. Call and ask or pose it as a hypothetical - if your happy to do that also.
The Co / Co's points system for prioritizing / awarding a council property has many segments & factors that traditional lenders / letting agents wouldn't take into account.
Councils and housing assoc's have their own criteria that extends beyond the financial factors.
However if your income is well 'north' of the ceiling then you might be unsuccessful from the outset of the application.
Also it may be useful to engage with your local council rep / TD's office to see if you can get any useful points / help or advice in your application process.

When looking for a TD, they're ones pulled over by the gardai and blowing in the bag ! ( sorry couldn't resist ! )
mike f

Hi Mike. I'd be a single applicant. So, going on the figures outlined by the council, I would be only just over the limit. Have thought about engaging with one of my local TD's too.

killers1

Ioisha wrote: »

That would be perfect hopefully that will be the case. Many thanks for your reply gmisk :-)

The loan offer will be valid for 6 months but you can also get your solicitor to insert a clause into the contracts to say its subject to mortgage approval at time of completion.

Ioisha

Thanks for your reply D3PO and Killers1. My solicitor has told me that we would sign contracts before the probate is finalised and that he would put a clause in it that the sale would be subject to the probate being granted so I could ask for the clause re. mortgage approval as you said Killers1 to be included also.

Actually would it be possible to hold off on signing the contracts until the probate and mortgage approval is all in order or would it be standard practice to sign before?

Thanks.

D3PO

Ioisha wrote: »

Thanks for your reply D3PO and Killers1. My solicitor has told me that we would sign contracts before the probate is finalised and that he would put a clause in it that the sale would be subject to the probate being granted so I could ask for the clause re. mortgage approval as you said Killers1 to be included also.

Actually would it be possible to hold off on signing the contracts until the probate and mortgage approval is all in order or would it be standard practice to sign before?

Thanks.

ah you never mentioned a clause earlier lol I was like WTF is your solicitor crazy. I would ensure that the clause mentioned by Killers is added.

Ste-

If you sign the contracts and the vendors do too a letter of expidite can go to the probate office to speed it up.
We were told 10 weeks for probate but the letter went in and it only took 4 weeks.

Now perfectly happy in the house we got the keys for last week and yep it's a stressful thing to do but so worth it in the end.

d0rfl

Hi, myself and the OH are starting our search for a house. We're both first time buyers so have no experience in the process. I guess the first step is to get mortgage approval in principal and then we can start looking? Is it better to go directly to the bank or through a broker? If we went with a broker does that mean all future interaction on the mortgage has to go through them and can that lead to issues / delays etc?

Thanks!

killers1

d0rfl wrote: »

Hi, myself and the OH are starting our search for a house. We're both first time buyers so have no experience in the process. I guess the first step is to get mortgage approval in principal and then we can start looking? Is it better to go directly to the bank or through a broker? If we went with a broker does that mean all future interaction on the mortgage has to go through them and can that lead to issues / delays etc?

Thanks!

Just to answer the last part of your question: Once a mortgage has issued the Bank will no longer provide any details to the broker in respect of the loan so all your future dealings will be directly with the bank. The broker of course can advise you on any queries you have at any stage in the future.

LowKeyReturn

Can't speak for Killers, although he's probably one of the most helpful of the various helpful people here, but I went through a broker and it was the best thing I did. Legal fees were lower, advice was excellent and the mortgage we got was excellent.

quad_red

+1 on the broker. And given Killers helpfulness and knowledge and references are pretty obvious from this thread - do it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoqDYcCDOTg

quad_red

So - our process continues.

We had the survey done on Tuesday afternoon and it highlighted a few issues.

1) A few of the vents are either stuffed with insulation or are partially blocked by the original render.

2) There was a seriously dodgy repair job done on the external sewer pipe junction at the side of the house. Lots of heavy taping/sealing has been used.

3) We were aware of a leak under the ensuite shower tray. This has been fixed by a plumber but the remedial work is pretty basic. The affected plasterboard on the ceiling downstairs has been changed out. But the badly damaged coving on the ceiling has been fixed up with pollyfilla and painted over.

And the floorboards in the ensuite and floorboards outside the bathroom are severely warped. Nothing has been done to resolve this.

4) Guttering is badly blocked

So - any advice here. Do we demand they resolve these or do we demand they take money off to account for sorting them out?

The vents and guttering are basic/easy to sort out.

But the sewer pipe and floorboards are serious.

acmeee

Hi,

Well just received salary sert from HR...not promissing any good.
Killers1 you prob should know - husbands basic salary 24500e ( never got that, always around 32k - 34k on p60 ), mine salary sert came with 12900e ( when on p60 always have around 20000e ). So prob no chances with combined income of 37k to get a mortgage? At the moment our savings 17000e. Renting for 800p/m and saving prob a bit more than 1000e on top of the rent each month.

Thanks

D3PO

acmeee wrote: »

Hi,

Well just received salary sert from HR...not promissing any good.
Killers1 you prob should know - husbands basic salary 24500e ( never got that, always around 32k - 34k on p60 ), mine salary sert came with 12900e ( when on p60 always have around 20000e ). So prob no chances with combined income of 37k to get a mortgage? At the moment our savings 17000e. Renting for 800p/m and saving prob a bit more than 1000e on top of the rent each month.

Thanks

re basic versus what your earning you and your husband are clearing either a lot of overtime or getting a large amount in bonuses on top of your basic salary.

Whilst you may see this as part of your salary the fact is that it is not something your contractually garanteed and therefore it cannot be relied up no matter how regular it has been in the past to continue.

It would be irresponsible for the bank to consider this as part of your earnings (as they did back in the bubble)

valleyoftheunos

quad_red wrote: »

So - any advice here. Do we demand they resolve these or do we demand they take money off to account for sorting them out?

The vents and guttering are basic/easy to sort out.

But the sewer pipe and floorboards are serious.

I would suggest that these are all issues you will want to sort out yourself so you can be sure they are done to your satisfaction. It might be time to try and adjust the sale price slightly

Dublin25

d0rfl wrote: »

Hi, myself and the OH are starting our search for a house. We're both first time buyers so have no experience in the process. I guess the first step is to get mortgage approval in principal and then we can start looking? Is it better to go directly to the bank or through a broker? If we went with a broker does that mean all future interaction on the mortgage has to go through them and can that lead to issues / delays etc?

Thanks!

+1 for a broker!
First time buyers too and i honestly don't know what i'd have done without my broker. Even stupid questions he answered for me at any time. Walked us through the whole process and is now helping us with life assurance and insurances, gave recommendations on valuers, surveyors etc. He knew how to deal with the banks on ways to put things etc. I honestly couldn't have done it on my own.
PM if you would like his name as a recommendation or Killers1 is always great on here too!!

Good luck with your search and all that goes with it!

quad_red

valleyoftheunos wrote: »

I would suggest that these are all issues you will want to sort out yourself so you can be sure they are done to your satisfaction. It might be time to try and adjust the sale price slightly

Cheers for that.

Is that a normal thing to do? Would appreciate as much input here as possible.

Will the EA think we're trying to pull a stroke?