Talk to us at the outset to ensure that your title deeds are in order. For instance, if you have built an extension to your house since you bought you must have all your planning documentation in order. If your house is registered with Revenue for LPT at less than 50% of the sale price you will need to uplift that valuation. See below under our legal steps for other issues. All these issues will delay a sale if not in order. Have us check your title as early as possible in the sale. It may take weeks for your bank to release your title deeds to us.
A key to successfully selling your home is to get all the relevant information at the outset.
Before you decide to sell your home you should consider- WHERE-WHEN-HOW MUCH
Where are you going to move to:
When is the move to take place:
How much: you need to carefully budget the costs of the sale process;
You already own your home so you have some experience of buying and what is entailed. When selling you do need to have all your title deeds in order. If your title deeds are not in order the sale may not proceed smoothly. We have dedicated staff who work exclusively in residential sales and are in the office and available to you when you need us.
How is it all going to tie together? Planning and then following the plan. When you sell you have to move out. So a sale is really a sale and purchase or sale and rent. This means you must focus on both aspects.
Contact us when you decide to sell. We will be there to help you at any point along the sales process. We start the process of assembling all the title deeds required to progress your sale. Collecting these will take a minimum of 3 weeks and sometimes up to 3 months depending on any gaps in your title deeds.
You do need to gather up a lot of information including costs. You should get quotes from all of the agents you will be hiring – estate agent, solicitor, surveyor, architect (if you carried out any work to the house since you bought it), maintenance company (if there is any tidy up work needed before the house goes on the market) and movers if you intend hiring a professional removal company.
You need to hire your agent well in advance of putting your home on the market. There are better times of the year for marketing- your agent will guide you. You may also have to carry out some repairs or tidying up to get the house in the best shape. Marketing will require photos of different parts of the house- so make sure they are at their best.
Sometimes, as in life, the best move is to wait, thus it is with selling. If you go to the market when there is little activity your house may not receive any interest. Then when the market picks up people will know your house has been for sale for some time and suspect something is wrong- otherwise, it would have sold. An experienced agent will know exactly when to go to market. Your agent will also guide you when to hold out and when to start accepting bids. Market prices can move very quickly. It is not unusual for prices to jump a per cent per week in busy times of the year and then stall for months. Generally, prices will surge in spring through to early summer. Long school holidays slow things down. Then back to school in September and the Budget is holding prices back, maybe a bit of a run comes in mid-autumn and then a slow down coming into Christmas. This is what happens in “normal” markets, but we are not in that now 2020. Everything has changed due to COVID. You need to listen to your agent more than ever.
This may be easier said than done. You have total control of your sale but not your purchase- that depends on a suitable house within budget coming on the market. Now you have to tie in with someone else’s plans. There may be a chain of purchases which will increase the pressure. Compromises on timing may be needed to secure a deal. Your agent and solicitor will help and give useful advice. Do not be afraid to ask for their view.
This is a big decision and has implications on several other parties. This becomes a very busy time. You should tell your solicitor as soon as you have sold and the agent receives the booking deposit. You may be finalising your new purchase at the same time. Do not agree to sell if you are in the middle of another crisis in your life. Moving house is one of the high-stress events in life. Do not compound that with another crisis in your life.
We will help you with any queries you may have on any of these. Contact us now or phone 01 6281000.
This is a critical part of the selling process. Your solicitor must have your title in 100% perfect condition. This means that all planning documents are in order. If you have carried out any development to your house since you bought it or if there was any prior development to your house since it was originally built you will need an Architect’s certificate of Compliance with planning permission and building regulations. This is very important and will hold up your sale if not correct.
You must produce proof that you have paid your Local Property Tax (LPT) during the year of the sale, the LPT year runs from November 1st so if the closing is a day after this date you must stamp for the following year and the buyers will pay back the apportioned amount.
LOT was introduced in 2013, and, the valuation bands were re-set in 2021. When selling in 2024 you must produce a LPT summary statement showing that you are currently paying LPT BOTH within 90% of the 2013 band AND 10% of the 2021 (you use the higher figure in the band). If your house sale price is greater than the LPT band and the sale price is more than 90% above the 2013 or 10% above the 2021 LPT band paid you have to apply to Revenue and submit an LPT Form % submission. You may have to update the LPT. This will take weeks or more so check this before you start selling.
In 2009 Non-Principal Private Residence (NPPR) tax was introduced. This only applied to houses that were not principal private homes. So, if your home was rented out between 2012 and 2013 you must have a receipt for payment of the tax. If you did not pay the tax and it was due you will be liable to a penalty (up to €2,200). If you have always lived in the home as your principal residence then you do not need to worry. However, even if the home was your principal private residence you must apply to your local authotity for an NNPR certificate of exemption. The local authority will require proof of residency such as a utility bill in your name during 2012/2013.
Marriage status does count when selling a family home. Irish law protects spouses by prohibiting the sale of a family home by one spouse without the prior written consent of the other. Therefore you will require a copy of your marriage certificate to prove you are married and if you have divorced/ judicially separated or entered into a separation agreement you will need copies of these documents for your solicitor.
It takes weeks for your title deeds to come to us from your bank- so instruct early.
Your solicitor will issue the contracts for the sale of your house to the buyer’s solicitor as soon as the sales advice issues from the agent. It may take the purchasers a number of weeks (up to 5 weeks) to sign and return the contracts with the contract deposit. Usually, the purchasers will be relying on a bank loan and will not sign the contracts until their loan approval issues. The loan approval is specific to your house. They may also wish to survey your house. They may be trying to sell their own house. There is any number of factors that can delay the signing. It is important that everyone in the chain is honest and genuine. There can be a whole chain of transactions hinging on each other.
This is the first time you may relax in the knowledge that the buyer is proceeding, be careful that there is no pre-condition in the returned contract. If there is a pre-condition you do not have an enforceable contract until the pre-condition is fully satisfied.
Your Solicitor will return your contracts as soon as you sign and you are ready to proceed, you might be also working on your purchase. At this stage, you and the purchasers will have agreed a closing date and arrangements should be underway to empty and clean your house. Check with your agent on any fittings and contents you are removing from your house.
The last step; your solicitor will have prepared and arranged the signing or your title deeds. They will also have requested your mortgage redemption figures. A date is agreed with the buyer’s solicitors and your title documents are sent to them. The buyers will transfer the balance of the purchase money to your solicitor’s client account. The buyer will have ordered title searches which are sent to your solicitor on the closing date for an explanation. When the money is transferred and the searches explained the sale is deemed to be closed by the solicitors. Your solicitor will pay off your bank loan on the date of sale or as soon as possible. When all that is done your solicitor will release any surplus to you along with a full statement of the transaction. If you are buying another home the balance from the sale is rolled into the new purchase.
Dermot P. Coyne
In contentious business a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement. Note that no solicitor/client relationship or liability shall exist or be deemed to exist between you or our firm until a formal letter of engagement has been issued by us to you.
