Buying a first home is mostly an exercise in discovering, one at a time, things everybody else appears to have known already. Here are the six that cause the most difficulty.
One to Three
1. Nothing is binding until contracts are exchanged. The booking deposit you pay the auctioneer is generally refundable and commits nobody — which means a seller can still accept a higher offer, and you can still walk away. That period is uncomfortable for everyone and the only real cure is getting to exchange quickly. 2. Approval in principle is not a mortgage. It is an indication of what a lender might lend. A formal loan offer is the actual offer. Do not exchange contracts on approval in principle — it puts a substantial deposit at genuine risk and it is one of the few entirely avoidable disasters in this process. 3. There are two deposits, and the second one is due earlier than you think. The balance deposit is payable on exchange, not on closing, which regularly catches buyers who planned their money around the completion date. If funds are in an account requiring notice, or coming from a family member, arrange it in advance.
Four to Six
4. Your solicitor is not a surveyor. An investigation of title is a legal exercise on documents; it will not tell you whether the roof is sound, whether there is damp, or whether an extension was built properly. Get a survey. Buyers who skip it to save money take a risk out of all proportion to the saving. 5. Budget for fees, outlays and stamp duty as separate things. Professional fees are one item; outlays are sums paid out on your behalf such as searches and Tailte Éireann registration fees; and stamp duty is a Revenue matter, not a fee, and is not something this firm advises on — ask your accountant or check Revenue’s own guidance, and do it early enough to plan for it. The same applies to Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme: they exist, the rules are set by Revenue and the scheme administrators, they change, and you should confirm the current position with them. 6. The quiet weeks are normal. Between contracts issuing and exchange, a great deal happens invisibly. Silence is not the same as progress, though — you are entitled to know what is outstanding and who is being waited on.
The one thing that most improves your position: name a solicitor at the point the sale is agreed rather than a fortnight later. Contracts cannot issue until you do, and it is the cheapest week you will ever save.
First purchase, and unsure where to start? 01 5827148.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & TEP
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors, established 1981, with an office at 2 Rose Inn Street in Kilkenny city centre and a second office in Dublin. The firm handles residential and rural conveyancing across Kilkenny and the south-east — buying, selling, sites and farmland, family transfers, remortgages and transfers of equity. Richard is a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, which matters more in conveyancing than people expect: a great many property transactions in Kilkenny arise out of an estate, a family transfer or a succession plan, and those need both sides handled together. Nothing here is tax advice — stamp duty and any gift or inheritance tax questions belong with your accountant and Revenue. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about conveyancing and property law in Ireland. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every transaction turns on its own facts — the title, the planning position, the lender’s requirements and the contract — and advice on yours requires a consultation.
Nothing here is tax advice. Stamp duty, Local Property Tax, capital gains on a sale, and any gift or inheritance tax arising on a family transfer are matters for your accountant or tax adviser and for Revenue’s own guidance. This firm does not advise on tax and states no rate, threshold, relief or condition anywhere on this site. Where a scheme such as Help to Buy or the First Home Scheme is mentioned, the eligibility rules and limits are set by Revenue and the scheme administrators and change from time to time — confirm the current position directly with them.
No valuation, survey or financial advice. This firm does not value property, does not advise on price, and is not a surveyor, engineer or mortgage adviser. A solicitor’s investigation of title is not a structural survey and is not a substitute for one, and no legal work will tell you whether a property is sound or whether the price is right.
Never both sides of the same transaction. The firm acts for buyers and, in separate transactions, for sellers — but not for both parties to the same sale. Conflicts are checked before any substantive discussion, which is why the first contact should identify the property and every party involved.
No timeline is promised. Nothing on this site states or implies that a transaction will close by any particular date. Closing depends on matters outside any solicitor’s control, including the other side, the lender, the chain, and third parties such as local authorities and Tailte Éireann.
Fees. Fees and outlays are agreed in writing with the client at the outset, in accordance with the Legal Services Regulation Act. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.