SELLING YOUR HOUSE? 8 USEFUL TIPS FOR VENDORS – Connellan Solicitors Longford

An auctioneer /estate agent is usually your first call when selling your property. However, you could potentially get a purchaser for your house very soon after the for sale sign goes up. Accordingly, it is just as important to inform your solicitor at an early stage that you intend to sell your property. Your solicitor will need to have access to the title deeds to your property in order to prepare the contract. If you have a mortgage on your property it could take up to 4 – 5 weeks to get the title deeds from the bank. Accordingly, if you engage with your solicitor at an early stage it will mean that they can issue the contract immediately as soon as a purchaser is found. This will significantly speed up the sale process if you are not waiting for the bank to release the deeds after you accept a bid from the purchaser.
If you built an extension some years back, you would need planning permission or an architect’s certificate that the works are exempt. Talk to your solicitor about any such works as he can then provide for this in the contract. Do not get caught halfway through the whole process with some works or an extension that is undocumented.
Agree as soon as you can about what fittings and contents are included in the sale and what you plan to remove or sell to your purchaser. Generally speaking, fixtures such as fireplaces, stoves, and cookers generally belong to the property. Fittings like curtains, carpets, TV cabinets etc may be removed by the owner or, more usually, offered to the purchaser for a reasonable sum. It is advisable at the earliest stage to agree and clarify all this with the purchaser.
Contracts for sale, once signed by all parties and once the relevant deposit is paid, are legally binding, but not if the purchaser has inserted a “subject to loan” clause. Usually, these clauses expire in a few weeks, on receipt of loan approval and only then is there an unconditional contract.
Typically, your principal private residence will be exempt from Capital Gains Tax (CGT), but your solicitor should be briefed if any part of the house, say the garage or a small extension, has been used for business for some time as the Revenue may then reduce the full CGT relief somewhat.
You should try to ensure that you have receipts for all property taxes, service charges (if applicable) etc. Having all of these documents at an early stage will help ensure that the sale is completed as expeditiously as possible.
If the property is your family home, you will be asked to provide your solicitor with your marriage certificate or, where applicable, your Divorce Decree as well as he needs these to prepare the statutory declarations you will be signing to confirm the property is indeed your own family home.
As well as signing various completion documents, to include the deed of transfer itself, do not forget to leave with your solicitor all keys to the house along with fobs or codes to any gates or other doors.