Buying a house 2013!

angel eyes 2012

Hi can anyone help me please. We went sale agreed on a house in July. Everything was going according to plan until over four weeks ago my solicitor phoned me to advise that the vendor's bank had lost the deeds to the property. Apparently they are having new deeds "drawn up". I'm not really sure what this means and I have some questions.

I understand there will be a delay and I have come to the realisation that we won't be in the house by Christmas, however can anyone advise how long this process may take. Did anyone experience a simlar setback? Another concern I have is; as we are FTBs we are not liable to pay property tax for three years. However when does this exemption expire? Do you have to have the house purchased by 31st December, or does the exception carry forward into 2014? I'd appreciate any advice as I am quite anxious that we may never get the house

Elbow

Well after a stressful and at times extremly frustrating 8 months of dealing with estate agents, banks, solicitors, management companies and uncooperative owners (Developer before anyone thinks I took someones house from under them ) we finally got the keys of our new home at half 5 Friday evening, I've never been so happy, excited and nervous in my life

lima

Elbow wrote: »

Well after a stressful and at times extremly frustrating 8 months of dealing with estate agents, banks, solicitors, management companies and uncooperative owners (Developer before anyone thinks I took someones house from under them ) we finally got the keys of our new home at half 5 Friday evening, I've never been so happy, excited and nervous in my life

It would not be shameful to take a repossessed house because it's not their house

Elbow

lima wrote: »

It would not be shameful to take a repossessed house because it's not their house

Completely agree with you, if you cant pay for it then get out,

In saying that i'm not sure i'd personally put myself through the extra stress of buying a house that someone is determined not to leave

tvc15

angel eyes 2012 wrote: »

Hi can anyone help me please. We went sale agreed on a house in July. Everything was going according to plan until over four weeks ago my solicitor phoned me to advise that the vendor's bank had lost the deeds to the property. Apparently they are having new deeds "drawn up". I'm not really sure what this means and I have some questions.

I understand there will be a delay and I have come to the realisation that we won't be in the house by Christmas, however can anyone advise how long this process may take. Did anyone experience a simlar setback? Another concern I have is; as we are FTBs we are not liable to pay property tax for three years. However when does this exemption expire? Do you have to have the house purchased by 31st December, or does the exception carry forward into 2014? I'd appreciate any advice as I am quite anxious that we may never get the house

I would be interested in what the status is for property tax exemption as well if there are any more informed people out there?

formernyer

tvc15 wrote: »

I would be interested in what the status is for property tax exemption as well if there are any more informed people out there?

According to the Revenue web site, "Properties purchased by a first time buyer between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013 will be exempt until the end of 2016." (http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/lpt/exemptions.html)

So it must be purchased in 2013.

killers1

tvc15 wrote: »

I would be interested in what the status is for property tax exemption as well if there are any more informed people out there?

Sale needs to complete by 31/12/13

handlemaster

killers1 wrote: »

Sale needs to complete by 31/12/13

All buyers in 2013 who live in the property

jon1981

We are in a situation where the sale may not close by 31st Dec. If the sale does not close until say 7th of Jan, I presume the current owner is liable for the property tax for the year 2014?

Citizenpain

jon1981 wrote: »

We are in a situation where the sale may not close by 31st Dec. If the sale does not close until say 7th of Jan, I presume the current owner is liable for the property tax for the year 2014?

Talk to your solicitor - This is something he /she should ensure is payed -

property owner on 1 November 2013 pays LPT for 2014.

tvc15

Citizenpain wrote: »

Talk to your solicitor - This is something he /she should ensure is payed -

property owner on 1 November 2013 pays LPT for 2014.

If the property is sold in November or DecemberI assume this does not apply and the new owner is due to pay the 2014 tax?

jon1981

tvc15 wrote: »

If the property is sold in November or DecemberI assume this does not apply and the new owner is due to pay the 2014 tax?

Previous poster is correct, I had it validated by a solicitor, the current owner at the 1st of November is liable. It is silly because if the house is sold on the 2nd of November the buyer gets the benefit of the 2014 tax being paid.
The seller can try and get a refund off the buyer but legally the buyer can say no and this is the correct position by the law.

collegeme

Has anyone experienced estate agents advertising houses that are already sold?
Its so frustrating. They re-enter them on my home and daft etc and if you call the day they are re-entered you are told...sorry sold. And they won't take them down grrrrr

handlemaster

collegeme wrote: »

Has anyone experienced estate agents advertising houses that are already sold?
Its so frustrating. They re-enter them on my home and daft etc and if you call the day they are re-entered you are told...sorry sold. And they won't take them down grrrrr

Is this in dublin ? I've seen agents with so little property to rent or sell I Dont know how they are still in business. They might be just trying to keep their name on there so as a cheap way to drum up new business from sellers/ renters

Malari

collegeme wrote: »

Has anyone experienced estate agents advertising houses that are already sold?
Its so frustrating. They re-enter them on my home and daft etc and if you call the day they are re-entered you are told...sorry sold. And they won't take them down grrrrr

I noticed that a few re-entered properties are sale agreed. It's obviously some change they need to make to the database entry when they go sale agreed, but they should stop them from going to the top of the pile again. It is irritating.

collegeme

Malari wrote: »

I noticed that a few re-entered properties are sale agreed. It's obviously some change they need to make to the database entry when they go sale agreed, but they should stop them from going to the top of the pile again. It is irritating.

no mention of sale agreed...price still up. also advertised as still for sale on their own website.

Malari

collegeme wrote: »

no mention of sale agreed...price still up. also advertised as still for sale on their own website.

Oh yeah, I mean sale agreed when you ring up about them. It's very frustrating.

Woodville56

In today's Irish Times Property Supplement .... On view this weekend - 5-6 Martello Tce, Sutton - 4 bed, 95 sq.m., BER :G Terrace of cottages, with "work to do" but unrivalled views over Dublin Bay
All for €595,000 !!!
Unrivalled indeed !!!!

handlemaster

Woodville56 wrote: »

In today's Irish Times Property Supplement .... On view this weekend - 5-6 Martello Tce, Sutton - 4 bed, 95 sq.m., BER :G Terrace of cottages, with "work to do" but unrivalled views over Dublin Bay
All for €595,000 !!!
Unrivalled indeed !!!!

The times are doing property supplement again ? That's a bigger shock.

L1011

handlemaster wrote: »

The times are doing property supplement again ? That's a bigger shock.

They never stopped, two a week - one commercial one residential. They just got down to about four pages...

engineermike

killers1 wrote: »

Busy, thankfully...

Busy here 2, - and Sutton for 600 K sounds about right in the 'current climate'
Signs of recovery all along the Dublin Cost line.
There are Tower cranes down at the end of my mams road in Dollymount !!

Glad to hear your busy Killers, Keep on keepin on as they say.
regards,
Mike

DebDynamite

Hi all

We have just gone sale agreed on a house and we’re not sure if we need a either structural engineer or a surveyor to look at the house, or both?

Can anyone please advise. Thanks!

Roselm

DebDynamite wrote: »

Hi all

We have just gone sale agreed on a house and we’re not sure if we need a either structural engineer or a surveyor to look at the house, or both?

Can anyone please advise. Thanks!

Only saw your question there now.

I am in the same position as you and started ringing around today. I went with a surveyor in the end.

I thought I needed a structural engineer as I had this idea they were more thorough.

The first guy I rang was a s/engineer and he said he would look at the structure of the building-is it safe, subsidence etc but that he wouldn't look at electrics, plumbing, heating.
He said a surveyor would look at all these things.
He said that usually you would employ a structural engineer if the building/structural surveyor found structural issues and these needed to be looked at in more detail or if you were going to go ahead with changes to the structure of the building then the engineer would advise and design relevant components-supporting beams etc.

Definitely ask what they will cover in their survey when you ring up places b/c I think they can vary quite a bit eg heating system, plumbing, electrics, damp, drainage.

Hope that helps.

Roselm

Hi everyone,
Have mortgage approval from Boi and Aib and am trying to compare what they are offering. Can't see this anywhere on their websites: assuming I was on a variable rate mortgage does anyone know if there would be a charge to transfer the mortgage to a different lender?
It says everywhere about there being penalties if you pay off or break a fixed rate mortgage early but nothing about changing altogether.
It can't be no charge if you are on a variable rate surely?!
Thanks

roro2

Roselm wrote: »

Hi everyone,
Have mortgage approval from Boi and Aib and am trying to compare what they are offering. Can't see this anywhere on their websites: assuming I was on a variable rate mortgage does anyone know if there would be a charge to transfer the mortgage to a different lender?
It says everywhere about there being penalties if you pay off or break a fixed rate mortgage early but nothing about changing altogether.
It can't be no charge if you are on a variable rate surely?!
Thanks

No charges from the bank (except for a security release fee of about €60), but significant legal fees.

tvc15

roro2 wrote: »

No charges from the bank (except for a security release fee of about €60), but significant legal fees.

How significant are the legal fees or does anyone have experience? We are going with a provider that currently has a low variable rate but obviously if the time comes when another provider are much cheaper I am curious what the total cost may be

Little Miss Cutie

Hi Everyone,
We have been sale agreed now for about 6 weeks with very slow progress.
Good to hear that it has taken others quiet a while too

handlemaster

Little Miss Cutie wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
We have been sale agreed now for about 6 weeks with very slow progress.
Good to hear that it has taken others quiet a while too

congrats.

DebDynamite

Roselm wrote: »

Only saw your question there now.

I am in the same position as you and started ringing around today. I went with a surveyor in the end.

I thought I needed a structural engineer as I had this idea they were more thorough.

The first guy I rang was a s/engineer and he said he would look at the structure of the building-is it safe, subsidence etc but that he wouldn't look at electrics, plumbing, heating.
He said a surveyor would look at all these things.
He said that usually you would employ a structural engineer if the building/structural surveyor found structural issues and these needed to be looked at in more detail or if you were going to go ahead with changes to the structure of the building then the engineer would advise and design relevant components-supporting beams etc.

Definitely ask what they will cover in their survey when you ring up places b/c I think they can vary quite a bit eg heating system, plumbing, electrics, damp, drainage.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Roselm. We went with a surveyor in the end who seemed to cover everything. We still didn't know though when you might need an engineer, so thanks for clearing it up!

DebDynamite

We expect to get the keys to our house end January / early February, just wondering: is it possible for the vendor of our house not to pay the local property tax? Will our solicitor insist it's paid before signing contracts?

ezra_pound

DebDynamite wrote: »

We expect to get the keys to our house end January / early February, just wondering: is it possible for the vendor of our house not to pay the local property tax? Will our solicitor insist it's paid before signing contracts?

Your solicitor will ensure that this is paid.

Edit: the first lpt payment you must make will be for 2015.

DebDynamite

ezra_pound wrote: »

Your solicitor will ensure that this is paid.

Thanks Ezra. We were hoping to get everything signed before the end of the year so we'd be exempt from the property tax for the next 3 years. However, being exempt for the first year isn't too bad.

7vens

Hey guys I'm in the last phase of buying a house. There are taxes and charges owed on the house which the seller has said he can't pay as he is declaring insolvency. The bank has told him to sell off his assets which is one of the houses that I am currently in the process of buying. He has told us that the bank has agreed for the taxes and charges to be paid from proceeds of sale. My solicitor won't accept this unless she can get a letter from the seller's bank stating this. I was wondering can there be a clause put into the contracts of sale to say I'm agreeing to purchase the property on the basis I won't be liable for these taxes and charges? From the very beginning both solicitors have being playing games with one another. I believe one was the previously the others boss in the past. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I am a clueless first time buyer and am now in the 7th month of trying to purchase this house!

Trish56

Your Solicitor is representing your Interest in purchasing this property and therefore it is his/her responsibility to ensure that all taxes and outstanding debts on the property are cleared before closing date otherwise going forward you will be responsible for these debts plus interest and surcharges.

Your Solicitor will need a letter/undertaking from the banks Solicitor confirming that all taxes/ debts etc. will be cleared from the proceeds of the sale.

If you close in December you will not be liable for property tax until 2016 and if you close in 2014 the vendor has to pay for 2014 so you will only be liable in 2015.

D3PO

Trish56 wrote: »

Your Solicitor is representing your Interest in purchasing this property and therefore it is his/her responsibility to ensure that all taxes and outstanding debts on the property are cleared before closing date otherwise going forward you will be responsible for these debts plus interest and surcharges.

Your Solicitor will need a letter/undertaking from the banks Solicitor confirming that all taxes/ debts etc. will be cleared from the proceeds of the sale.

If you close in December you will not be liable for property tax until 2016 and if you close in 2014 the vendor has to pay for 2014 so you will only be liable in 2015.

The vendor is lible for 2014 now regardless of when the sale closes.

even if it closed today.

Re the last poster my brother has gone through the same hassle re a receiver sale.

started with them saying my bro would have to pay all outstanding charges (including the EA's fee for the sale I $HIT YOU NOT) as they were going insolvent and couldn't.

My Bro via his solicitor told them to go fu(k themselves then it changed to the sellers bank having to take the hit which took about 6 weeks to sort before that was agreed.

They finally agreed to that but it added a load of time to the sale. TBH the bank / receiver are chancing their arm hoping you will agree don't fold they will take the hit.

JOSman

I'd check out the LPT rulings first. As far as I know you can pay monthly, so the present owner will only have to pay one months tax and not a full year in advance. Check with your solicitor to clarify this.

Best of luck with your new home.

ezra_pound

JOSman wrote: »

I'd check out the LPT rulings first. As far as I know you can pay monthly, so the present owner will only have to pay one months tax and not a full year in advance. Check with your solicitor to clarify this.

Best of luck with your new home.

Owner on 1st Nov. 2013 is liable for entire lpt for 2014.

imfml

Have been following this thread (and 2012), but rarely posted. After almost 18 months looking, I can't wait to move into my house next week.

A hugh thank you to Killers1 for all the help and advice. I'm pretty sure I'd still be hunting if it hadn't been for his help getting over a few hurdles. His endless list of contacts were a huge advantage after I was sale agreed too.

Thanks to everyone for the posts here and best of luck to those still looking.

7vens

Anyone know of a decent solicitor in Waterford? Need to get a second opinion and some advice as my my situation has become so messy

Roselm

Hi 7vens, I've sent you a PM

mel.b

How are those who bought in 2013 going settling into their new homes? I've been in for just over 8 weeks now and it is just starting to feel like 'mine'. Had a few things go wrong just after moving in - boiler not working when I moved in, no heat, couldn't pick up Irish stations on tv, massive watermark appearing on ceiling in kitchen, plasterboard coming away from wall next to fireplace and it was a pretty depressing 'what have I done' time. However all those issues got sorted and I started on the redecorating phase. It's been pretty non-stop for the past few weeks and has been exhausting. What I didn't appreciate buying as a single person, is that there's only me to do things! If I sit down, things aren't going to get done. However I'm building an impressive tool collection now! I've also been very lucky and got great value out of friends husbands who have pitched in and helped out with some of the DIY jobs I couldn't manage myself

I've also been incredibly lucky with the neighbourhood which is great and very quiet and I have great neighbours. My next door neighbours take my dog for a walk during the day for me and a neighbour across the road has also done some jobs for me - fixing the plasterboard that came away and also replaced the bathroom taps to stop the leak that was causing the watermark.

The house wasn't my first choice and I didn't get the 'feeling' when I went it, but it ticked all my boxes and was easily the best house on the market after my first choice (which wasn't really available despite being 'on' the market). However I'm really glad I went for it and there's also been nothing else come up on the market since, so that makes me doubly happy.

I hope everyone has a wonderful first Christmas in their new homes

7vens

So 8 months later I finally got the keys. Good Luck to everyone buying a home in 2014

dsouths

Killian

I'm currently in need of a mortgage broker & you come highly recommended. Can you PM me your contact details?

Thanks

dave