Thinking about buying or selling a property?

This step-by-step guide by a builder-and-property-developer-turned-solicitor will help you avoid costly mistakes and ensure a sound investment.

Terry Gorry has bought and sold property in Ireland since 1986--all types of property including residential and commercial. He has been an investor and hands-on developer. He is now a practicing solicitor with his own solicitor's practice in Enfield, Co. Meath.

What you will learn:

• Why the author is the only solicitor in Ireland with a teleporter licence, and why you benefit.
• Getting started--finding the right property and how to avoid a bad one.
• Where to find your property, and the problem with repossessed properties.
• What to be wary of at auction. How to deal with the auctioneer and negotiate the best price.
• The problem with buying with a friend.
• Rent or buy?
• How to use the internet for research and where to find the actual purchase prices of property in Ireland.
• Mortgages, and the new Central Bank regulations in relation to deposits.
• The types of mortgage and the difference between a mortgage and charge.
• Self-build houses and stage payment mortgages--how they work in practice.
• The fees to expect in buying your house. What you need to know about planning issues and your new home.
• The critical importance of a structural survey and why it may save you a fortune.
• The problem with pyrite, and how to easily avoid it.
• What your surveyor needs to look out for.
• Critical questions about planning permission, building regulations, and compliance certificates.
• What is conveyancing and what are the stages in a conveyance?
• The two types of registration of property ownership in Ireland.
• The significance of a "family home" and what a family home is.
• The different types of ownership and why you need to be crystal clear about the differences.
• The practical effect of "caveat emptor" when buying a house in Ireland.
• Why buying an apartment is different from buying a house.
• Why buying a new property is different from secondhand property.
• The most important thing that you as a buyer must do before signing the contract.
• What the vendor’s solicitor does.
• What the purchaser’s solicitor does.
• The most important thing a purchaser should do before agreeing to buy.
• Can a solicitor act for both parties?
• A comprehensive checklist for vendors.
• A comprehensive checklist for purchasers.
• What is marketable title and why it is so important.
• What is the certificate of title system and why it is important for your protection.
• Bonus chapter: selling your house and how to generate kerb appeal and get the best price for your house.

Terry Gorry provides a practical guide to buying a house in Ireland and draws on his experience as a builder, property developer, and solicitor.

Updated August 2020 to include help-to-buy relief, statements made outside the contract, deed of confirmation for gifts, how to negotiate successfully, buying in Ireland from abroad, buying for cash, and what happens on closing day.

Updated September 2022 to include new content:

• Exempt developments
• First home scheme support
• BCMS
• Attic conversions
• Timing of your payments and outlays when purchasing
• Two common mistakes I see buyers make
• Nightmare auction purchases
• What happens when a sale does not complete
• Buying property for cash-the advantages
• Property boundaries
• Buying a rural site or derelict dwelling
• Selling your home: four things you must have in order
• Step by step through the process of buying
• Capital gains tax on property