Buying a House: Buying a house will be the most expensive buy of your life. So before thinking of buying a house, get an engineer, a solicitor and a good estate agent. Everything is money - money - money and more money - all going out - none coming in!
Consider these - hopefully - helpful comments:
Your mortgage.
Best advice - get a broker. Don't bother with your bank - go to the professionals who rely upon good will and recommendation. He will find you the best mortgage and brokers often use the "old palls' Act" to get mortgages with institutions that they have previously dealt the other way round. Mortgages can be tricky with the various alternative choices and the necessities of tax relief, insurance and term length.
How much exactly?
If you guess then you will be wrong. Take as much time and care over the costs of entering this maze as can. It will cost you more than you think as there is always something hidden round the bend. Your solicitor will charge percentage of the house price (1 to 2%); The engineer €500 or so. Add to all these services carpets and furniture, kitchen fittings, and a thousand large and small bits and pieces you haven't thought of yet, and have a king's ransom in the making. If you are not a "lover of money" [2 Timothy 3v 1-5] then you won't regret forking out for things you need, but do not necessarily value!
Do I need a solicitor?
Any one who enters this minefield should think twice if he (or she) is considering doing the deed without a "legal eagle" to look over the paperwork. Ask more than one friend who they used and how they helped. There is no better data to go on than a recommendation with experience to go with it.
Pick the property well.
When considering what to buy and where to buy it, always stretch yourself a little - but not too much. The difference between what you really like and what you will settle for is probably quite considerable NOW, but will be amount to a very small difference in a few years, or months, time. Be happy with what you go for. never mind the persuasion of others as they will forget what they said and may deny ever saying anything negative when they see what a terrific job you make of the property. You have to live with it so choose it passionately.
The Surveyor
Everybody thinks that if the mortgage company says OK to the purchase then all is "on the ball", but this may be far from the truth. A mortgage company are only interested in you repaying the debt and recovering their loss if you do not ropy. An independent survey can help to make sure that you do not buy "a pig in a poke". Little things like rising damp, bad drains, cracked walls, moss, broken slates, mouldy bricks, overhanging trees, broken fences and a whole lot of other "little things" that may cost you a second fortune unless they are sorted BEFORE you sign the contract. So beware - you only get one chance at this!
If the price is OK -beware.
Yes - beware! Because the price is usually plucked out of the air by someone without your interests in mind: The seller, the seller's agent' the sellers solicitor, bank, engineer, grandmother or whoever be cautious. What you want is a pretty fair assessment of the valuation of the property from an objected assessor. It is worth a few bob to get it right unless you are sure the property is a bargain. There are very few bargains about. Check to see if the property has been on the market before - within the year say. More than one person before you may have rejected it.
I am sure the Price is OK!.
Beware that the auctioneer is giving you the attention you deserve or go to another. All an auctioneer wants is to get you and the property off his books so that he can earn the commission and get another one on its way. A mercenary comment, but I am yet to be convinced otherwise. The best advice to any person is summed up by teh saying "the man who defends himself has a fool for a client" - so in this context, get your most trusted agent, solicitor, engineer, who whoever has more bottle than you , to negotiate the price of the property. Make sure you do not mess up your dream house, but get the money side on your side.
Insurance options
Your lovely new house is still not yours if you have a mortgage. The Mortgager will want to protect his investment and so you do too. If you just let the auctioneer, bank, Mortgage Company or other "experienced professional" sort this out for you then you ay pay through the nose. get is first - shop around - get some options - get an insurance company on your side. As far as Insurance is concerned, most mortgage companies will allow you to make alternative proposals for insurance cover if you get in early enough so get on the Internet and ask everybody you find who will do it for you. You will find there are many to help and you will learn a lot about the subject so that the "wool" is not pulled over your eyes. You do not need to be a professor of maths to work out that a 20 year mortgage carrying an annual insurance premium of €300 is a big money spend even after just a few years.
What is a Mortgage protection policy?
I you die during the purchase - sorry about the suggestion, but it does happen, then the last thing you want is to burden your relatives with sorting out the house sale problems. After the sale you then need to make sure that the mortgage can be paid off for death, sickness or accident reasons. So shop around again for the best deal with the most generous provisions. You will be surprised how they vary andyou only get what you pay for. More hard work I know, but it is worth it.
In summary:
Buying a house is a pain - rather, a long list of pains that take a long time to go away and sometimes they never do. In view of this, always keep in mind that you can always rent. True the property never will be yours, but what does it matter. Contentment and peace are what you want and someone else has the responsibility to mend the fences, clean the blocked drains, mend the roof and replace this-that-and-the-other then maybe you might think that - as my old Dad used to say "if you can have the penny AND the bun then take it". By renting you can do this - well nearly so, but any difference is negligible.
