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

PokeHerKing

Not sure if this the best place to ask my question but does anyone know any fixed fee EAs in Dublin? Looking to sell our house.

Also anyone ever used onlineestateagent.ie? 1k fixed fee, seems great price but wondering if they're to good to be true?

Thanks

itsusuallyjazz

Due to close next week Thursday so emailed solicitor to check we are all good and they advised my valuation has expired... I did not realise this was a thing with 2nd hand houses!

Have contacted the broker to see about getting this sorted - sooooo stressed with all of this, I went sale agreed 30th Oct, valuation was completed 13th Nov so it has only been 4 months? I was not expecting this

K.Hawksworth

JimmyVik wrote: »

I would do it asap.
Nothing to kill a sale faster than a buyer getting a fright from a surveyors report at the last minute and looking for reductions. And the vendor looking at said report and thinking they are over reacting because he has been living in the house years and these issues are not the problem they seem to be.


Also you could get a major issue like subsidence in the report, which you definitely want to know about. But when you get a report, let it sink in. Decide how big these issues are and are they actually issues at all at the end of the day.

Definitely major stuff like pyrite and subsidence should be taken seriously indeed, everything else I would price up - maybe talk to a builder or architect if possible.

scamalert

PokeHerKing wrote: »

Not sure if this the best place to ask my question but does anyone know any fixed fee EAs in Dublin? Looking to sell our house.

Also anyone ever used onlineestateagent.ie? 1k fixed fee, seems great price but wondering if they're to good to be true?

Thanks

they are legit company guy who runs it is very professional no hidden fees any other crap attached you pay for service you choose and thats it.
think his family also are solicitors as well so they know what they are doing.


as to be fair ive no honest clue why someone chooses overpriced EA's most of them barely have a clue about properties they show aside reading existing listing which anyone can do research prior looking at most of houses, and given they charge % of cost price is mad, anyone can show your house, even yourself so dunno why people opt to pay massive % for sub par services, as after initial sale agreed, EA is out of the picture, so agents like above will put few adds on daft etc, and manage your schedule for viewings, as in this market houses sell themselves nowadays.

Nika Bolokov

JimmyVik wrote: »

I heard on the radio this morning that houses are going for on average €120K over asking.
This is a horrible situation for house buyers and is just taking advantage of the pandemic panic.
I think whats happening is that people buying houses in the €350k price range would have expected to get a half decent house for that.
But now people are bidding up in the fear that houses selling for €220k now will go to the €350k floor and they will have to settle for areas and houses that are total **** holes even above €300k.
There is definitely something wrong with the market here, and estate agents and media stirring panic buying is the cause.

It wont be too long at this rate before €350k only gets you a 2 bed duplex in Ballymun.
People in Dublin will hit the CB ceiling so wont get anything better.
Then you have houses being built all over the place by councils and bought by councils, and rented to councils. Squeezing the ftb and the trader upper out altogether, while costing the taxpayer a fortune.
Its just a total sh1t show out there. If I was looking right now I would hold off for a few years tbh. Something big has to give , and soon.

Not sure about this, though this is what I thought was happening.

This mornings Irish Times has a survey of a few closed sales, those that actually went through, most sold slightly below asking. That surprised me.

Was talking to an agent this morning who is not doing any more virtual viewings and is only accepting bids from people who have seen the house.

Said the virtual bids have been a disaster with people not going through with the sale, bidding far too much and having buyers remorse very quickly. Over 70% of virtual viewings ended up back on the market.

Also viewed a new build which is advertised as, sold out, not sold out at all as there is a constant flow of cancellations as people actually go and see them. The agent added 35k to the asking during lockdown and they weren't as easy to shift as was thought.

My thoughts are, if the bidding is getting mad walk away, lots seem to end up back on thr market especially in the 400k to 600k range.

Markitron

Nika Bolokov wrote: »

Not sure about this, though this is what I thought was happening.

This mornings Irish Times has a survey of a few closed sales, those that actually went through, most sold slightly below asking. That surprised me.

Was talking to an agent this morning who is not doing any more virtual viewings and is only accepting bids from people who have seen the house.

Said the virtual bids have been a disaster with people not going through with the sale, bidding far too much and having buyers remorse very quickly. Over 70% of virtual viewings ended up back on the market.

Also viewed a new build which is advertised as, sold out, not sold out at all as there is a constant flow of cancellations as people actually go and see them. The agent added 35k to the asking during lockdown and they weren't as easy to shift as was thought.

My thoughts are, if the bidding is getting mad walk away, lots seem to end up back on thr market especially in the 400k to 600k range.

I knew something was up when a derelict 3-bed semi in Edenmore was going for over 400k.

DataDude

Nika Bolokov wrote: »

Not sure about this, though this is what I thought was happening.

This mornings Irish Times has a survey of a few closed sales, those that actually went through, most sold slightly below asking. That surprised me.

Was talking to an agent this morning who is not doing any more virtual viewings and is only accepting bids from people who have seen the house.

Said the virtual bids have been a disaster with people not going through with the sale, bidding far too much and having buyers remorse very quickly. Over 70% of virtual viewings ended up back on the market.

Also viewed a new build which is advertised as, sold out, not sold out at all as there is a constant flow of cancellations as people actually go and see them. The agent added 35k to the asking during lockdown and they weren't as easy to shift as was thought.

My thoughts are, if the bidding is getting mad walk away, lots seem to end up back on thr market especially in the 400k to 600k range.

Similar anecdote. House I am renting is on the market. There was a viewing last week and I caught the EA on his way out and got chatting to him. He said they wouldn't go near the virtual viewing/bidding avenue as they'd heard it was a disaster for sales falling through.

I also told him we'd potentially be buying soon and did he have anything coming on the market. His exact words were: "We expect a tonne to come on sale in the summer (assuming April reopening), I think you'd be mad to buy at the minute given the combination of low supply and timewaster virtual bidders who'd never have closed anyway forcing your bid artificially higher".

Don't think I'd ever heard an EA advise against buying ASAP, which was refreshing!

EDIT - thought it worth adding. We have expressed moderate interest in 3 houses since December that subsequently went sale agreed. We were then contacted on two of the three to say the sale had fallen through.

Shelga

Currently bidding on an apartment. Estate agent called me an hour ago and said that the other bidder is willing to buy the place outright, without ever seeing it, not even after handing over the €10k deposit.

Asked am I willing to do the same, and implied I'll be at a disadvantage if I don't agree. I said absolutely not. Handing over €10k without seeing a place is as far as I'm willing to go!

People are totally losing the run of themselves out there. Also I don't know why the vendor would care that much about facilitating 1 viewing. Suspect it's the EA being a snake as usual.

Reins

Shelga wrote: »

Currently bidding on an apartment. Estate agent called me an hour ago and said that the other bidder is willing to buy the place outright, without ever seeing it, not even after handing over the €10k deposit.

Asked am I willing to do the same, and implied I'll be at a disadvantage if I don't agree. I said absolutely not. Handing over €10k without seeing a place is as far as I'm willing to go!

People are totally losing the run of themselves out there. Also I don't know why the vendor would care that much about facilitating 1 viewing. Suspect it's the EA being a snake as usual.

Other bidder may be an investor..
Their main (only) concern is the yield.

Shelga

Reins wrote: »

Other bidder may be an investor..
Their main (only) concern is the yield.

I thought that too.

Jeez it’s rough out there for non-rich people

JimmyVik

Shelga wrote: »

I thought that too.

Jeez it’s rough out there for non-rich people

You either have to be rich or poor.
People in between are sh!t on when it comes to housing.

K.Hawksworth

A house I've been following on daft, semi-D 4 bed in Dublin 15. Was up for €635k about a month ago, relisted at €645k yesterday. What's interesting is it looks like the seller is bypassing estate agent and selling it themselves. I'm wondering did they receive bids over their initial asking, to prompt this? If so what's to be achieved by relisting at a very slightly higher price.

hi!

JimmyVik wrote: »

You either have to be rich or poor.
People in between are sh!t on when it comes to housing.

This!!

Markitron

K.Hawksworth wrote: »

A house I've been following on daft, semi-D 4 bed in Dublin 15. Was up for €635k about a month ago, relisted at €645k yesterday. What's interesting is it looks like the seller is bypassing estate agent and selling it themselves. I'm wondering did they receive bids over their initial asking, to prompt this? If so what's to be achieved by relisting at a very slightly higher price.

I am guessing they went sale agreed at 645k and it fell through, if they got that once they probably think they can get it again.

thunderdog

Has anyone any experience with how long a grant of probate typically takes (in Dublin)? I went sale agreed on a house last year-the sellers put in their grant of probate application approx 5 months ago, still no news on it.

I found something online which indicated on average 17 weeks for a Dublin grant of probate application but anecdotally I’ve heard from others that it has taken the guts of year for it to come through

zinfandel

JimmyVik wrote: »

You either have to be rich or poor.
People in between are sh!t on when it comes to housing.

exactly this, and until they make it more affordable and easier for people who want to own their own home, the housing problems will never be resolved.

pleh

Deposit paid, contracts signed. Making progress

Pete123456

pleh wrote: »

Deposit paid, contracts signed. Making progress

In the same boat. House was to be finished Apr/May but will be at least 12 weeks behind now if construction reopens on 05Apr. I hope they finish the house to the same standard as they have been instead of trying to rush. Appliances etc have huge wait times, will probably have to order in the next month or so all the same.

A few months to sort house insurance/mortgage protection etc and then sitting on our hands until being called for snagging

Cash_Q

cintec wrote:

With AIP can you view/bid on a house or do you need to complete the application before viewing/bidding?

You can view/bid with AIP. Application for loan offer is specific to a property so that wouldn't be applied for until you are Sale Agreed.

cintec wrote:

Another question would be should I get a solicitor & surveyor now or is this something I should get after bidding and the seller accepting your bid.

I would engage a solicitor now, look for one that specialises in conveyancing. They will be so familiar with all the common and less common issues to address from day one. Just give them your details and ask if they would be available when the time comes rather than trying to find someone in a panic when the vendors are trying to issue contracts etc.

Surveyor can wait I think, but you could research different options in advance. We used a great company in Dublin if you need a recommendation. Expensive but the best money you can spend before committing to a purchase.

itsusuallyjazz wrote:

Due to close next week Thursday so emailed solicitor to check we are all good and they advised my valuation has expired... I did not realise this was a thing with 2nd hand houses!

This happened to us on the first house we bought. Second valuation can be carried out as a drive-by rather than an internal inspection. In our case the drive-by was slightly cheaper than the original valuation.

thunderdog wrote:

Has anyone any experience with how long a grant of probate typically takes (in Dublin)? I went sale agreed on a house last year-the sellers put in their grant of probate application approx 5 months ago, still no news on it.

We bought a house last year that needed a grant of probate. I feel for you, it is so stressful because it's totally out of your hands and you just have to wait. We were Sale Agreed early August, probate application had been submitted by the vendor as an individual applicant, but it was then bounced back to them and their solicitor submitted the application in early September. Probate was granted late November. There is a phone number for the Dublin office which has a recording stating the current wait time. The problem is that any issues/queries with the application mean it is sent to the back of the queue once these queries are addressed. Simple things like an error in the address of a party involved etc, but hopefully it won't be long until you hear something. If you can't find the phone number PM me.

Apologies for the mish mash of replies in my post here, those are just a few queries I spotted while scrolling through and couldn't go in and out of the app for separate replies without losing some of the quotes there. Hope some answers are helpful!

brianc27

Cash_Q wrote: »

I would engage a solicitor now, look for one that specialises in conveyancing. They will be so familiar with all the common and less common issues to address from day one. Just give them your details and ask if they would be available when the time comes rather than trying to find someone in a panic when the vendors are trying to issue contracts etc.

i tried to engage a few solicitors before going sale agreed on a property and found none wanted to deal with me unless i was ready to go with a place.

itsusuallyjazz

Cash_Q wrote: »

This happened to us on the first house we bought. Second valuation can be carried out as a drive-by rather than an internal inspection. In our case the drive-by was slightly cheaper than the original valuation.



!

I rang the valuers myself yesterday to try and push them slightly and an hour later I had the invoice for the 'drive by'
speaking to my broker some of them just ring the estate agent to make sure nothing has changed and reissue. It was half what I paid for the full valuation

For info for others - the valuation will only last 4 months before it has to be redone - this is a central bank dictate so no way around it unfortunately

Cash_Q

brianc27 wrote:

i tried to engage a few solicitors before going sale agreed on a property and found none wanted to deal with me unless i was ready to go with a place.

Yes no doubt most are like this as potential clients may take a long time to find a property, but I think it's worth researching and touching base with some local practices. Our buyers had noone engaged for over a week after we accepted their offer and they'd paid their deposit to the EA. Then there were stupid delays on their solicitors end when it came to closing the sale so I felt it was like they just got whoever they could get rather than someone more familiar with house sales.

Milena009

brianc27 wrote: »

i tried to engage a few solicitors before going sale agreed on a property and found none wanted to deal with me unless i was ready to go with a place.

I inquired with couple of Solicitors ( at the time i was interested on New build so asked shery fitz for their panel of recommended solicitors).
I inquired regarding fees with all of them, chose one that was local to area and quick, responsive.

He had no problem with the above, he did mention they only open a file once you get sale agreed however they should be okay to answer some questions pre:sale agreed.

Aisling(",)

Can I ask what is probably a very silly question.
Do you have to have the closing date for the sale before organizing mortgage protection and house insurance?
My solicitor is waiting on the contracts and we're FTB's so not sure what the story is.

JimmyVik

Aisling(",) wrote: »

Can I ask what is probably a very silly question.
Do you have to have the closing date for the sale before organizing mortgage protection and house insurance?
My solicitor is waiting on the contracts and we're FTB's so not sure what the story is.

Yes, but it may change. The policy wont start til you own the house anyway, so the date is moveable.

itsusuallyjazz

Aisling(",) wrote: »

Can I ask what is probably a very silly question.
Do you have to have the closing date for the sale before organizing mortgage protection and house insurance?
My solicitor is waiting on the contracts and we're FTB's so not sure what the story is.

I arranged the insurances as soon as I signed the contracts and put the date as 3 weeks later. I hope to close now next week so will update them then

No point in arranging until you sign the contracts

K.Hawksworth

Aisling(",) wrote: »

Can I ask what is probably a very silly question.
Do you have to have the closing date for the sale before organizing mortgage protection and house insurance?
My solicitor is waiting on the contracts and we're FTB's so not sure what the story is.

When we bought our first place, we had the mortgage protection in place about 2 months before contracts were issued. There's no disadvantage to starting it early, apart from paying the monthly premium. It's basically a life insurance policy that your solicitor assigns to your mortgage bank during conveyancing. I would definitely advise sorting the mortgage protection policy as early as you can, there can be a lot of back and forth communication, medical history, requests for documents and information, etc with the insurer before they issue.



Home insurance (fire/contents/etc) is a lot more straightforward and can be done in 10 mins on an insurers website. There's typically no complications issuing those policies, unless the house is on the edge of a cliff or something!

Markitron

Aisling(",) wrote: »

Can I ask what is probably a very silly question.
Do you have to have the closing date for the sale before organizing mortgage protection and house insurance?
My solicitor is waiting on the contracts and we're FTB's so not sure what the story is.

I sorted the mortgage protection as soon as I went sale agreed, no harm in getting it out of the way early.

KBH2020

Could anyone offer any advice on how to establish your price cut off point when looking at houses?? Up until recently I thought if you had up to 500k to spend then you could look at houses with asking price between 450k - 500k and also keep an eye for houses up to 520k as some vendors may accept a lower offer for various reasons.

Asking price now seems quite meaningless as you need to add 10% to it, upper end of budget seems pointless as it appears no one is going to accept asking price, the houses slightly outside the budget seem like a total no go. I know this is all in the context of the current market hysteria. Checking the PPR last year 90% of the time I was seeing houses I was interested in going for in and around the asking and some going for less.

Would you be crazy to enquire about houses at the upper end of your budget/ slightly over your budget? From my experience so far there seems to be a lot of cash to splash around in the 400k's but once the bids go over 500k demand does seem to drop a bit?

Really feel totally clueless currently!

K.Hawksworth

KBH2020 wrote: »

Could anyone offer any advice on how to establish your price cut off point when looking at houses?? Up until recently I thought if you had up to 500k to spend then you could look at houses with asking price between 450k - 500k and also keep an eye for houses up to 520k as some vendors may accept a lower offer for various reasons.

Asking price now seems quite meaningless as you need to add 10% to it, upper end of budget seems pointless as it appears no one is going to accept asking price, the houses slightly outside the budget seem like a total no go. I know this is all in the context of the current market hysteria. Checking the PPR last year 90% of the time I was seeing houses I was interested in going for in and around the asking and some going for less.

Would you be crazy to enquire about houses at the upper end of your budget/ slightly over your budget? From my experience so far there seems to be a lot of cash to splash around in the 400k's but once the bids go over 500k demand does seem to drop a bit?

Really feel totally clueless currently!

I would hazard a guess that no vendors anywhere in the country are accepting offers less than asking at the moment.
It only takes 2 min to pick up the phone and call an estate agent about properties you're interested in. Find out the current bids. But personally as someone who is also in the market to buy, I don't even consider anything with an asking price outside my budget.