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

As with all insurers, this is sim[ply away to get out of paying out on the policy.

If you answer no and you should have answered yes, then 10 years down the line, one of you croaks and the insurers will uncover this and not pay out.

So answer with the truth. Answering that you had covid or were a close contact wont make a difference as the long term effects are not yet known so cant be quantified. They might load a euro or 2 onto the payments but thats it.

I worked in a well know insurance company years ago and i sat beside a team of about 10 people whose sole job was to find ways of not paying out on claims that came in.

That covid question is a setup for exactly this team.

You've no idea how its going to pan out, one way or another. Insurance companies have a long history of riding the Irish public for all they're worth. The Government has taken relatively minimal steps to step in on any issues relating to insurance up to now.

If it were me, I'd be honest re any Covid questions. Pay the extra bit of premium now, and at least you'll still have cover if the worst were to happen.

I was talking to a mates wife who used to be an EA and asked her why EAs are not getting back to some people.

She said the EA will cover up the bids from people who they think might take a bit longer than a lower bid to close.

If they do even bring the bid to the vendor they will do their best to convince the vendor that bidder is not a good one.

This is because the EA has to do the smallest amount of work for the commission the faster they get the sale closed. So they are happy to interfere with a bid even as high as €25k more as the commission doesnt make up for the extra work. So if you are a vendor make damned sure you tell the EA you want to hear about every single bid no matter what the EA thinks. You might be happy to wait for someone to go sale agreed if you get €10 or €20k more for your house.

At what stage would you guys recommend having the surveying done? I'm currently at the stage where I've received the loan offer, done a second viewing to take a closer look at everything and measured the rooms and now waiting to hear what the next steps are from the solicitor/Lender. Just trying to make sure I do all the steps at the right time to make the process as smooth as possible.

If you're sale agreed you could probably go ahead and get it done now. Depending on the engineer/surveyor you could be waiting a few weeks for them to even get to the property, they were all very busy when I got mine done a few months ago. When I went sale agreed on my apartment a few months ago the estate agent recommended I get the survey done within the first two weeks of being sale agreed. I don't really know why he said two weeks, but ho hum.

Mine was €369 after VAT for basically the same size, two bed apartment.

If that was Dublin will you pm me the name of this company please

No bother. Thanks anyway

I have just sold a vacant house. From sale agreed to money in our bank account took just over 4 weeks to my surprise. The money was in my bank account 2 days after contracts were signed. The buyer was in a chain but sensibly did not put the offer on my house until theirs had contracts signed. They paid their deposit immediately and had a surveyor lined up ready that did the survey within days of us going sale agreed. I think all credit is due here to the solicitors on both sides and to the buyer who was 100% ready to proceed when they put their offer in. I have bought and sold 7 properties in my life time and they have all taken between 5 months and 11 months to go from sale agreed to keys. My own purchase of the same house took 8 months because there were issues with finance on my side, planning and a freehold which my solicitor sorted out, but it took time.

Because we used the same solicitor for the sale everything was in place to proceed quickly this time. My advice for a quick purchase is: have your finance approved before viewings, have the paperwork ready to reapply before your approval runs out of date and pay the deposit immediately. Know what surveyor you are going to use in advance of viewings. Expect delays over Summer months and in December. If there are delays because of title / planning etc, don't rush your solicitor as they are protecting you by getting the relevant information.

Anyone been in a chain and have experience with the house the vendors are trying to purchase having issues with the title? Could it be another party is involved on a will or something?House is not lived in currently.

Went sale agreed beginning of July, then complete radio silence until 2nd of September. We met with our solicitor and reviewed the contract but it left the closing date as to be arranged. Our solicitor mentioned how the vendors solicitor was talking that things would move quickly enough and a proper due date should materialise. So silly us we decided to sign the contract without a proper due date from how our solicitor reassured us and us wanting the house of course.

Fast foward to now and we have just been informed of the issues mentioned above. I’m mainly wondering now due to the vendors not returning their part of the signed contract and no set date for the closing of the sale, is the contract binding yet?

We want the house but we now need to start thinking about going back to the market if this delay could go on months and months. Any advice would be appreciated.

Couldn’t reach my solicitor today after their email. Reason I’m asking here.

When buying a new house - What are usual things which come with a new house like appliance or wooden flooring for rooms?

Whats the usual practice please.