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

lfen

Bluefoam wrote: »

Need some advice...

I put a deposit on a house in Feb 2019, completion at the time was to be July 2019.
House is still being built and in Feb 2020 I got a notice to be prepared for draw down.

Now in June, the house is still not finished, and no communication from the developer as to when that might be.... It is now 16 months and no significant communication from the developer whatsoever. I have had to make three separate mortgage applications in that time, including to the central bank for my exemption.

I am in a good financial position with a reasonable salary and almost 30% deposit. However, I am currently on the covid subsidy and a top up from my employer to 85% of my salary. My job is secure though and I have just been added to a life policy as a perk...

Yesterday I got an email from the mortgage broker stating that drawdown with require two pay slips, a guarantee from my employer that I am on full salary and that i am not on the covid subsidy. There is no mention of negotiation, or alternative arrangements...

Can anyone let me know if there is anything I can do, anyone I can contact or whether anyone in a similar circumstance has managed their way through?

I would consider setting aside a sum of money to guarantee mortgage payments, if the bank would accept it.

I have worked hard for the past 10 years to get this house and have literally given up the past two years to dedicate myself to completing this purchase.

Any advice or help would be appreciated

Would your employer remove you from the subsidy? Otherwise, you’ll probably have your case put on hold like the rest of us unfortunately.

Bluefoam

lfen wrote: »

Would your employer remove you from the subsidy? Otherwise, you’ll probably have your case put on hold like the rest of us unfortunately.

I don't think that would be unworkable... There's over thirty of us and regardless of my situation, it wouldn't be viable to treat me more favourably.

My proposal is to put a sum of money into an account to be used in the event that I would lose my job or just not able to make the payments... Along with a letter of intent that I go back on full salary when the time is appropriate..Alternatively, I could add more cash to the purchase... Have any others been successful with this type of action?

The mortgage would be very manageable, and would give me more disposable income than I have now while saving even though I need an exemption to exceed the 3.5 X salary.

lfen

Bluefoam wrote: »

I don't think that would be unworkable... There's over thirty of us and regardless of my situation, it wouldn't be viable to treat me more favourably.

My proposal is to put a sum of money into an account to be used in the event that I would lose my job or just not able to make the payments... Along with a letter of intent that I go back on full salary when the time is appropriate..Alternatively, I could add more cash to the purchase... Have any others been successful with this type of action?

The mortgage would be very manageable, and would give me more disposable income than I have now while saving even though I need an exemption to exceed the 3.5 X salary.

Worth asking your employer if it comes to it. I know some other people here have gotten around it that way & seems to be the only option in most cases. Either that or wait till everyone in the company is taken off it and you can provide payslips showing that you are back on full company salary.

Not sure if setting a sum of money aside would do much tbh. I mean in reality yes, it makes sense but I can’t see the bank accepting it as an alternative to the payslips.

I’m purely basing this on my own situation. Our LTV is low, business doing better than last year etc. Bank wanted reassurance that covid has not impacted company when we requested drawdown. Signed a declaration to confirm, accountant has provided letter confirming same, business bank statements show company is in a very comfortable position (even more so than when we got AIP) but our application remains on hold.

Best of luck. I’ll post any updates on my own case here.

NeitherJohn

Contracts and deposit sent to developer solicitors yesterday. Lender contacted me today for last 3 payslips and statements from the 3 months. Took a spin down to the house this evening and saw some lads working on the snags.

Nearly there now!

Canyon86

JL555 wrote: »

If these items only came to light after the Engineer's survey and not disclosed by the EA, you should be able to negotiate down if you have no budget for remediation. Get an estimate of remediation costs bring it to your solicitor and see how far it can be pushed.

OK I got the report today from the engineer

The converted garage was poorly done,there is a large crack,walls poorly insulated,and this is causing a drainage issue out the back garden from the ensuite toilet
This annex is causing a lot of problems and the recommendation is to urgently remedy by knocking or stabilise with steel supports etc

PommieBast

I also got my survey report back..

This is my second property survey and like the last it makes remarks about insulating/sterilising the water tank, as well as water staining around the hot water cylinder. I am unsure whether these are worth pursuing with the vendor since I have already decided to refit the bathroom which in turn will involve major plumbing work anyway.

A big thing that was highlighted was fire safety such as FD30/FD60 rating of doors. Not sure about Irish law but over in the UK it is now illegal to sell apartments with unrated doors. Suspect this is a case of simply replacing them all with certified doors rather than trying to work out if they have any fire-stopping capability. Who should I call in to inspect these?

On the whole looks pretty good compared to other stuff I have read here

cnocbui

2000 buildings in the UK still have highly flammable cladding, but it's illegal for an individual apartment owner to not bear the cost for this and fit fire safety doors. Classic.

There would still be staining around my HW cylinder, but that would be from the old one. :-)

dowhatyoulove

Hope you guys all get on ok - we got a call from the solicitor this morning to say our funds have been transferred. Honestly very relieved this is all over - I’ll never buy a house again!

We did make a complaint which escalated our issue up higher and I’d honestly say it’s probably the only reason why it’s been done.

Keys will be in our hands in a few days - now to pack up the rental

Giggles90

dowhatyoulove wrote: »

Hope you guys all get on ok - we got a call from the solicitor this morning to say our funds have been transferred. Honestly very relieved this is all over - I’ll never buy a house again!

We did make a complaint which escalated our issue up higher and I’d honestly say it’s probably the only reason why it’s been done.

Keys will be in our hands in a few days - now to pack up the rental

Excellent news, we are the same, il finally sleep tonight knowing that the mortgage process is over and done with...
Congrats and best of luck for your future in your new house.. were getting the keys this day week..

Bluefoam

I need a letter from my employer to state that I'm on the covid subsidy, but that following the end of the scheme that the intention is to go back to full salary, full time employment etc...

Has anyone had to provide a similar letter & if so could you please share the text.

Canyon86

I pulled out of a sale today due to too many major issues reported from the engineer

bulmersgal

Hey

Sorry if this has been asked before. I got AIP last week and had found a house I loved this week and have put a bid in as other people are bidding and the seller wants a quick sale (think they always say that).

The problem is I am currently €7,500 short of having full deposit and solicitor fees of approx. €5,000. I have the ability to save €3,000 at the end of each month from my wages. So I would realistically have this by the end of August. I can borrow off parents in the meantime. How long roughly does it take between bid being accept to when I need all the money. My understanding is;

offer accepted paid €5,000
contracts being signed pay 10%
receiving keys pay solicitor and stamp duty €5,000

I'm just trying to figure out the timing of it all, like how long does it take to get contracts and then how long till I get keys. Just trying to figure out will it all work out nicely with timing or will I need to pay the 10% really quickly.

El Guapo!

Bluefoam wrote: »

I need a letter from my employer to state that I'm on the covid subsidy, but that following the end of the scheme that the intention is to go back to full salary, full time employment etc...

Has anyone had to provide a similar letter & if so could you please share the text.

I'd be interested to hear the same, and if the letter has actually worked for anybody.

I'm in the same boat. Need to close the sale in the next few weeks but I'm on the Covid subsidy. I'm still receiving full wages (actually a little bit more each week) and salary levels will not be affected after the subsidy ends.
I'm working for a semi-state company and am waiting on a letter from HR.
Mortgage broker reckons it will strengthen our case but definitely won't guarantee the bank will allow drawdown.

JL555

bulmersgal wrote: »

Hey

Sorry if this has been asked before. I got AIP last week and had found a house I loved this week and have put a bid in as other people are bidding and the seller wants a quick sale (think they always say that).

The problem is I am currently €7,500 short of having full deposit and solicitor fees of approx. €5,000. I have the ability to save €3,000 at the end of each month from my wages. So I would realistically have this by the end of August. I can borrow off parents in the meantime. How long roughly does it take between bid being accept to when I need all the money. My understanding is;

offer accepted paid €5,000
contracts being signed pay 10%
receiving keys pay solicitor and stamp duty €5,000


I'm just trying to figure out the timing of it all, like how long does it take to get contracts and then how long till I get keys. Just trying to figure out will it all work out nicely with timing or will I need to pay the 10% really quickly.

I'm pretty sure you need to demonstrate to the bank that you have the funds for the full deposit etc. before they extend a formal offer, if so, get the extra asap from your parents if you can and move to the next step. I seem to remember in my case they wanted to confirm that I could also cover the fees and stamp duty before proceeding. If the house is really what you want, pull out all the stops and go for it, don't waste time.

bulmersgal

JL555 wrote: »

I'm pretty sure you need to demonstrate to the bank that you have the funds for the full deposit etc. before they extend a formal offer, if so, get the extra asap from your parents if you can and move to the next step. I seem to remember in my case they wanted to confirm that I could also cover the fees and stamp duty before proceeding. If the house is really what you want, pull out all the stops and go for it, don't waste time.

Oh perfect i thought they could keep it in their bank till closer to the time. Just need to get as much money as possible together. I honestly didn't think I would find something that would tick all the boxes so soon.

I'll contact my broker on Monday and go through it all with him.

Paphos

bulmersgal wrote: »

Oh perfect i thought they could keep it in their bank till closer to the time. Just need to get as much money as possible together. I honestly didn't think I would find something that would tick all the boxes so soon.

I'll contact my broker on Monday and go through it all with him.

In our case we got a gift letter from my parents saying they would gift us a certain sum to help cover solicitor’s fees and stamp duty (the bank included these in costs we needed to evidence we could meet). We were jusy shy of what we would ultimately need and this plugged the gap to get us from AIP to loan offer. My parents never needed to tansfer us anything. We also knew that once we received our next wages we would be able to cover all the costs ourselves, so the gift letter was really just for the bank’s benefit. If you think the process would be slow enough that you’d have enough by the time you’d need to pay the deposit and legal fees maybe something similar could work for you.

bulmersgal

Paphos wrote: »

In our case we got a gift letter from my parents saying they would gift us a certain sum to help cover solicitor’s fees and stamp duty (the bank included these in costs we needed to evidence we could meet). We were jusy shy of what we would ultimately need and this plugged the gap to get us from AIP to loan offer. My parents never needed to tansfer us anything. We also knew that once we received our next wages we would be able to cover all the costs ourselves, so the gift letter was really just for the bank’s benefit. If you think the process would be slow enough that you’d have enough by the time you’d need to pay the deposit and legal fees maybe something similar could work for you.

That's great, we've submitted a letter through the broker for €20k+ just to cover everything and the bank was happy to give AIP. I have got savings but need to clear loan and will be able to save 10k myself by end of August if sale takes that long so they would only be giving there as a bridging loan as there gift is really only 10k and the rest I will be paying back as soon as I get paid.

Paphos

Paphos wrote: »

In our case we got a gift letter from my parents saying they would gift us a certain sum to help cover solicitor’s fees and stamp duty (the bank included these in costs we needed to evidence we could meet). We were jusy shy of what we would ultimately need and this plugged the gap to get us from AIP to loan offer. My parents never needed to tansfer us anything. We also knew that once we received our next wages we would be able to cover all the costs ourselves, so the gift letter was really just for the bank’s benefit. If you think the process would be slow enough that you’d have enough by the time you’d need to pay the deposit and legal fees maybe something similar could work for you.

Also, our solicitor was pretty blunt in saying he could drag the process out if we needed to give more notice on our rental accommodation. Not saying it’s a great approach but there are ways you could probably buy yourself some time.

Paphos

bulmersgal wrote: »

That's great, we've submitted a letter through the broker for €20k+ just to cover everything and the bank was happy to give AIP. I have got savings but need to clear loan and will be able to save 10k myself by end of August if sale takes that long so they would only be giving there as a bridging loan as there gift is really only 10k and the rest I will be paying back as soon as I get paid.

Sounds great. Good luck with your application. It’s great to have found something you like so quickly.

bulmersgal

Paphos wrote: »

Sounds great. Good luck with your application. It’s great to have found something you like so quickly.

I know I'm shocked I was planning to wait but viewed 3 places and this one on paper I hated but in real life I loved and hate the other two.

Hoping it all works out.

DaraDali

Bluefoam wrote: »

I don't think that would be unworkable... There's over thirty of us and regardless of my situation, it wouldn't be viable to treat me more favourably.

My proposal is to put a sum of money into an account to be used in the event that I would lose my job or just not able to make the payments... Along with a letter of intent that I go back on full salary when the time is appropriate..Alternatively, I could add more cash to the purchase... Have any others been successful with this type of action?

The mortgage would be very manageable, and would give me more disposable income than I have now while saving even though I need an exemption to exceed the 3.5 X salary.

I asked my employer can I top up my hrs with banked / holidays days and they agreed. Made my payslips perfect for the weeks I needed them, everyone in my company was no 20% reductions since the lock down. I know I lost alot of holiday days but who needs a holiday this yr :cool:

Queenio

Hi all
is anyone else finding the continued lack of supply extremely draining? We have seen two house this week when viewing finally allowed. One had on offer at asking within 7 hours of ad going online (at2am!) and the other over asking within an hour of viewings starting. The prices are certainly not dropping in dublin 6 anyway. Im very limited to location due to work commitments that are quite complex but are unfortunately reality so only a handful of postcodes would be viable. Yes they are very established areas but this is so much worse than I imagined. Whomever said buying your first house is exciting is totally full of it. While some more properties have been slowly added this week they are being snapped up. Some without being seen. Madness!

nutjobb

Got the keys yesterday, sale agreed since early September 2019! The seller had to get retention planning sorted to close the sale and it got delayed by 10 weeks due to Covid.

Our loan expired in April so at the first whispers of a lock down I asked our solicitor to draw down on our behalf so we wouldn't need to reapply again. We've both been lucky to keep our jobs but solicitor tells me of a number of cases where banks aren't paying out people building, who have been on the Covid payment.

We are very relieved and happy that it's finally finished. If I was to give advice to anyone it would be choose your solicitor carefully. Ive heard many horror stories of solicitors dragging their feet but thankfully ours was very efficient and really drove the whole process on our behalf.

The quickest way for a solicitor to lose interest is the pay him before the job is done!

Best of luck everyone at whatever stage you might be.

random_banter

Paphos wrote: »

In our case we got a gift letter from my parents saying they would gift us a certain sum to help cover solicitor’s fees and stamp duty (the bank included these in costs we needed to evidence we could meet). We were jusy shy of what we would ultimately need and this plugged the gap to get us from AIP to loan offer. My parents never needed to tansfer us anything. We also knew that once we received our next wages we would be able to cover all the costs ourselves, so the gift letter was really just for the bank’s benefit. If you think the process would be slow enough that you’d have enough by the time you’d need to pay the deposit and legal fees maybe something similar could work for you.

Thanks for sharing all this info (and to the OP). So glad this forum exists! I’ve something similar happening but we’re only at application stage to get AIP, and I was wondering do I need the gift amount in my account before applying for AIP or would the gift letter suffice for now? As we don’t know when we will actually buy etc it would make sense to hold off (just in case it’s next year, for tax reasons). Just want to get AIP now... any thoughts or opinions very welcome.

random_banter

Queenio wrote: »

Hi all
is anyone else finding the continued lack of supply extremely draining? We have seen two house this week when viewing finally allowed. One had on offer at asking within 7 hours of ad going online (at2am!) and the other over asking within an hour of viewings starting. The prices are certainly not dropping in dublin 6 anyway. Im very limited to location due to work commitments that are quite complex but are unfortunately reality so only a handful of postcodes would be viable. Yes they are very established areas but this is so much worse than I imagined. Whomever said buying your first house is exciting is totally full of it. While some more properties have been slowly added this week they are being snapped up. Some without being seen. Madness!

Looking at similar areas in South Dublin and there seems to have been a bit of an increase this week in properties listed for sale. But I’d agree. I’ve been watching for houses of our criteria for 2-ish years now and the current crisis has certainly changed things.

Housebuying

Queenio wrote: »

Hi all
is anyone else finding the continued lack of supply extremely draining? We have seen two house this week when viewing finally allowed. One had on offer at asking within 7 hours of ad going online (at2am!) and the other over asking within an hour of viewings starting. The prices are certainly not dropping in dublin 6 anyway. Im very limited to location due to work commitments that are quite complex but are unfortunately reality so only a handful of postcodes would be viable. Yes they are very established areas but this is so much worse than I imagined. Whomever said buying your first house is exciting is totally full of it. While some more properties have been slowly added this week they are being snapped up. Some without being seen. Madness!

Yes, god agreed. A few new houses on Friday. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come

bulmersgal

random_banter wrote: »

Thanks for sharing all this info (and to the OP). So glad this forum exists! I’ve something similar happening but we’re only at application stage to get AIP, and I was wondering do I need the gift amount in my account before applying for AIP or would the gift letter suffice for now? As we don’t know when we will actually buy etc it would make sense to hold off (just in case it’s next year, for tax reasons). Just want to get AIP now... any thoughts or opinions very welcome.

I got AIP with a gift letter last week. I had 5% of house value saved but am still saving. So my parents gave me gift letter for the difference and solicitor fees but I an still saving and won't be taking as much as said in gift letter.

cnocbui

Queenio wrote: »

Hi all
is anyone else finding the continued lack of supply extremely draining? We have seen two house this week when viewing finally allowed. One had on offer at asking within 7 hours of ad going online (at2am!) and the other over asking within an hour of viewings starting. The prices are certainly not dropping in dublin 6 anyway. Im very limited to location due to work commitments that are quite complex but are unfortunately reality so only a handful of postcodes would be viable. Yes they are very established areas but this is so much worse than I imagined. Whomever said buying your first house is exciting is totally full of it. While some more properties have been slowly added this week they are being snapped up. Some without being seen. Madness!

Things might improve. It's possible some sellers didn't list or took properties off the market due to the rampant predictions of significant price falls. If they see that those falls are not happening, they will probably return to the market.

Home listings surge 46pc in Sydney

Large volumes of new stock hit the Sydney market in the last four weeks as the state of NSW reopened from the coronavirus lockdown.

Queenio

cnocbui wrote: »

Things might improve. It's possible some sellers didn't list or took properties off the market due to the rampant predictions of significant price falls. If they see that those falls are not happening, they will probably return to the market.

Thank you for that it has given me some glimmer of hope. While it would be great if the market could cool off a little, the longer it's stagnant the more demand is going to build up I fear. Definitely not seeing any evidence of massive price drops at all. Not even small ones!

flynny50

nutjobb wrote: »

Got the keys yesterday, sale agreed since early September 2019! The seller had to get retention planning sorted to close the sale and it got delayed by 10 weeks due to Covid.

Our loan expired in April so at the first whispers of a lock down I asked our solicitor to draw down on our behalf so we wouldn't need to reapply again. We've both been lucky to keep our jobs but solicitor tells me of a number of cases where banks aren't paying out people building, who have been on the Covid payment.

We are very relieved and happy that it's finally finished. If I was to give advice to anyone it would be choose your solicitor carefully. Ive heard many horror stories of solicitors dragging their feet but thankfully ours was very efficient and really drove the whole process on our behalf.

The quickest way for a solicitor to lose interest is the pay him before the job is done!

Best of luck everyone at whatever stage you might be.

Can I ask how can your solicitor draw done early?
How early are they able to do this?
We might be in the same boat with our approval running out before we can close.