If you’re pondering taking the first step on the property ladder, you may be wondering: where do I even start? There are a few things you should know before you begin, so in this blog post we’ll tell you everything you need to know about buying property in Ireland.
The Basics of Buying Property in Ireland
To make things easy, here’s a quick rundown of the key steps.
Get Your Finances in Place
Find the Right Property
Closing Your Purchase
Financing a Property Purchase in Ireland
In most cases, buying a house means you’ll need a mortgage. This will set your buying budget and can take a while to put in place, so it’s best to get the ball rolling before you start looking at properties.
If you are a First Time Buyer you will need to put down at least 10% of the purchase price upfront. You can do this from your savings or, if you are buying a newly built home, using government grants.
You then need to finance the remaining cost of the property with a mortgage from one of the Irish mortgage lenders. These lenders will look for proof of your ability to repay the loan by analyzing your bank account before giving you what’s known as ‘Approval In Principle’. So it’s really important that you can show you’re saving or paying a rent larger than what your mortgage repayment would be for the six months before applying for your mortgage.
This is where a bunq Savings Account can come in really handy. You can use bunq’s budgeting features to gain valuable insights into your spending patterns, helping you save money effortlessly. On top of that, bunq’s AutoSave feature lets you save a bit of money with each and every payment, and best of all you get 1.56% interest on your growing nest egg. You can see how your bunq Savings Account compares to other savings account options in Ireland here.
Other Things to Consider
Once you have your Approval In Principle (AIP) you are ready to go house hunting. Usually the selling agents will ask for your AIP before letting you view properties. Moreover, they’ll likely favour bids from buyers who already have their AIP in place when deciding which bids to accept.
You will also need to engage a solicitor once your bid is accepted, to help you understand and review the purchase paperwork.
Once you and your solicitor are happy with the paperwork, you will need to draw down your mortgage. Your lender will ask you to arrange mortgage protection and building insurance before releasing the funds to you.
A good mortgage broker will help with sorting the paperwork and selecting the best lender, solicitor and insurance.
Once the funds are in place, you can exchange contracts with the seller and start to look forward to moving into your new home!
Wrapping Up
So, are you ready to start your buying journey? The good news is that with the right financing and a little bit of help from you bunq Savings Account you can start getting mortgage ready straight away.
