Selling

When selling your property you should note the following:

Title Deeds

Your solicitor will need the title deeds to your property as soon as possible. If you have an existing Mortgage, then the Deeds will usually be held by your Mortgage Company. In order that to take up the title deeds yous solicitor will need to be advised of the name of the Mortgage Company and your Mortgage Account Number. Taking care of this essential step as early as possible will allow your solicitor to examine your title, and to take any steps required to ensure an efficient sale transaction.

Planning

If you have carried out any works to the property, e.g. extensions, conversions of the attic/garage etc., you should advise your solicitor of this immediately. You can then discuss with your Solicitor whether any of these works required planning permission or Building Bye Law Approval.

In all such cases, your Solicitor will need copies of the relevant permissions together with a Certificate of Compliance or Exemption from a competent Architect/Engineer. If these documents are not available, your Solicitor will need time to attend to these matters and this could delay the sale of your property.

Contracts

In Ireland, the Contract does not become binding until such time as it has been signed by both the Seller and the Purchaser, the signed Contracts exchanged between their Solicitors and a full deposit paid. Until such time as this has occurred, either party is entitled to withdraw from the transaction. In these circumstances, the full deposit is refundable to the Purchaser. Your Solicitor will advise you when your Contract for sale has become binding.

Martial Status

There are various laws which require that your Solicitor must enquire as to your Marital Status in the course of a property transaction. If you are married, your Solicitor will require a copy of your long form State Marriage Certificate. In addition, if you are divorced, separated, or widowed and remarried, your Solicitor will need a copy of the appropriate certificates and/or court orders where applicable.

Contents

If there are any contents to be included in the contract price or additional to the contract price, you should advise your Solicitor immediately and prepare a list of the items and the agreed value of same.

Please note that since Budget 2008, the contents of residential property are no longer taken into account when calculating stamp duty. It is therefore extremely important that an accurate and bona fide valuation of the contents be performed.

Identity

Please refer to Solicitor's Obligations under the Criminal Justice Act