Eamonn J. Walsh & Co Solicitors are available to provide you with expert advice and legal services in relation to all your property and conveyancing needs. We also believe in transparency in advising on fees and outlays and to that end we will provide you with a detailed fixed fee quotation at the outset to include all fees, vat and outlays should the transaction follow a normal course for a transaction of its type.

Residential Property Conveyancing Solicitors: Conveyancing is the name given to the process of transferring ownership of title from a vendor to a purchaser. Whether you are buying your first home, trading up or down or are a property investor, we will manage the transaction professionally and efficiently. You will be kept informed at all times and we will always be on hand should you wish to discuss any aspect of the transaction.

Our property services include:

• Buying, Selling & Mortgaging Residential Property
• Buying, Selling & Leasing Commercial Property
• Property Reorganisation & Restructuring

Buying, Selling & Mortgaging Residential Property

Buying a residential property is one of the biggest transactions most people undertake during the lives. The following is our step by step guide to purchasing your home:

1. Budget / Quote

You need to carefully budget before committing to the purchase of a house. This involves calculating the funds at your disposal, obtaining approval in principal from a lender and getting a quote from a Solicitor of the costs involved in purchasing to include stamp duty, outlays and professional fees and VAT.

2. Booking Deposit

Once you have found your house and decided to purchase, your estate agent will ask you to pay a booking deposit. A booking deposit usually ranges between 3% – 5% of the purchase price. This deposit is refundable up to the point where unconditional binding contracts are signed.

3. Paperwork & Contracts

The seller’s Solicitor, on receipt of the sales advice note from the estate agent, will issue the Contracts, together with a copy of the title to the purchaser’s Solicitor. Your Bank will issue a copy of your loan offer and a formal loan pack is issued to the purchaser’s Solicitor.

Your Solicitor will check the Contracts and title and if everything is to his or her satisfaction, you will be required to sign the Contracts and pay the Contract Deposit (10% of the purchase price, less booking deposit already paid). With some new houses, you may not be obliged to pay a full 10%.

Your solicitor returns the Contracts in duplicate, signed by you, together with the Deposit, to the vendor’s Solicitor.

4. Exchange of Contracts

The vendor’s Solicitor arranges for the vendor to sign and returns one copy of the Contract, usually creating a binding agreement between all parties. The Contract usually contains a closing date in which the parties agree to hand over possession in exchange for the balance of the contract price (90%).

This is approximately two to three weeks after the exchange of Contracts.

5. Notification of Completion – New Houses Only

When the new house is completed, the developer issues you and your solicitor with a “Completion Notice”. This is an important document and which usually calls upon you to complete within 14 days.

On receipt of the completion notice, you should arrange to a formal inspection (snag) by you or your agent to establish that the house has been finalised in accordance with the contract. You or your agent then compile a list of any unfinished or defective works usually called a “snag list”.

Thereafter once the snag list has been completed to your satisfaction, you should inform your Solicitor that you are ready to complete/close.

6. Completion/Closing

Your Solicitor will prepare a Statement setting out the balance required to complete the purchase, including stamp duty, outlays and fees.  Your solicitor will also complete the drawdown of your loan funds, which now take the form of an electronic transfer into his client account.  The solicitor must be in funds to include the balance of the contract funds, the stamp duty and outlays (fees are also usually paid in advance at this stage) to complete.

Closing will usually take place at the vendors solicitors office, you do not need to attend as your solicitor will represent you. However the purchaser’s presence will be required on closing to sign the deed of assurance. The keys will be either available from your solicitors office or that of the estate agent.

7.  Stamping/ Registration

Your Residential Property Conveyancing Solicitors will proceed to stamp the purchase deed and then register same in the Land Registry/Registry of Deeds. The registration process can take weeks, if not months, depending on the type of property involved.  Once completed, your solicitor will return a Certificate of Title and the title deeds to your lender, where they will held for the duration of the loan.

Your solicitor will notify you that registration has completed, forward a copy of your folio showing you as registered owner and that the title deeds have been returned.