Currently buying/selling a house? How is it going? READ MOD NOTE POST #1

narodvale

We finally collected our keys at 5pm on Friday evening, having gone sale agreed on October 29th 2020.

This was the second house we ever viewed, and the only house we bid on, so we must have had a bit of luck on our side.

The sale to another buyer fell through twice, once in March, then again in October. Finally the EA rang us and said were we still interested, we jumped.

We went through the full loan application process with KBC from start to finish. Although we utilised a broker, who is a family friend, we found KBC quite frustrating to deal with at times, both disorganised and a little slow it seems in comparison to other banks. They were still asking where I was born right up until the day we closed, though I had submitted a scan of my Irish passport three times during the process.

Now that we are at the finish line, a whole new kind of stress/excitement begins for us. The house was built in 1964, has had almost nothing done to it since then, but has a fine 95ft rear garden, so lots of potential.

Wishing you all the very best with your house hunts and sales. I'm sure right now it is very disheartening with all that is going on. I found this group invaluable for the many questions I had, as well as a good place to just vent from time to time when the process was frustrating, which it endlessly is.

Now to find a Boards group as helpful for house renovations on a budget!

jokettle

GrumPy wrote: »

This is awesome, congrats! This is great news, I was worried it would take a few weeks. How long ago was this? Fingers crossed it's at least as quick, sooner the better!

We closed this day last week! I do think it was the broker that made all the difference, he had a direct line to someone in KBC to make sure things got over the line in a quick timeframe.

I've ordered some furniture and now it's time to change from coping with the fact that so much of my money was going to savings for the house, to coping with so much of my money going to the mortgage :pac: all a means to and end!

jokettle

Cash_Q wrote: »

This happened to us on our first purchase, they did a 'drive-by' valuation to basically check that the house was still standing so it was a very quick turnaround. Hopefully this is the last delay for you and wont take much longer.

Same for us, the drive-by happened the day after the broker realised it was out-of-date, so we weren't delayed too much by it. Just another box ticking exercise that needs to happen.

aidoh

Has anybody currently house-hunting heard anything about when viewings (in person) might be coming back?

We've had approval-in-principal since October, which expires in April. Annoyingly, the majority of our approval period has been during lockdown. I know we can reapply relatively easily but risk losing the exception.

It's crazy that I can get a takeaway coffee and stroll around a jam-packed park or order a pint for delivery but I can't view a property by appointment.

Markitron

aidoh wrote: »

Has anybody currently house-hunting heard anything about when viewings (in person) might be coming back?

We've had approval-in-principal since October, which expires in April. Annoyingly, the majority of our approval period has been during lockdown. I know we can reapply relatively easily but risk losing the exception.

It's crazy that I can get a takeaway coffee and stroll around a jam-packed park or order a pint for delivery but I can't view a property by appointment.

I viewed a house the week before last, the day the new restrictions came in, and they told me it was gonna be at least another 6 weeks. I wouldn't plan on anything until the start of March.

extrafluff

Markitron wrote: »

I viewed a house the week before last, the day the new restrictions came in, and they told me it was gonna be at least another 6 weeks. I wouldn't plan on anything until the start of March.

Very frustrating. We have an offer in on a house. We've been told that it's likely to be accepted but the owners have yet to find a house themselves and they can't view houses at the moment.
Our approval is up until June so we're hoping that leaves us with enough time.

Sweet.Science

Sale agreed on a house but the vendor is in no rush due to Covid

May keep looking around but nothing out there at the moment

whiskeyman

Sweet.Science wrote: »

Sale agreed on a house but the vendor is in no rush due to Covid

May keep looking around but nothing out there at the moment

No rush due to Covid?
In what way?

They can't find anywhere?
It must be an area of low enough demand, as if you're selling now you can make a killing in a high demand area.

ongarite

whiskeyman wrote: »

No rush due to Covid?
In what way?

They can't find anywhere?
It must be an area of low enough demand, as if you're selling now you can make a killing in a high demand area.

Should people be moving home during these restrictions?
I would have assumed that most closing dates are dependant on easing of this lockdown.

Its not essential travel, probably more than 5km away, even out of county.
EA viewing are all but suspended unless you are crazy enough to go sale agreed on property without viewing it.

Fuzzy_Dunlop

ongarite wrote: »

Should people be moving home during these restrictions?
I would have assumed that most closing dates are dependant on easing of this lockdown.

Its not essential travel, probably more than 5km away, even out of county.
EA viewing are all but suspended unless you are crazy enough to go sale agreed on property without viewing it.

Is there any real risk to going sale agreed without viewing? I know its fairly bonkers but it's not like it's binding

givyjoe

Fuzzy_Dunlop wrote: »

Is there any real risk to going sale agreed without viewing? I know its fairly bonkers but it's not like it's binding

Not much risk unless the Estate Agent goes bust while they still have your deposit! Was bidding myself up til today on a property, not worried about it, just a pain in the face if you end up not being happy with it. I have been numerous times with a property i thought looked great in pictures, but no so great in person.

Sweet.Science

whiskeyman wrote: »

No rush due to Covid?
In what way?

They can't find anywhere?
It must be an area of low enough demand, as if you're selling now you can make a killing in a high demand area.

Yeah they have put their search on hold due to Covid numbers etc . I Don't really have much choice but to wait it out

They told me they were looking for an immediate sale so thats why we put the offer in. They played me well

blowin3

I am planning on immigrating this summer and plan to sell our home. We have no mortgage on the home and we have appointed a auctioneer but he is giving no advice on what to do. Do I sit on it till March with the risk of a further extension to the Covid limations .

Dick Turnip

Anyone having delays getting deeds from the bank?

I went sale agreed before Christmas and paid my deposit the same day.

I have everything in place on my end but the vendor still hasn't received their deeds yet, apparently requested them before going sale agreed. No contracts will be drafted until the solicitors receive the deeds apparently.

Bit frustrating

itsusuallyjazz

Dick Turnip wrote: »

Anyone having delays getting deeds from the bank?

I went sale agreed before Christmas and paid my deposit the same day.

I have everything in place on my end but the vendor still hasn't received their deeds yet, apparently requested them before going sale agreed. No contracts will be drafted until the solicitors receive the deeds apparently.

Bit frustrating

I went sale agreed 30th Oct and still have no contracts as they are waiting for the deeds from the bank

whiskeyman

blowin3 wrote: »

I am planning on immigrating this summer and plan to sell our home. We have no mortgage on the home and we have appointed a auctioneer but he is giving no advice on what to do. Do I sit on it till March with the risk of a further extension to the Covid limations .

Where is it?
Stock is very low at the moment.
You'd probably be best to put it on sale asap.
At least generate interest before viewings allowed and then have a parties lined up to view and bid.

blowin3

whiskeyman wrote: »

Where is it?
Stock is very low at the moment.
You'd probably be best to put it on sale asap.
At least generate interest before viewings allowed and then have a parties lined up to view and bid.

Its in Ennis Co.Clare

ongarite

How long is it taking people to get receipt or certificate of discharge from 2012 household charge website support?
https://householdcharge.ie/

Smiley11

Put it on the market is my advice to you & anybody else thinking about selling. People are crying out for decent supply & you have absolutely nothing to lose in marketing it now. Use the lockdown to your advantage & get all your ducks in a row with regards all of the paperwork & start generating interest because I'd imagine there will be a serious amount of activity once the restrictions lift & you could easily sell quickly. I'm a buyer & checking the websites every 1 to 2 hours a day because the supply is so bad & I'm getting increasingly anxious.

goingagain

Dick Turnip wrote: »

Anyone having delays getting deeds from the bank?

I went sale agreed before Christmas and paid my deposit the same day.

I have everything in place on my end but the vendor still hasn't received their deeds yet, apparently requested them before going sale agreed. No contracts will be drafted until the solicitors receive the deeds apparently.

Bit frustrating

It took weeks for the bank to send out deeds. I sent a letter requesting them before we even went sale agreed. I eventually rang them about 8 weeks later maybe more, took about 3 days of ringing before someone answered the phone. They sent them out then a few days after the phone call.

PinkSpark

We’ve been Sale agreed since the end of September and have finally been given a rough closing date of next week. We have paid the 10% deposit but the mortgage amount doesn’t pay the whole amount owed to the sellers so we have to pay extra on of it and we’re unsure how the rest is paid. Do we just transfer the rest along with the solicitor fees and then the solicitor will transfer the full amount to the vendors solicitor? I hope that makes sense !

mimimcmc

blowin3 wrote: »

Its in Ennis Co.Clare

Absolutely put it on the market, I'm looking in that area myself and we are so disappointed that nothing is coming up for sale lately

Dave3030

PinkSpark wrote: »

We’ve been Sale agreed since the end of September and have finally been given a rough closing date of next week. We have paid the 10% deposit but the mortgage amount doesn’t pay the whole amount owed to the sellers so we have to pay extra on of it and we’re unsure how the rest is paid. Do we just transfer the rest along with the solicitor fees and then the solicitor will transfer the full amount to the vendors solicitor? I hope that makes sense !

a few days before the mortgage is issued, your solicitor will send you a closing statement which includes his/her fees, stamp duty etc, and the amount outstanding(minus what you have already handed over as deposit).

You transfer this to him/her and they sort out the rest.

Cash_Q

PinkSpark wrote:

We’ve been Sale agreed since the end of September and have finally been given a rough closing date of next week. We have paid the 10% deposit but the mortgage amount doesn’t pay the whole amount owed to the sellers so we have to pay extra on of it and we’re unsure how the rest is paid. Do we just transfer the rest along with the solicitor fees and then the solicitor will transfer the full amount to the vendors solicitor? I hope that makes sense !

In our case we paid the balance required to complete the sale into the solicitors account and they paid the full amount to the vendors solicitors using this sum plus the mortgage. We held onto the solicitors fees until they issued their invoice a couple of weeks later. Contact your solicitor about it to avoid any delays.

ionapaul

We are going to put our 3-bed house up on the market in South Dublin shortly, and at the same time start looking for a bigger house in the same area. I think the price range of houses we'll be looking at will be €650K-€700K. Very likely we'll be moving from a smaller 3-bed to a bigger one Are many people looking in this range and if so, how is it going?

hao123

cubatahavana wrote: »

Don’t be afraid to contact foreman directly. Ask for his number from EA. EA once contracts are signed will not care

Got contacted with the foreman, a nice guy. Told us that we can come in to fit the floor right after snagging which is expected in the 2nd week of Feb. But the developer just simply cannot confirm the snagging date in writing at moment.

And agreed a closing date of end of Feb on our current home, with an additional clause that if our new home cannot close at the end of Feb, we’ll pay our buyers a month rent for March so that they can stay in their current accommodation for one more month, and we can also stay on our current home until the new home is ready.

The rent to pay for our current home just relieved our pressure.

goingagain

ionapaul wrote: »

We are going to put our 3-bed house up on the market in South Dublin shortly, and at the same time start looking for a bigger house in the same area. I think the price range of houses we'll be looking at will be €650K-€700K. Very likely we'll be moving from a smaller 3-bed to a bigger one Are many people looking in this range and if so, how is it going?

We sold in that range. I think any market at the moment is competitive. We are 2 bidders on our place.

goingagain

hao123 wrote: »

Got contacted with the foreman, a nice guy. Told us that we can come in to fit the floor right after snagging which is expected in the 2nd week of Feb. But the developer just simply cannot confirm the snagging date in writing at moment.

And agreed a closing date of end of Feb on our current home, with an additional clause that if our new home cannot close at the end of Feb, we’ll pay our buyers a month rent for March so that they can stay in their current accommodation for one more month, and we can also stay on our current home until the new home is ready.

The rent to pay for our current home just relieved our pressure.

That’s very generous of you. We’re already a week late on our closing date and likely to be another week before everything falls into place. It’s a chain of 3, we’re the middle.

hao123

goingagain wrote: »

That’s very generous of you. We’re already a week late on our closing date and likely to be another week before everything falls into place. It’s a chain of 3, we’re the middle.

Yea but at least we don’t need to worry about moving elsewhere and then moving to the new home again. That will be huge pain during the lockdown. It’s not possible that the new build will give us a fixed closing date; it depends on the snag date which is not guaranteed.

Xoo2

goingagain wrote: »

It took weeks for the bank to send out deeds. I sent a letter requesting them before we even went sale agreed. I eventually rang them about 8 weeks later maybe more, took about 3 days of ringing before someone answered the phone. They sent them out then a few days after the phone call.

This type of thing should have heavily regulated policies in my opinion. The bank doesn't "own" the property, the people listed on the land registry record (the owners) do. The bank own a charge against the property. How they have the power to hold up the whole selling/buying process, and in some cases cause sales to fall through completely because of a lackadaisical attitude to finding/releasing the deeds is astounding in this day and age.