Confessions of a Dublin House Hunter

S E A R C H I N G F O R T H E P E R F E C T H O U S E

I N D U B L I N

What arethe bestareas andthose thatyou shouldavoidJ u l y 1 8 , 2 0 1 5

The most

difficult

part

about

buying a

house in

Search

MAP

LEGEND:

> Green

areas

- Ideal

a foreign

country?

Choosing

the

location.

VIEWED PROPERTIES

What are the best areasand those that youshould avoid

Making a bid. Bestpractises and what toavoid.

How hard is it forforeigners to obtain anAIP? Very.

Planning to buy aproperty in need ofrestoration? Here are 2Renovation IncentiveSchemes

Documents needed foran AIP - Approval inPrinciple

Create a spreadsheet ofthe property listings youare interested in

Best Estate Agencies in

Jul 18, 2015

Jul 18, 2015

Jul 16, 2015

Jun 11, 2015

Jun 7, 2015

Jun 1, 2015

location

and / or

wealthiest

areas

> Light

green

areas - Ok

locations

that are

not the

most

recommended or

best

services by

train/LUAS

lines

> Red

areas

- Not

recommended

locations,

because of

crime or

anti-social

behaviour

> Light

red areas -

Less not

recommended

locations:

while not

the best

areas, they

are still

livable

> Blue

diamonds

- Train

stations

Especially in a

counterintuitive city like

Dublin, where the

wealthier areas are not

located in the city

center, but mostly in the

Southeast part of the

city (Ballsbridge,

Sandymount,

Rathmines, Blackrock

etc).

And the worst part?

There is very little

information on the

internet, and

interviewing locals can

provide very discordant

opinions. What

someone might consider

a livable area, others

will consider it pretty

dodgy.

With all the information

I collected, I tried to

create a map which

would include not only a

clear view of all the

Dublin

Questions to ask whenviewing a property

How to choose aMortgage Broker

What are the steps tobuy a property inIreland?

May 22, 2015

May 12, 2015

May 6, 2015

Apr 14, 2015

Searching for the Perfect

House RSS

!

> Red

pushpins

- LUAS red

line

> Green

pushpins -

LUAS

green line

areas of the city, but

also color code them

based on how

'recommended' they

were. Additionally, I

wanted to have a clear

overview of which areas

were serviced by train

and LUAS lines (bus

lines are not included,

as they are very

developed and all areas

are serviced).

This is very much a

'work in progress', and

you can see some grey

areas, which I still

haven't collected

enough information

to label green or red.

Any suggestions or

comments are always

welcome!

This map was created thanks

to Google Maps

IDEAL

AREAS

Rathmines

Ranelagh

Rathgar

OK

AREAS

Crumlin

Kimmeage

Kilmeihn

NOT

SUGGESTED AREAS

Finglas

Blanchardstown

Ballyfermot

Ballsbridge

Sandymount

Blackrock

Ringsend

Smithfield

(apartment)

Stoneybatter (Avoid

area

near

the

military

hospital

or

prison (avoid

left

side)

Phibsboro

Sandyford

(and

all

the

area

around

the

Sandyford

Industrial

Estate)

Glasnevin

Clontarf

Castleknock

Clonsilla

Clonee

Lucan

Ashtown

Cabra

Clondalkin

Tallagh

Inchicore

Rialto

(especially

around

St.

James hospital)

The

Coombe

Cathal Brughal St.

(and the

area

around

it)

Mountjoy

East

Wall

Please take the list of

'Not suggested areas'

very loosely: these are

simply the areas that

have a bad reputation

(which might not be still

true) and that are not

the top locations for

more up-scale

properties. For example,

I personally lived in

Finglas and walked

around East Wall, and

while they are certainly

not as pretty as

Rathmines or

Ballsbridge, they do

have quite nice areas

too.

Another thing to

consider is that the

perception of

'dodginess' varies from

person to person; I'll

always remember a

friend describing the

area where they live in

Ballyfermot: for Irish

standards it might be

'rough', but for

Brazilian standards it's

fine.

While not listed,

Swords, Malahide, Bray

etc are also great

areas to look for a

property, if you don't

mind a longer commute

to the city center.

If you find a property

that you like, the best

advice that I can give

you is:

Ask your friendswho live in thearea (or who's

friend of afriend lives there)what they think ofit and if there are

any streets youshould avoid.

Try to ask a coupleof questions to

your newneighbors or

people who youfind strolling in the

area.

Call the localGarda to ask

about crime rates,break-ins etc, andpost on Boards.ie

to ask for thecommunity's

opinion.

The first and second

houses I made an offer

on, were located in the

Dunsink area, Finglas. I

visited the area multiple

times during the day,

and while some streets

were more littered than

others, most of the

houses were very nice,

well kept and had

children playing in

front.

I had also talked with

one of my possible

future neighbors and he

had told me that the

street where I wanted to

buy the house was fine..

however the one

right below was pretty

rough, with 'drug'

problems (I'm not sure

if he meant drug dealing

or drug using.. but I

guess they go hand-in-

hand).

By coincidence a friend

had just bought a house

in Finglas too, and I

asked him what he

though of the area. He

gave me his honest

opinion and suggested

that I avoid it because

of criminal and anti-

social behaviour.

To be sure I wasn't

giving up an

opportunity, I also asked

a couple of more people

(with the same result),

and I called the local

Garda station for more

information on the

street where I wanted to

buy a house. This is

what the Guarda told

me:

“The area [Dunsink

area] is full of

criminal and anti-

social behaviour.

There are also some

travellers. I wouldn’t

personally live there.

”

— Garda officer

I also posted on the

Boards.ie community

(this is the thread), and I

received even more

honest opinions. My

favorite part is this:

In Foreigners in Ireland,

Dublin areas, Good vs

Bad areas

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0 Likes

Needless to say, I didn't

buy the property in

Dunsink Drive.

I'll be working to

include all the areas that

I have not listed and on

updating the map with

all the suggestions you'd

like to give me.

A couple of great articles

on this subject are:

Attention House Hunters:

These are the areas leading

Dublin's next property boom

There are just 3,000

properties for sale in the

capital with Dublin 15 the

most popular

[Italian] Dublino pericolosa?

Le zone da evitare

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Making abid. Bestpractisesand what toavoid.J u l y 1 8 , 2 0 1 5

Currently, the trend

when buying a house in

Ireland is that the prices

will go above the asking

1. Witha trendforpricesto goaboveaskingpricesdon’tbotherwithplacesthatarerighton thecusp ofwhatyoucanafford.

price, thanks to offers

coming from multiple

bidders. It’s very similar

to an auction, the estate

agents do their best to

drive the price up and

attract as many bidders

as possible… the only

difference with an

auction is that the estate

agents pretend it isn’t

and you need to send in

your offers by email.

My first attempts at

bidding are fairly cringe

worthy. I learned as I

went what mistakes to

avoid, which might help

you when you bid on a

property yourself.

The first

house we

made a

bid on

was a

property

in

Dunsink

2. BidFastand BidLow. Afirst bidbelowtheaskingpricewill killmomentum

beforethingshaveevenstarted,and theotherbidderswilltend tobemorereluctanttomoveup(bidderstend tomimiconeanother'sbehaviour).If yougostraightin with€10,000abovetheaskingprice,you'llonlyexcitetheopposition

Green, Finglas. 154

square meters, 4

bedrooms, 2 bathrooms

and an extension which

we could convert to a

studio apartment.

You can tell we were

very excited about this

property, it had so much

potential! We also

visited the area multiple

times and it seemed fine

(more on THAT

cluelessness in this

post).

The asking price was

€175,000. We offered

that right away. (2^

MISTAKE)

The estate agent, from

GUNNE, was very nice,

and he organized a

viewing just for us so

that my boyfriend could

view the house after we

had made the offer.

andleadthem tobelievethehouseis worthmore.

However, by that time

there were already 2

other bidders and the

counteroffer had risen

to €191,000.

In the

following

days

there was

a frenzy

of

bidding..

for which

we were

partially

to blame.

To every

counter

bid we

received,

we upped

by

€1,000.

Our

thinking

was to

exhaust

the other

bidders,

by being

the ones

that stay

the

longest,

and still

have a

chance to

3. Ifyoucounterbid,pretendit’s alike apunch:makesureyourintendedtargetgetsknockedout. €1,000sums create adynamicthatcanoftenendabovewherethingswouldhavesettledif youhad

keep the

price

down.

(3^

MISTAKE)

We would

receive

an email

from the

GUNNE

estate

agent,

and we

would

reply

right

away

with our

counter

bid, two

or three

times a

day. In a

couple of

days the

price

goneup by€5,000in thefirstplace.

4. Tryto slowdownanycounterbiddingprocess.Don’tevermakemorethanonecounterbidin aday:avoidgettinginto a'fastbid'situation.Whippingup astorm isanestateagent

speciality,don’tgetcaughtup in it.You’llalwayspay topdollarbylettingthathappenand ifyoulose, itjustraisesthepriceotherpropertiesin thearea,whichmay beyour“planB”.

5.Knowyourupperlimit,getting

had skyrocketed to

€206,000. (4^ and 5^

MISTAKE)

When the agent came

back with another

counter offer to

€209,000, we finally

opened our eyes to what

we were doing. That was

way over the budget we

had in mind for this

house: my boyfriend is

quite

knowledgeable about

house renovations, so

after his visit, he told

me that we’d need to

completely re-wire the

house, replace the

heating system and

probably have to

reinforce the first floor.

There were other

over-extendedon apurchaseis amistake,knowwhentoacceptyouhavelost.

smaller renovation too:

the master bedroom

bathroom was covered

in mold and the tiles in

the family bathroom

were unglued.

And of course, there was

the renovation of the

extension in a studio

apartment.

After that last counter

offer, we decided to

withdraw.

The

second

house we

decided

to make a

bid on

was still

in the

Dunsink

area (in

Finglas).

While it

does need

quite

some

work, it

had

6. Thevendor'sestateagentis notyourfriend:their jobis toget theabsolutemostmoneyout ofyou onbehalf

potential:

3

bedrooms, 1 bathroom,

no need to re-wire it, or

replace entirely the

heating system.

Furthermore, we already

liked the area (I know, I

know.. as I said, I was

clueless).

The best part of all, was

the asking price

€120,000. With such a

low asking price, and

with the inevitable

counter

offers (especially since

there were already 2

bidders) we thought

that, this time, we could

stay under our budget

and get a Sale Agreed.

of theirclientand onbehalfof theirbusiness,whichgets abiggerfee thehighersalepricetheyachieve.

On the same road there

is also a second house

on sale, which

was priced at €140,000. I

had already visited that

house, and it seemed

like it needed much

more work than this

one. So, of course, I was

very excited during the

viewing.. and I chatted

with the estate agent

about the other house.

Whenever I think of that

conversation I still want

to facepalm.

I told the estate agent

that this house was a

great deal, because the

asking price for the

other house was higher

and there was even an

offer of €150,000. And,

of course, I told him that

this house was in better

condition than the other

one.

Pretty much, I gave the

estate agent all the

possible reasons to try

to raise the price of this

house to €150,000 too.

(6^ MISTAKE)

The last

we heard

form the

estate

agent was

on

Monday

Jily 11th,

when we

raised our

offer to

€138,000.

Since

then, I’ve

called

three

times on

the estate

agent’s

mobile,

left

7.One weekisenoughtowait. It’sworthwhilefor avendorand their estateagenttostretchout adeal inordertoattractmorebuyers,however,sevendays ismore thanenoughfor avendorto organise asolicitorandsort outcontractswithyou.Be

a message in their office

and sent them an

email.. and I STILL

haven’t received a reply

or an update. Not very

professional of REMAX

estate agents.

While we were waiting

to hear from REMAX, we

thought that we might

as well make an offer on

the other house in that

same street. Since it was

obvious that REMAX was

bidding their time in the

hopes to raise the price

(thanks also to the very

useful information I

provided them), this

seemed like a good

insurance policy to get

at least one house.

awarethat,withthepricesgoingup,everyday youwait iscostingyoumoney.

So we made an offer on

our third house (of

€150,000). I think this

was the first right thing

we did: it's always best

not to focus too much on

one property.

8. Make offers onmultipleproperties. Thisway you are risingthe odds that you’llwin the bidding onone of thoseproperties. And, atthe same time, youkeep your hopesup... avoiding theutter and crushingdisappointmentwhen you lose thehouse you focusedall your hopes on. Also, estate agentssmell hope likesharks, and takeadvantage of yourfixation with thatparticular house.

Oddly enough, we won

the bidding for the third

house we made an offer

on, but, by the time it

took the estate agent to

let us know that, we had

already realized what an

ill conceived idea it was

to buy a property in

Dunsink.

The lack

of

professionalism shown

by REMAX, also led us to

withdraw our offer

there. If this is how

seriously their treat

their buyers, what’s not

to prevent them from

9. Ifyoueversuspecttheestateagentorsellerisn’tbeingtotallyupfront,walkaway ifyoucan.Don’tdodealswithpeopleyoudon’ttrust.

gazumping.

The

fourth

house we

made an

offer on

(although

I suspect

it won’t

be the

last), is in

Finglas

north, 2

bedrooms, 2 bathrooms

and a nice open floor

kitchen-living room

ground floor. It’s also in

a very nice area of

Finglas (quiet, settled

street, and near the

Garda station).

10. Puttimelineson yourbidsandstick tothem. Ifyoumakean offerthat isonlygoodfor 48hoursandrequiresa “yes”or “no”answer,thenstick tothattimeline.

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How hard isit forforeignersto obtain an

I was a bit anxious and I

called letting the estate

agent know that we were

seriously interested in

the property, even

before viewing it. The

day after the viewing we

made an offer of

€145,000, with would

have been the correct

approach, hadn’t there

been already another

offer of €150,000.

With this property we’d

like to try a different

approach: we’d like to

state upfront that we are

looking for a fast

sale (within one week),

and to try ‘punching’ bid

of €5,000. I'll let you

know how that goes!

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AIP? Very.J u l y 1 6 , 2 0 1 5

This is my experience of

trying to obtain

a mortgage Approval in

Principle with an Irish

lender. At the

beginning, we were

considering buying a

property in the range of

€200,000 and €250,000,

where our LTV ratio

would have been of the

50% - 40%.

After these wonderful 6

MONTHS of trying to

obtain an AIP, we are

looking at properties in

the range of maximum

€150,000.

Let's start at the

beginning. We started

our search for a house

the last week of

January. That's the

week I researched how

buying a house works in

Ireland, and started

contacting a list of

mortgage brokers I had

put together.

From the three

mortgage brokers we

spoke with, we selected

Frank Lenny Financial

Services, who assured us

that he'd help us have

an AIP for €150,000 in

7-10 business days after

we had collected all the

documentation.

While our case was

fairly unusual (my

boyfriend still resides

and works abroad), the

mortgage broker was

confident that our great

credit and

savings history, LTV

ratio (40%) and

professional and stable

employment, would

allow us to easily obtain

an AIP.

First delay? The

mortgage broker told me

that if I opened a bank

account in Ireland,

that could serve as my

Proof of Address. What

he omitted to mention is

that, to open a bank

account I would need to

already have a Proof of

Address. That meant

waiting a couple more

weeks, to procure a

Proof of Address.

After we had all the

documentation, they

submitted our request

to KBC Bank on April

10th.

On April 27th, we

received a 'reply' from

the bank: more

questions regarding our

application.

Finally, on May 6th, we

received the final

verdict: our mortgage

request was declined

because my boyfriend

lives abroad. Not for any

other reason.. Just

because he's a non-

resident.

I sincerely believe that

our mortgage broker was

genuinely surprised by

this result. While he had

been thorough, until

that moment he hadn't

put that much

personal effort into our

application. We agreed

to see how two informal

meetings with other two

lenders would turn out.

On May 13th, we

received a further

decline from Ulster

Bank.

Our mortgage broker

then submitted an

appeal to KBC Bank:

both he and his KBC

consultant were

convinced of the solidity

of our case. On the 27th

we received the last and

final decline from KBC.

On June 9th, our

mortgage broker

submitted a mortgage

application to PTSB

for €100,000 (we were

hoping that a

lower request for

capital, would make the

lender more inclined to

approve us). PTSB came

back on the 11th with

additional questions.

On June 22nd, we finally

received a reply from

PSTB regarding our

mortgage... which said

that they'll consider it

only if we can provide at

least three months of an

Irish bank statement.

Luckily for us, I had

opened an Irish Bank

account at the

beginning of May

(against the mortgage

broker's suggestion,

who advised me to

wait).

That brings us to

August, 2015. When

we'll need to submit all

the documentation

again, from scratch, to

PTSB. If we proceed with

this, we'll probably

lower our request

further to €75,000 or

€50,000, as this is our

last chance for an AIP.

In the meantime, prices

have risen and there are

less and less desirable

properties for €150,000.

So, after these past 6

months, my question is:

Why would Iborrow moneyfrom an Irish

bank?

They don't seem

inclined to see the

merits in our

application, or suggest

alternative amounts

they would be willing to

lend us.

At this point, we are

very much inclined

towards borrowing

the amount we

In Approval in Principle,

Foreigners in Ireland,

Mortgage Broker

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Planning tobuy aproperty inneed ofrestoration?Here are 2Renovation

need from an Italian

bank. We've already

inquired with one, and

they have confirmed

that they would approve

a loan.

I'm sure that getting an

AIP would be easier if

both parties were

resident in Ireland... or

Irish, so this is just my

personal, awful, never-

ending and patience-

trying experience.

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IncentiveSchemesJ u n e 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

If you are planning to

buy a property in need of

some renovation, you

may want to check the

following two schemes,

which will help you save

some money.

HOME RENOVATION

INCENTIVE SCHEME

The Home Renovation

Incentive Scheme,

which runs until the end

of this year for

Homeowners and

Landlords (31 December

2015), provides an

income tax credit of

13,5% for those who

spend between €4,405

(before VAT) - €30,000

(before VAT) on home

renovations and

remodelling.

Work like extensions,

window fitting,

plumbing, tiling and

plastering all fall under

the scheme (see here for

a full list of works that

qualify). As the scheme

is intended to help

tackle the issue of

unlicensed builders, the

rebate is granted to

homeowners who hire

tax-compliant

professionals.

This is a brief checklist

of the steps to follow if

you plan to apply to this

scheme:

Ensure that you

have paid or

arranged to pay

any Local Property

Tax (LPT) or

Household Charge

that is due

Check that your

contractor has a

VAT number and is

tax-compliant –

see Revenue’s

FAQs for details of

the proof required

Ensure that the

work qualifies –

see 'Qualifying

work' above

Keep all

supporting

documentation –

tax clearance

certificates,

estimates, receipts

etc.

Give the

contractor the LPT

Property ID of your

property

but not your PIN or

PPSN

As a note, where there

are joint owners and

only some of the owners

pay tax, the tax credit

can be claimed by those

paying tax based on

qualifying expenditure

incurred by them.

BETTER ENERGY

HOMES SCHEME

Better Energy Homes is

a Government scheme

which gives fixed cash

grants for insulation and

heating system

upgrades, helping to

make your home more

comfortable and cheaper

to run. It is available to

all owners of homes

built before

2006 (homes built from

2006 onwards don't

apply because should

have been constructed

to the 2003 Building

Regulations and so

should not require

significant insulations

or heating system

upgrades).

Homeowners may avail

of both the Home

Renovation Incentive

(HRI) and Better Energy

Homes when upgrading

their home.

Where a home is

availing of Better Energy

Homes and Home

Renovation Incentive

the applicant must

deduct three times the

Better Energy Homes

grant value from the

Home Renovation

Incentive qualifying

expenditure. Note: all

Better Energy grant-

related expenditure can

count towards meeting

the €5,000 minimum

threshold.

Here's a breakdown of

the grants:

Grant Approval from

SEAI must be in place

prior to any purchase of

In Foreigners in Ireland,

Renovating a property,

Incentive schemes

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Documents

materials or

commencement of

works is undertaken,

and all works must be

completed by a

contractor from SEAI’s

Registered List.

The grant offer is valid

for a six month

period. All works and

the BER must be carried

out within this

timeframe. Note that all

the paper work must

also be submitted prior

to the six month expiry

date. Paperwork

received after the six

month expiry date will

be declined and a grant

will not be paid even if

the work has been

carried out within the 6

month time period.

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needed foran AIP -Approval inPrincipleJ u n e 7 , 2 0 1 5

If you apply for an

Approval in Principle,

there are some

considerations to keep

in mind when preparing

all the documentation.

1 - All the parties that

contribute to the

purchase of a house will

need to present the list

of documents

mentioned at the end of

the post, and be

included in the

mortgage. For example,

if you are buying a house

with your partner and

you are pooling together

your resources to reach

the necessary deposit,

both of your names will

need to appear on the

mortgage application,

and hence each of you

will need to provide the

respective

documentation.

This doesn't

sound counterintuitive,

however, let's say that

you want to buy a house

with the help of your

parents (who, in this

scenario, live abroad, as

you are a foreigner in

Ireland). In that case

your parents would need

to transfer their share of

the money directly in

your bank account as a

'parental gift', hence

paying any taxes related

to such a gift of money.

If they didn't proceed as

such, the bank would

require that they be

added to the mortgage

as co-applicants, and

thus, your application

would be complicated by

the fact that a party in

your mortgage

application resides and

works abroad.

Banks are already very

wary of applications

from foreigners, as they

present a higher 'flight'

risk in case they can't

satisfy the mortgage

repayments. Having one

of the applicants reside

abroad, complicates

further the application

as it presents an even

higher risk for the

banks: if the mortgage

repayments were not

paid, it would be harder

for them to reach the

party which resides

abroad for

compensation.

What would happen if

your partner currently

resides abroad, but you

would still like to pool

your money together for

the house deposit? This

is an even more

complicated situation

because (unless you are

married), you won't be

able to transfer money

as a 'spouse / parental

gift'. They would still be

able to 'gift' you that

money, however, that

will require higher tax

fines which in some

countries can reach 20%

of the money donated.

Also, if your partner

transferred their share

of the money to you

without making a 'gift'

(and hence paying the

respective taxes

associated with that),

and only you applied for

the mortgage (as to

avoid the penalty caused

by one party living

abroad), the bank would

find the 'source' of the

money through a credit

check and they

wouldn't approve the

mortgage unless the

source's name was on

the application too.

The reasoning behind

this is that if you can't

pay the mortgage and

the bank is forced to sell

the house to recoup its

losses, they might have

difficulties doing so

because your partner

might oppose them:

they might say that,

since they invested in

the property (by giving

part of the deposit),

they are part owners and

won't allow the sale of

their 'part' of the house.

2 - Any time you apply

for a mortgage AIP with

a bank, other banks can

see the credit search

performed on you. If a

bank declines your

application, others will

see that a credit search

was performed, this will

most likely lead them to

deduce that a previous

bank has declined your

AIP, and, hence, it will

be more difficult to

receive an AIP from

other lenders.

This is where the

Mortgage Broker comes

into play, as they have

contacts in each bank

and they can have

informal meetings to

gauge the interest of

each lender towards

your application. I

personally suggest

Frank Lenny as a

Mortgage Broker, as

he's been very dedicated

to helping us with our

AIP.

LIST OFDOCUMENTS FORAN AIP

1 - Salary Certificate

(obtainable from your

employer) - If you are

applying for an AIP

through a Mortgage

Broker, they'll provide

you with a Salary

Certificate form, that

you can ask your

employer to fill out. In

case your company

doesn't have an official

seal, remember to also

ask them for a

statement clarifying

that (an email from the

person who has signed

the Salary Certificate

will suffice).

2 - Payslips (usually 3

most recent payslips)

3 - Most recent

P60 (obtainable from

your employer)

4 - Loan statements (if

you have any current

loans)

5 - Savings Records

6 - Photo ID (es:

passport)

7 - Current Account

Statement - If you don't

have an account with an

Irish bank, open one as

soon as possible. The

lender will put much

more value on an Irish

Current Account

Statement / Savings

Records (which should

be minimum 3 months,

and preferably 6

months), than a

statement from a

foreign bank.

8 - Visa Card

Statements

9 - Utility Bill or any

Tax document (for

proof of address) - This

is one of the documents

that might take you the

longest to prepare. If

you are renting a

property and especially

if you have moved since

you initially registered

for your PPS number,

you will need to have a

'government official'

document that proves

where you live.

Only the current owner

of the utility bills can

change / add a name to

the bill, and this

sometimes involves

cancelling that account

and opening a new one

in your name. For

example, for Electric

Ireland bills, the current

owner would need to

close their account and

then you would need to

open one in your name.

While to add a second

name to your UPC bill,

you would need to have

the current owner do it

for you, or have them

next to you when you

call their customer

service.

“UPC Operator:

I would like to advise

that in order to add a

name to the account

we will need consent

from both parties.

This can be done two

ways:

- A letter with both

signatures stating you

both confirm consent

to be co-responsible

for the account and

the charges associated

with it.

- A phone call with

both parties present

to confirm that you

both consent to be co-

responsible for the

account and the

charges associated

with it.

”

— Response from the

UPC Customer Service

when I inquired on

changing the name on

the bill

In Foreigners in Ireland,

Mortgage Broker, Steps

to buy, Approval in

Principle

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Create aspreadsheetof thepropertylistings youare

Another option (far

easier, but likewise

lengthy), would be to

update the information

on your Tax forms, and

ask for a P21 Balancing

Stament or an Amended

Tax Credits Certificate.

You can request these

documents online by

opening your 'PAYE

Anytime' account, and it

might take a minimum

from one week to 10

days to receive them.

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interested inJ u n e 1 , 2 0 1 5

Creating a spreadsheet

of all the property

listings you are

interested in, has

several advantages:

- It allows you to keep

track of all the

properties you like and

add personal notes

- You can filter the

listings according to

personal

parameters (area, price,

square meters etc.)

- Other people can have

access to it and edit it

with new listings and

notes

What parameters

should you use?

Status of the

property ('On

sale', 'Sale

agreed', 'Exluded',

'Not available' etc)

Address

Area ('Clonsilla',

'Finglas',

'Rathmines' etc.)

Type of Area ('Red

Zone', 'Light red

Zone', ' Green

Zone' etc. See this

post on the nice

vs bad zones in

Dublin)

Sale Price

Square meters

Price per square

meter (Sale Price /

Square meters)

Nr. of Bedrooms

Nr. of Bathrooms

Original price (if

indicated on the

site)

BER rating (A1, A2,

A3, B1, B2, B3, etc.)

Distance from

work in minutes

(0=>10, 10=>20,

20=>30 etc.)

Public

transportation

options (Bus,

Train, Luas, Bus +

Train, Bus +

Luas, etc.)

Listing link

Type or property

('Terraced',

'Semi-detached',

'Apartment', 'End

of Terrace',

'Duplex' etc)

Viewed (Yes / No)

Notes on the

property

Estate Agency

Estate Agent

address / phone

In Dublin areas, Steps to

buy, Viewing a property

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Best Estate

Spreadsheet example

A great (and free) tool

for creating

spreadsheets is Google

Spreadsheets, with

which the above

spreadsheet was

created. You can create

dropdown menus, filter

the results, color code

the listings (es: red

for particularly

interesting properties or

blue for those you have

already viewed) and

work on the same sheet

with multiple other

people, at the same

time.

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Agencies inDublinM a y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5

What most surprised

me about the Irish

property market, is that

the majority of Estate

Agencies are 'seller's

agents'. They work

exclusively for the

sellers, promoting their

properties and

brokering the sale,

however, they don't

assist buyers in finding a

property.

A quick internet search

shows that there are

only three buyer's

agencies, which assist

buyers in finding a

property:

- BuyersAgents.ie

- BuyersBroker.ie

- SCKgroup.ie

While according to the

Estate Agents list on

MyHome.ie, there are

currently 335 Estate

Agen's offices in Dublin.

It is true though that

some of those are

subsidiaries of the same

Estate Agency, for

example, Sherry

Fitzgerald has 20

offices, while DNG 13.

Two great sites that pull

together properties

from different agencies

are MyHome.ie and

Daft.ie.

Daft.ie supports a very

customizable search,

which allows users to

considerably narrow

down the results to what

they are truly looking

for, and also presents

the options to only see

properties that have

upcoming viewings.

MyHome.ie presents the

properties with a clearer

format and it has the

option to view the

properties 'on view'

divided per day and per

hour.

While those two

websites are great, it's

always best to monitor

the individual Estate

Agencies' sites too: the

information presented

will be the most updated

and accurate.

Furthermore, estate

In Foreigners in Ireland,

Irish property market,

Estate agent

agents are more likely to

call you back if you

contact them through

their site.

Here's a list of the best

Estate Agencies in

Dublin, based on my

experience and

research:

DNG -

http://www.dng.ie/

SHERRY FITZGERALD

- http://www.sherryfitz.ie/

HOOKE & MACDONALD

- http://www.hookemacdonald.ie/

WILSON & MOORE

- http://www.wilsonmoore.ie/

CASTLE ESTATE AGENTS

- http://www.castles.ie/

SAVILLS

- http://www.savills.ie/

RAY COOKE

AUCTIONEERS

- http://www.raycooke.ie/

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Questionsto ask whenviewing apropertyM a y 1 2 , 2 0 1 5

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Each property is unique,

so the set of questions

you'll want to ask will be

personalized to each

case. To start, however,

this is a list of questions

you might be interested

in asking. You'll find

many lists on the

internet, and, for

example, this is a great

checklist from the

'Competition and

Consumer Help

Protection'.

Please remember that

the Estate Agent is

working for the seller

and that you might need

to contact the Agency

itself for more detailed

information regarding

the property.

1. - Are there any

current offers? Has

there been much

interest in the

property?

While the asking price

might match your

budget, there might be

current offers by other

potential buyers like

yourself. Don't let this

discourage you, the

seller might not accept

the highest offer if the

buyer's situation is not

stable. If your offer is

lower, but you can

deliver for sure (and you

already have a Bank

Approval in Principle),

you might be the best

candidate.

2. - What is included in

the price (es:

furniture)?

If a house's asking price

already borders your

budget, be sure to know

if there are other

possible expenditures to

consider too: the

furniture displayed in

the house might not be

included in the price.

Some sellers even go as

far as to rent

the furniture displayed,

as to make the best

impression on the

buyers.

However, if the

furniture is not rented,

you can always contract

with the seller to include

it in the price or how

much it would cost.

3. - How flexible is the

seller in the asking

price? What is the

minimum price the

seller is willing to

accept?

You might find that the

seller is actually a bank

and that the minimum

price is non-negotiable.

In other instances, you

might find out that the

property was previous

Sale Agreed and that it

fell through; this gives

you a better idea of the

seller's urgency in

selling.

4. - How did the agent

decide the asking price?

Are many other

properties in the area

with the same price?

This would allow you to

understand if the

property is within the

average price in that

area, or if there is

something unique about

this property that

justifies the price.

5. - How long has the

property been on the

market? How long has

it been vacant?

Especially for foreign

buyers who are not

familiar with the various

areas of Dublin, if a

property has been long

on the market, that is

certainly a sign that

there is something un-

appealing about the area

or with the property

itself (particularly

nowadays, when new

properties on the

market are snatched as

soon as possible). To

clarify, the area itself

might not be bad per

se, but it could be that

it's not one of the 'in'

areas where to shop for

properties.

6. - When was it built?

How long have the

owners lived in it? Has

it changed hands / been

rented?

As the Estate Agent will

never tell you if there is

anything wrong with the

property, there is no

harm in speculating on

how the property might

have been 'treated'. If

the property was owner

occupied and it hasn't

changed hands, the

probability that it was

cared for, is higher than

if it was rented out and

changed hands multiple

times.

I, personally, would

prefer to live in a newer

house as I wouldn't

want to budget potential

structural damages

because of the age of the

house, however, if you

are looking for a period

house, knowing if it

changed hands often is

an even more critical

element to know how it

was cared for.

7. - Are the sellers

trading up or down

(why are they leaving)?

When do they want to

close?

Not only this will let you

glimpse whether the

owners want to close the

sale quickly, but it will

also let you know how

long you'll have to wait

for them to move out.

Furthermore, if they are

trading up and they are

waiting to sell their

current property in

order to buy a bigger

one, then they might be

less flexible in the

price.

8. - How much are the

utility bills? Can they

explain the energy

certificate?

If the energy certificate

is not listed in the

property advertisement,

be sure to ask for it:

older houses might have

lower energy

certificates, which not

only imply higher bills

but also possible

renovation costs.

9. - How is the

neighbourhood? Is it

mainly rented or owner

occupied?

Depending on the

reasons you are looking

to buy a property, you'll

want to know whether it

would be easy to let it or

whether it's a quiet

neighbourhood with few

wild student parties

(owner occupied areas

are more likely to be

family-friendly).

10. - Have there been

any redecorations? How

is the house heated /

insulated?

This is also a great

question to understand

if the house plan has

been changed since the

construction and which

areas of the property

need more careful

inspection.

11. - What is the annual

service charge?

Especially for apartment

complexes, the service

charge might be a very

relevant expense in your

annual budget.

Depending on how

central the area is, the

service charge can be

from €350 to €1300, if

not more.

12. - Is the Owners'

Management Company

(OMC) fully set up and

financed?

Owners' Management

Companies are

responsible for the

maintenance of

communal areas and

shared services within

multi-unit

developments, such as

apartment blocks or

In Foreigners in Ireland,

Viewing a property

housing estates. For

example, the company

may be responsible for

the maintenance of

halls, corridors, lifts,

public lighting,

footpaths, gardens and

waste services. When

buying a property in an

apartment complex,

you'll want to be sure

that such institution is

in place and working

smoothly.

13. - Can you speak

with the sellers?

Most of the sellers are

people like you, who

would reply to your

questions with answers

that estate agents might

consider shockingly

honest. This also allows

you to have a better feel

of the house, getting to

know its best and worst

points.

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