A booking deposit is paid to the auctioneer when a sale is agreed. It is generally refundable, it is not a contract, and it commits neither the buyer nor the seller. That gap between how it feels and what it is causes more anxiety than any other feature of buying a house in Ireland.
What It Does and Does Not Do
Does: demonstrate that you are serious, which matters commercially. In practice an auctioneer will usually stop actively marketing the property once it is paid, and it moves the transaction into the phase where solicitors are instructed and contracts issue. Does not: create any binding obligation on either side. A buyer who changes their mind is generally entitled to it back. A seller who accepts a higher offer must return it. It does not fix the price, it does not reserve the property as a matter of law, and it does not stop the seller continuing to consider other offers if they choose to. That is not sharp practice by auctioneers — it follows from the requirement that a contract for the sale of land be in writing and signed, so until contracts are exchanged there is simply no agreement to sell or to buy.
Two Deposits, Not One
The confusion is compounded by there being two. The booking deposit goes to the auctioneer at sale agreed and is refundable. The balance deposit is paid when contracts are signed and exchanged, typically bringing the total up to a percentage of the price specified in the contract, and it is held by the seller’s solicitor as stakeholder. From that point everything changes: you are committed, a completion date is fixed, and failing to complete puts the deposit at risk and carries further consequences under the contract. Two practical points follow. First, the balance deposit is payable on exchange, not on closing, which regularly catches buyers who have planned their money around the completion date — funds in an account requiring notice, or coming from a family member, need arranging in advance. Second, everything material must be resolved before exchange, because that is the last moment at which walking away costs you nothing. Which is why the investigation stage takes as long as it does.
Do not exchange contracts on approval in principle. Approval in principle is not a mortgage, and exchanging on the strength of one puts a substantial deposit at real risk. Convert it to a formal loan offer first.
Sale agreed and unsure where you stand? 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.
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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.
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