Selling Property

Beginning the process

The first step in selling your property is to liaise with local Estate Agents who will provide you with proposals for possible listing prices for your property based on their knowledge of the local market.

Once you have identified a selling agent you want to proceed with, it will be necessary to locate the title deeds to the property. You may hold these deeds yourself or possibly have same in safe keeping with the solicitor who acted in your purchase.

If there is an existing mortgage/charge on the property, your title deeds will most likely be held by the lender that provided the mortgage. Your solicitor will arrange to obtain the title deeds from your lender on Accountable Trust Receipt pending completion of the sale and discharge of the balance of the mortgage on the property. The bank will usually charge an administration fee for releasing the title deeds (€67.00 -€150.00) and this may take up to 6 weeks.

Your reasons for selling your property can be varied, and it is important to advise your selling agent and solicitor if you require an expedited listing for sale to closing timeframe. From a conveyancing perspective sale of residential property can take upward of 7 weeks from the date the Sales Advice Note issues from your selling agent to your solicitor.

When a satisfactory offer has been received and the booking deposit paid the selling agent will forward a Sale Advice Note to your solicitor. The Sale Advice Note will outline the purchase price, the property addresses the address of the purchaser’s solicitor, together with any agreed conditions such as timelines for return of signed contracts, or confirmation the sale is agreed strictly subject to the purchaser’s structural survey.

Contract for Sale

Once your solicitor has received the title deeds he/she will investigate title and identify any documents that need to be updated (BER Certificates, Local Property Tax etc.). Your solicitor may also provide you with a pre-sale questionnaire which will outline the level of detail about the property that will be required for preparing Replies to Requisitions on Title, and special conditions that may need to be included in the Contract for Sale.

If you have made any alterations to the property since you acquired it, your solicitor may request that you engage and Architect or Engineer to prepare Certificates of Compliance and/or Certificates of Exemption for the works.

If your title is unregistered (Registry of Deeds title) your solicitor will request that you engage a mapping engineer to provide a Tailte Eireann first registration compliant map, and in certain circumstances may also request that you get a declaration of identity for the property, if the historical maps for your property are unclear or ambiguous.

Once they are in receipt of the required responses and supporting documentation your solicitor will proceed to draft the Contracts for Sale and Replies to Requisitions on Title and prepare copies of the vouching title deeds.

The contracts will then be sent to the purchaser’s solicitor for their review, and should any matters require clarification, or negotiation, this will be done via pre contract enquiries (Please see our page on purchasing a property for more information).

When the purchaser’s solicitor is satisfied with the contracts and special conditions contained therein, they will arrange for the purchaser to sign and return them to your solicitor together with the deposit. The deposit is usually 10% of the purchase price less any booking deposit paid to the selling agent.

Your solicitor will confirm receipt of the balance contract deposit and liaise with you to arrange an appointment for you to countersign the contract. Please note that there is no binding contract in place until the deposit has been paid and accepted and both the purchaser and the vendor have signed the contract, and until that date of exchange, either party is entitled to walk away from the sale.

Preparing for Closing

Your solicitor will prepare the closing documents that will be required to complete the sale. This includes but is not limited to statutory declarations, affidavits of fact, company secretary certificates, and undertakings to provide information post completion (as applicable). It is a matter for the purchaser’s solicitor to prepare the purchase deed, and your solicitor will review and approve same for execution in advance of completion.

Your solicitor will also prepare a completion statement for the purchaser’s solicitor outlining the funds required to be transferred to their client account for completion. This statement will also include reference to apportionment of Local Property Tax and Service Charges as applicable.

Your solicitor will arrange for you to attend their offices to execute the closing documentation in advance of the completion date, to allow for the documentation to be forwarded to the purchaser’s solicitor in trust for review and approval prior to completion. This documentation is usually held until confirmation has been received from the purchaser’s solicitor that the completion monies have been transferred by the purchaser’s solicitor, or until funds have appeared in your solicitor’s client account.

Redeeming your existing mortgage

In advance of completion your solicitor will write to your lender to obtain redemption figures to i.e. to ascertain the outstanding balance on your existing mortgage. Your solicitor will undertake with the lender and the purchaser’s solicitor to arrange to discharge this mortgage from the purchase funds so that the purchaser will obtain a clear title.

Closing

On the closing date the purchaser’s solicitor will confirm that the closing documentation is in order, and your solicitor will confirm that the completion monies have been received into their client account.

The purchaser’s solicitor will then proceed to raise closing searches against you as the vendor in respect of bankruptcy and insolvency, and against the property to confirm that there are no burdens or charges registered against the property that have not been disclosed and vouched. The purchaser’s solicitor may also raise a planning search to confirm that there have been no amendments to the planning status of the property, road widening etc. approved since their initial pre contract searches.

Your solicitor will provide explanations for all acts appearing on the searches raised, and if these are accepted by the purchaser’s solicitor they confirm that the sale has closed, request the release of keys via the selling agent, and confirm that funds can be released to you.

Your solicitor will contact your selling agent to confirm the sale has closed and that keys can be released to the purchaser

Congratulations you just sold your property!

Completion

Your solicitor will arrange to discharge the outstanding mortgage redemption figure from the proceeds of sale together with any interest accrued since the date of generation of the redemption figure and request a release or discharge of the charge registered against your property. Evidence of this discharge will be furnished to your solicitor once it is complete, and they in turn will forward this confirmation to the purchaser’s solicitor.

Your solicitor will provide you with a statement of account setting out any costs, outlays, and/or redemptions applicable to the sale, together with their professional fees and VAT, and confirming the balance sale proceeds due to you. Your solicitor will request that you confirm that it is in order for their professional fees, outlay and VAT be deducted from the proceeds of sale held in their client account before they will transfer the balance funds to your nominated account.

Once your solicitor has your confirmation in hand, they will arrange to transfer the balance funds to your nominated account and furnish you with a VAT receipt.

At C.G. Gilmartin & Co. we know that selling a property can be an exceptionally stressful process with many competing interests to balance, and as such you should feel confident that the solicitors acting on your behalf have the knowledge and professional experience to protect your interests. We believe in clear and consistent communication with our clients throughout the process, keeping you appraised of the progress of your sale at all stages.

For further information or to arrange to book a consultation please feel free to contact us by phone on +353 01 914 4359 or use the contact form below.