Guide to Selling a House in Ireland

A person can sell a house using a large or small estate agent or selling the property themselves online.

In general, use a local agent if they frequently deal with your type of property, in your area, or your house is located in a rural area. They will know what they are doing and doing this side of the process yourself can be time demanding. Selling properties via advertising on facebook etc. is more commons in other countries than it is in Ireland.

Title Documents

These will be kept by your bank or solicitor. If you built an extension some years back but have no documents, you could have a problem. Extensions sometimes need permission but will likely need Building Control Regs approval.

If you insulated the attic or perhaps replaced all your windows, you might have a much better BER or energy savings rating. A rock-bottom rating can disincentive purchasers. Getting a new and improved certificate is worthwhile in our view. The fee is modest for this.

Do I have a binding contract if it goes sale agreed?  

The purchaser may have exclusivity here, but nothing is binding until both the purchaser and vendor sign the contracts and exchange them. Even a large deposit paid and handshakes all around is ineffective.   

Is the purchaser bound as there was some clause in the contract about his loan approval ?  

No, he is not bound until he receives unconditional loan approval by a certain date. If he gets his loan approval and can comply with any conditions in the loan offer, then the contract between the purchaser and the vendor is binding.  

Marital Status

If the person bought a property as a family home, your spouse’s consent is necessary even if she/he does not appear on the title deeds. She/he must also consent to the mortgage otherwise it could be void. Spouses have more rights in this area than non-spouses, or partners, so your solicitor will have to establish, on any sale, if you are married or otherwise as he must exhibit your marriage certificate with the sale documents.  

Old Service Charges & LPT

The purchaser is entitled to take the property free from any arrears of service charges or LPT etc. Your solicitor will allow for payment of any such arrears through the sales proceeds which he/she receives on completion.  

Sale Completion Date

Unfortunately, the completion date in the contract is sometimes aspirational. However, most sales complete within a week or two of the closing date in the contract. Your solicitor could seek to charge interest if the purchasers are not progressing the matter.

One could serve the purchaser with a completion notice whereby they lose their deposit unless they complete the sale within 28 days.

However, in general it is better not to forfeit the deposit as the purchasers will apply to court for relief against this forfeiture and this delays the completion even more.

Revenue Tax Attachment Notice
 

Your solicitor must obtain a tax clearance certificate before any sale is completed even if it is your own house which is always exempt from CGT. They must disclose full details of the sale to Revenue.  

If a person owes Revenue monies in respect of taxes such as VAT or income tax and they likely get prior notice of the sale. In such cases, they can serve an Attachment Notice on your solicitor which forces your solicitor to hold back specified sums from the proceeds to pay the revenue. Revenue rarely serves these notices on clients selling property generally speaking.

If a person requires legal assistance on a property sale/purchase matter from property solicitors, we can be contacted on  (052) 612 1999 or (01) 546 1121.