buying first house.. advice needed

hey all. Me and my partner are in the process of buying our first house. is there anywhere that explains, in laymans terms, the process in buing a house. we have a fair amount of our deposite by now (8% of the properties price approx) and are looking a one or two properties, but only looking on the internet as oposed to physically looking at properties. If a property has a sale agreed listing is that it, we cant make a bid? or is it worth while keeping an eye on these kind of props? should we arange a mortage prior to contacting agents/sellers about properties? why do we need a solicitor? how long does it usually take to get into and complete the purchase of a house???
sorry for all the questions but any advice would be of great help but for the moment we will keep on saving?
Thanx in advance

Hi. Whilst it's not strictly necessary to get a mortgage agreed in principle before you start bidding it is a good idea to know what the ceiling is on your borrowing capacity so that you don't waste time bidding on houses you can't afford to buy. Secondly you really need to get out there and actually view houses - the descriptions on the internet don't always (!) fit reality. You need a solicitor to check that the seller owns the property and is legally able to sell it and they also act on behalf of you and the mortgage lender to ensure that all the legal side of the purchase is OK. You might also want to get a survey done on the property (once your offer has been accepted) to check the condition.

The buying process doesn't have a fixed timescale - it depends on the seller's situation; if they are buying another house they are dependent on their vendor's posistion. The quickest completion is around 4 weeks, average would be around 2 months but it can drag on for much longer. With new houses you could buy off the plans for a house that won't be built until next year!

Hope that helps.

Sarah

www.rea.ie

I've been through all this recently. My biggest advice would be to be completely sure what your budget is. That may depend on how much the banks will give you and/or how much your willing to pay each month.

Only then will you know the price range you can afford. I thought I knew this and spend lots of time at a certain range and then realised I could afford a lot more.

Pick a number of banks and get approval in principle with them - this doesn't bind you or them but gives you a much clearer picture on what you can afford. Also, they have lots of guides on buying a home and the process. Also, search this site and www.itsyourmoney.ie.

Do go looking at houses it will give you some idea of relative value and after a while you begin to understand ,albeit begrudgingly in my case, the reasons why one place is deemed better than another.

Drive around the areas, understand them and take note of houses for sale and the estate agents in the area. Ring these and register your interest.
Sometimes there are smaller area specific estate agents that you may not have seen until you drive around.

Better still search www.daft.ie and www.myhome.ie the former has more and more houses for sale w/o estate agents!

The process for me from sale agreed to keys for a 2nd hand home took about 6 weeks but I don't think 8 weeks is unusual.

We used Rea brokers for the mortage they were very good in presales but not so good afterwards. In my case I learnt a lot through reseach and regretted relying on an intermediarey. The life insurance element took much longer than expected - do not underestimate it.

The whole is hassle and daunting but as with anything it helps if your prepared. Drop me a PM if you need any help but it's best to post publicly for other to see.

Best of luck.

I would agree that the life insurance element can take a lot longer than expected. We had not forseen any problems, but in fact my husband kept being sent back for more tests and more GP reports. This was terribly stressful as the vendors were pushing us to sign, so I would begin exploring your insurance options fairly early in the game.

I'm assuming when people are saying "life insurance" here, they are referring to "mortgage protection", which is a different thing, isn't it?

I'm about to close next week (arghhhhhhhhhh) but the insurance thing still isn't sorted out....Doctor delayed signing the form and even when she did fill it in, her information wasn't enough, insurance company wanted a medical....then said they didn't want medical only wanted a declaration from me that I was in good health....should have been sorted Monday but its still out-standing...Perhaps these delays depend on particular insurance companies? Other friends haven't even given the insurance thing a thought..It just happened once they filled in the appropriate forms...

Brokers are good but I agree....Before the deal is done they are particularly helpful. After the loan approval is received they are difficult to get hold of..

sun_sparks said:

I'm assuming when people are saying "life insurance" here, they are referring to "mortgage protection", which is a different thing, isn't it?

Click to expand...

Mortgage protection is a life insurance policy under which the cover declines at the same rate as the mortgage so if the policy holder dies before the end of the mortgage term it is repaid from the insurance.

I'd say 90% of proposals are automatically accepted however if there are any medical issues it's crucial to apply for it at the start of the home-buying process.

Sarah

www.rea.ie

No medical issues whatsoever....still delays...

Now I'm worried - only a month until I close and we're just starting to get this stuff together. I have all my quotes, but didn't realise their were potential delays from this.

Don't worry..just make sure you push to get your insurance sooner rather than later...Its something I didn't think I needed to worry about...but it turns out that it can cause delays...At one stage my doctor was causing the delay because she needed to fill in a form and she was sitting on it...

Theres loads of brilliant information on this forum. If you can't find the answer just post the question and people will help out..

Thanks Lauren!