As our Christmas Talent drive gets underway we are getting requests for information on purchasing a home when you arrive back to live and work in your local town and city .

House prices in Dublin have fallen with property prices across the country rising slightly.

Back 4 Good talked to Seamus O Halloran a top Dublin based Solicitor in this field and his advice is to get your preparation arranged well in advance of purchasing 

Accordingly to Seamus the first port of call is to obtain and engage a solicitor ,

” The Solicitor will ensure that you obtain ‘ good and marketable title ”  in other words your investment  is good and can be sold at a later date without any problems . If a loan is taken out to buy the property then the Solicitor will ensure that the loan is registered against the property  and will give the Bank an undertaking  to say the title to the property is good and the mortgage is registered .”

Seamus went onto to advise ” If you are taking our a mortgage there are some restrictions imposed on the Banks by the Central Bank of Ireland . If you are a first-time buyer you will need to pay a minimum deposit of 10% of the value of the property .If you are not a first time buyer you will need to pay a 20% deposit from your own funds.The Bank will insist that you obtain Life Assurance over the life of the borrowers assigned to the loan.The property will also have a Building Energy Rating ( BER ) and all property taxes will have to be paid to date.

When you find the home you want you will require a fully refundable booking deposit to be paid to the selling agent and it is advisable to have a structure survey at this stage .Contracts are then sent to your Solicitor and if he is satisfied as to the title and other issues the remaining of the 10% deposit is paid .

Your sale should close 2-4 weeks after ,( or later if it is a new build ,when the property is built ) and the final monies are paid and you then get the keys to the property ,your Solicitor will then ensure the property is registered in your name and register any mortgage over the property “

If you require more information on purchasing your home contact Seamus directly at seamus@seamusohalloran.com .

The good news is that property prices have stabilised and in Dublin have dropped on average by 2-3%  and the madness is gone out of the market  .

Back 4 Good will be running a series of information sessions relating to the type of legal advice you will require as you make key decisions on living and working in Ireland .