Selling Property
A modern legal firm
Why choose Madden Law when selling your home?
Madden Law is a modern solicitor’s firm specialising in selling.
Shona Madden:
- adopts a modern approach to providing legal services
- gives access to clients to book a time online to have a call and catch up on your purchase
- will text clients with regular updates on their purchase
- uses plain English
- gives an easy to understand fee structure
- has many fixed-price services.
- offers a wide range of flexible appointment options.
- provides efficient service, getting you your keys to your new home as soon possible.
- have over ten years experience selling houses
- There is ample free parking outside our office at the Bryanstown Centre, Drogheda.
How long does the legal process take to sell a house or apartment?
If the purchaser is getting a mortgage to buy your property, it usually takes 8 weeks after the booking deposit is paid to the estate agent. If the purchaser is cash buyer, then the process can be done usually in 6 weeks. These time frames are based on the property being vacant or ready to be vacated on the agreed completion date. If you are buying on and selling simultaneously, this will have an impact on when the sale can be completed.
Don’t get any surprises in relation to legal fees.
We set out all of the costs up front.
If an additional cost arises, we will set that out too if and as soon as it arises.
Selling a property valued at under €400,000- click here for our fixed price legal service.
Our standard fixed sale fee includes all of the following work:
o Getting your title deeds from a third party, example bank, solicitor
o Drafting your sale contracts,
o Advising you on and preparing the sale contracts and documents,
o Applying for an NPPR certificate,
o Completing the legal work of the sale,
o Proving a statement and providing the proceeds of sale to the seller.
o Paying off the mortgage and closing the mortgage account, if applicable.
What is not included in our standard fixed selling fee. If you think any of these issues may arise, please talk to us.
o Any work related to any boundary dispute,
o planning permission problems or matters relating to getting additional documents for extensions, retention planning permission,
o locating lost title documents,
o title defects or ownership problems,
o errors in maps,
o dealing with management company issues ,
o disputes with neighbours,
o any work in relation to rights of way, easements or wayleaves,
o paying any third parties other than the mortgage and the sellers,
o Paying arrears of NPPR, Local Property Tax,
o Issues in relation to non availability of active PPS numbers. All sellers must
provide a valid active Irish PPS number .
o Fee to get a map if required,
o Title searches, if required,
o letter from the local authority to confirm financial condition in planning permission are complied with, if required.
What legal work is included in your fixed cost quote from Madden Law?
With ten years experience in property law- we know how to make the transaction run smoothly
5 Tips about selling property from Madden Law
Deeds
All registered owners must give their written consent to their solicitor to take up the deeds for the sale of the property.
BER
A BER certificate and advisory report are required in most sales. Discuss this early with your solicitor.
Documents
Print off your Local Property Tax history. Your solicitor will apportion the LPT between the sellers and purchasers at the completion of the sale.
Before Completion
Sellers will sign contracts and closing documents with their solicitor, usually 2-3 weeks before the completion of the sale.
Finance
Your solicitor will pay the mortgage out of the proceeds of the sale. A full statement will be provided which will detail the apportionment of the service charge and local property tax.
Steps and Advice when Selling your House
Apply for your Non- Principal Place of Residence Charge Certificate of Exemption or Discharge from your Local authority.If the property was your principal place of residence for any year between 2009-2013 you need to apply for a certificate of exemption for the relevant year or years. If not, you need a certificate of discharge from your Local Authority. Your solicitor can make the application for you. If you did not reside in the property for any of the years 2009-2013 (on the liability date) then you need to talk to your solicitor about any liability charged on the property and also if there is any exemption that you could apply for.
If there was any development to the property, even if it did not require planning permission, this will have to be addressed in the Contract. Inform your solicitor about all the development and request clarification of whether or not you need to get any work certified by an architect. The purchaser is likely to send a surveyor out, who may raise this issue so it’s better to be ahead and also to be able to comply with your obligations under the Contract.
If there is a mortgage on the property, the title deeds are with the lending institution. If there is no mortgage on the property, the deeds may be held in your solicitor’s office or at your home. If you can’t locate your title deeds, don’t panic but inform your solicitor as soon as possible.
Your solicitor will provide you with a questionnaire to complete. This will deal with all issues relating to the property and the vendors, which your solicitor will need to prepare the Contracts for Sale. This questionnaire is detailed but it has been prepared by the Law Society of Ireland to assist both the solicitor and the vendors, so it is advisable to get it completed as early as possible. We’ve put it here.
If there is a mortgage on the property, the title deeds are with the lending institution. If there is no mortgage on the property, the deeds may be held in your solicitor’s office or at your home. If you can’t locate your title deeds, don’t panic but inform your solicitor as soon as possible.
Check your Local Property Tax valuation band. Review the Revenue guide to selling your home and LPT here.
When you are selling you house, your solicitor will ask you to provide your Local Property Tax details to see what band it is registered in and also to check if it’s paid. Revenue allow a certain difference or margin, (different for Dublin City and County) between the valuation band you registered the Local Property Tax in and the price you are selling your house for. And the good news is that, due to increasing property prices, Revenue has increased the first threshold by €50,000 starting on September 1, 2017, and also the margin of difference between the LPT and sale price.
This is important because you must obtain either general Revenue clearance or specific Revenue clearance from Local Property Tax when selling your residential property. General Revenue clearance will apply where the difference between the LPT valuation band registered and the sale price is within the allowable margin or the value of the property is under the threshold. This means, you don’t need to engage with Revenue at all and your solicitor can ensure that general Revenue clearance applies to your sale.
If your LPT valuation band is beneath the threshold or outside the allowable margin, even after the new threshold and valuation margin come into effect, you can still apply to Revenue for specific clearance. You must submit an application to Revenue and your solicitor can assist you with this.
Here is the link to the Local Property Tax section of the Revenue website which has all of the information you may need when selling a residential property. There are many exemptions available also to be considered if general clearance does not apply. It is advisable to examine this matter as early as possible when selling your property to avoid delays. When selling your property, your solicitor will advise you how LPT will be apportioned between the seller and purchaser.
Do you have a question related to Selling Property? Send us a message
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Outstanding service all round and a complete joy to deal with - would recommend in a heartbeat and hope to deal again soon!