What happens once you find your home and go sale agreed?
Saving your deposit, getting mortgage approval and finding a home all takes time and a lot of hard work.
So once you have found your new home, what’s next?
If you are successful at bidding on a second hand home or you have secured a unit in a new development then the selling agent will confirm that you are sale agreed.
In general when purchasing a second hand home the property will be sold by private treaty which means it is offered for same and people view and bid on the property.
When purchasing a new build home you will often be buying off plans and will not view your actual house but a show house. There is generally a lead in time to completion of new build homes.
What does sale agreed mean?
Sale agreed means that the vendor (person or developer selling the house) has accepted your offer.
When sale agreed you will be asked to pay a booking deposit and provide details of solicitor.
How much will I need to pay as a booking deposit?
Booking deposits can range from €5,000 to above this depending on the value of the property. Your booking deposit forms part of your 10% deposit.
Once booking deposit is paid the property will be marked sale agreed and should not be marketed further. Booking deposit should be fully refundable until you sign contracts.
Being sale agreed is not legally binding on either party, it is just the first step in the process.
Your Sale Agreed checklist –
- Mortgage Advisor – Contact your doddl Mortgage Advisor to confirm that you are sale agreed and to confirm purchase price and property details. It is always recommended that you keep your mortgage advisor up to date if you are bidding on a home or need confirmation of approval for an agent – we can provide this
- Solicitor – If you have not connected with our legal partner Beam or appointed a solicitor then now is the time to do it the selling agent will ask for solicitor details so they can arrange for contracts to be sent to your solicitor
- First Time Buyer Schemes – If availing of the help to buy or first home schemes ensure you are fully aware of how to claim these schemes – check out our guides –
First Home Scheme – next steps once you have found a home
- Surveyor – if your property is second hand then you may want to carry out a survey for due diligence. Cost of the survey depends on the size of the house but I would budget €500
- Valuer – every bank will need a valuation report to be carried out on your home. Each bank has their own panel of valuers so your mortgage advisor at doddl will be in a position to help advisor or appoint a valuer for you.
- Life Cover – a condition of your loan offer is that you have life cover in place to clear the mortgage in the event of death. The most popular product when it comes to mortgages is mortgage protection and this is the minimum cover you need to have in place. Our team at doddl can provide life cover quotes price matched to lowest market rate and can work through all your queries re life cover and get it in place and ready to commence prior to mortgage draw down
- Home Insurance – you will be required to have buildings insurance in place on your home. Our team at doddl can provide quotes for life cover. The level of cover the bank will require will depend on the ‘recommended reinstatement value’ noted on the valuation report. This is essentially the cost to rebuild your home. Note if you are building a home you will need to have course of construction insurance in place
Once we have your valuation report, solicitor details and have confirmed your mortgage requirements, rate, term we will request formal approval and loan offer from your chosen lender. Remember at doddl we work with all major lenders and offer lowest market rates, cashback offers, deferred payment periods, overpayment options – everything you need!
Once your loan offer is issued and your solicitor has received contracts and carried out all their due diligence and has all queries answered they will arrange to meet you to sign contracts.
How much do I have to pay as contract deposit?
Once you sign contracts you will need to pay a further deposit called a contract deposit. This is generally 10% less what you have paid already as booking deposit so for example Purchase Price €400,000, booking deposit paid €5,000 you would need to pay over €35,000 at time of signing contracts. If you are using the help to buy and eligible for full amount then €30,000 would be paid from help to buy so you would only need to pay over €5,000 towards contract deposit.
Once you sign contracts the purchase is binding once counter signed contracts are received as such before you sign contracts it is hugely important that you are satisfied that you want to and can progress with purchase.
It is worth discussing with your solicitor whether you can or should include a ‘subject to funding’ clause in contract. This should mean that if you could not execute the purchase due to an issue with funding that you do not lose your deposit. Definitely get advice on this from your solicitor.
Once a closing date is set your solicitor will notify you and you will speak with our team at doddl to commence life and home insurance and to ensure all completion items such as direct debit mandate, deed of assignment of life etc are complete and with the bank.
Our team at doddl will work closely with your solicitor and the bank to ensure smooth draw down of funds, generally c. 3 working days before the closing date. This is because the funds have to be with your solicitor for closing and transfer to vendors solicitor.
Once final due diligence has been carried out by your solicitor and funds transferred to the vendors solicitor you will be in a position to collect your long awaited keys!
As a general timeline, at doddl our clients who were purchasing a second hand home closed on average 6 weeks after their loan offer issued and for new builds it was 8 weeks. This involves teamwork – you, your solicitor and our team at doddl working closely together to push the process forward and get you in your new home.
It can be a long journey but one that all our clients feel is worthwhile the minute they turn the lock to their new home. It is always a proud moment and in the current market it is a huge accomplishment.
We love working with our clients on their home buying journey, clients come to us for a mortgage but really what they want to do is buy a home and we never lose sight oft that.
If you would like help and support through your home buying journey then we are here to help. Start now by providing us with some information and your mortgage advisor will then contact you within 48 hours –
