Hi, sorry, I've not been able to introduce myself.
I'm purchasing a property in Co Mayo and I wondered if I could have some advice please.
The house is owned by a couple who live in Birmingham, UK. As I am currently living in UK, does this mean I could instruct UK solicitors to deal with the purchase as well as the sale of my current property? Or would you recommend instructing an Irish solicitor? I'm thinking it might also be cheaper to use UK one, especially on the transfer of funds. There seem to be quite a few solicitors who deal with international property and are based in UK.
I've emailed the agent in Ireland to ask him to find out what they are doing, but haven't heard back as yet:(
Has anyone else bought a property this way?
Thanks for reading.
UK or Irish Solicitors?
In my opinion, it's a really silly thing to do to ask a UK lawyer to deal with this - the UK laws may differ from Irish conveyancing laws.
The title deeds to the property have to be released by the bank directly to the buyer's solicitor, and it's unlikely that they will release them to a solicitor who does not have a licence to practice law in Ireland.
You can do the closing through a power of attorney to someone you trust in Ireland, but the Family Home Declaration will have to be signed by you. As you are only in the UK, you should consider travelling to Ireland yourself to do this - it makes life easier.
I am not sure what way you are buying the property, but if you are using a mortgage you will have (as far as I am aware) to use an Irish bank - it's unlikely that an English bank will provide a mortgage over property governed by Irish law.
You should contact the Law Society in Ireland to ask for conveyancing solicitors, but make sure the one you get is reliable (I hate lawyers because I feel most of them are just conning the system to screw their clients of money). Make sure you agree a price and closing date within 1 week and make sure you keep on them to get the job done for you.
Good luck with this.
Thank you so much for the advice. I have had a quote and also some really helpful advice from a local solicitor to the house, so I'm grateful. im not sure what you meant by closing date within a week tho. Perhaps you could expand a bit. Thanks
Once the contracts have been sent to your solicitor, the conveyancing will be done by your solicitor. However, a repetitive issue with solicitors (world wide, not just in Ireland) is that they are usually very helpful to you at the beginning, until they have secured your business, and then begin to treat you badly - massive delays, not returning your calls or correspondence, etc.
A property can be purchased within 6 weeks - complete. The only thing that should effect this is whether the seller is in a chain - that is, they have to move into their new house the same day they move out of yours. Because you are not part of a chain, this frees you up and makes you a welcome buyer. You can move in any time.
However, solicitors, by their nature, love to blame solicitors on the other side for delays - even when it's their fault. It's a system that has always been used. Remember, they are under the control of the Law Society - but you and the seller are not.
I found it very helpful when I was buying my place to stay in touch with the seller, to avoid this. It helped things move along, and there is no rule against this. Your solicitor won't like this, because it makes them vulnerable to your criticism, but if you are professional in your approaches and they are in theirs, it will avoid the two solicitors taking advantage of your ignorance.
Solicitors, by their nature, are horrific human beings. It's better to be prepared for them before you go into any transaction. But once you get through it, you will have your own place.
Speak to the seller directly about the closing date that suits them and agree this before you do anything. They may have a clause on the contract that your purchase is "subject to their selling their property" and that could take any number of months (or years).
Once you have signed and paid the deposit, you can't get out of it without paying the deposit. You will have to stay in control of this, unfortunately. But millions of people have done it before you and millions will do it after you. Some do it efficiently, and some get completely screwed (once instance I heard of was that it took a solicitor 10 years to complete a purchase of a property, and the client thought that that was normal). It's not. Your purchase can be complete within 6 weeks - subject to the clause where the seller has to move into another property - part of the chain gang.
Either way, good luck with this.
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