I’m hoping you can give us some advice on buying a home from outside of the country. I’m American and my wife is Irish, as are our two boys. We are looking to move to be closer to family but don’t know where to start the process. Our preference would be to buy before we make the move. How should we go about buying while out of the country?
By coincidence, I had just closed a sale for a US buyer moving to Ireland on the day your question arrived. You have a distinct advantage in that your wife is Irish, so she will have an understanding of some of the cultural differences between both countries, and the difference in dynamics of how the market works. I generally find this is the biggest challenge when working with overseas clients.
In property terms, a house is a house and a deal is a deal, but there are fundamental aspects you need to be aware of. For example, buyer representation in the US is commonplace, and the offer, acceptance and disclosure requirements operate differently.
Your first steps should include establishing your budget, deciding how you will pay for the property and deciding on your location and property type. I presume you’ve already made these decisions as a family.
Arranging the finance is most important at this time; bridging finance is generally not available here and most agents will not accept an offer on a “subject-to-sale” basis, particularly if the property is outside of the country. Therefore, I will answer on the assumption that you have finance arranged.
That finance needs to be transferred here, whether it’s a bank account in your name or held in trust by your solicitor. There are significant dollar-euro fluctuations at present, so you’ll need to decide yourself when to make the transfer.
You will certainly need to engage an agent here to act on your behalf. Our basis of property transaction is “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) – in other words, unless asked, there is generally no obligation on a seller to disclose faults with a property and it is up to the buyer to carry out all due diligence, which is done by your solicitor before contracts are exchanged.
While some agents here are exclusively buyers’ agents, most are licensed for sale and purchase and will search and view on your behalf. I have found a collaborative approach is best when carrying out the initial search and that you also look at listings yourselves as there are some nuances you might prefer in some properties over others.
You will also need to engage a solicitor. In its simplest terms, the agent negotiates the deal on your behalf but the solicitor authorises the legalities, and apart from the initial booking deposit all payments for the property go through them. You will also need a surveyor to inspect the property for structural soundness; the agent can usually select one they are familiar with.
Once you’ve found the property and the agent has inspected it, they will advise in relation to bidding. There are several bidding platforms available now; there are online private treaty and auction bidding, timed offers, best and final offers, binding offers, bid by email, and some agents are accepting bids by phone, and so on. Some agents will have a rule that the principal must have viewed the property before an offer will be accepted. This is why I’ve mentioned the cultural difference – the agent here can quickly establish what is a suitable option to pursue and what is not.
There are a number of online resources available, such as myhome.ie, one of the property portals with a dedicated “how to buy a home” section including advice, checklists, podcast and more. Some won’t be relevant to you, but a lot of it is. While these resources are excellent, at the end of the day you will need to find an agent you can work with; finding with right property can take from several weeks to a number of months and closing the sale could take another three to four months after that. Sales can be quicker but these are the exception, so having someone experienced on the ground is essential.
Ed Carey is a residential estate agent and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland
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