We aim to take the stress out of buying a home. We offer highly competitive rates and can bring you through the process in a efficient and painless manner. We deal with purchases, sales, the transfer of homes into joint names and remortgages. It is a good idea to contact your solicitor at the earliest opportunity even before you have chosen a property.

We can assist you with advice such as to what to look out for. Also we can assist with budgets, surveyors and also in relation to the safeguards necessary when paying booking deposits. All our conveyancing work is carried out by an experienced solicitor.

We believe that our clients are entitled to have their property transactions moved forward and progressed as quickly as possible and we are pro-active in getting closing transactions in a timely fashion.

Call or email us today to discuss your requirements. We will respond with a quotation and will be ready to progress the transaction if you are happy with our package. Some of the conveyancing services we provide include:

• Sale or purchase of property
• Mortgages/Remortgages
• Property Portfolio debt restructure
• Commercial Transactions
• Commercial Leases
• Purchases of Ground Rent & Buying out freehold
• Transfer to Joint names
• Registering rights of way
• Residential Tenancy Act
• Advice on Management Companies & the Multi-Unit Development (MUD) Act
• Leases & Tenancy Agreements
• Property Auctions & Tenders
• Advising on the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act

What does a Solicitor do when buying a house, completing a purchase, what is conveyancing?

A property purchase is an extremely important transaction. It is of critical importance that your Solicitor identifies all title issues with the property in order to ensure that you do not experience any difficulties in selling the property in the future.

When you instruct us to act on your behalf in the purchase of a property, you will usually provide our details to the Estate Agent or Auctioneer with whom you have negotiated the purchase. The Estate Agent or Auctioneer will then issue a Sales Notice advising us of the purchase price, any contents included in the sale, the address of the property and the name of the vendors (seller (s)) and the name of their Solicitors.

Step 1 – Seeking Contracts & Title.

On receipt of Sales Notice, we write to the vendors Solicitors (sellers Solicitors) requesting two sets of contracts together with a copy of all relevant title information.

Step 2 – Reviewing Contracts & Title.

Jones Solicitors, on receipt of the contracts and title, will carry out a thorough review of the documents received and raise appropriate queries in respect of the nature of the title, whether it is Land Registry or Registry of Deeds, the planning status of the property, what property taxes are outstanding against the property. If you are purchasing an apartment, we will seek replies to Multi Unit Development Requisitions. These queries deal with members voting rights of the Management Company, the value of the sinking fund together with other important issues, including Insurance and also whether the Management Company own the common areas in accordance with the rules of the Multi Unit Development Act.

Once we review the contracts and title, we send an update to the client indicating to the client the nature of the title received. We also issue our queries in respect of the title to the vendors Solicitor. At this time, we also advise our client to request their bank issue a letter of loan offer and loan pack to us as soon as possible. We also ask our client(s) to arrange for their pre-purchase survey to be carried out.

On receipt of replies to our pre-contract queries raised, replies are then reviewed by us. Subject to the replies received, we arrange for the client to attend with us in order to go through the contracts and title. We do not ask clients to attend with us until a letter of loan offer and loan pack has been received.  

Lending Institution

If you are purchasing with the assistance of a mortgage, you will need to ensure that all the special conditions attached to your loan offer are complied with to the banks satisfaction. We liaise with your bank to ensure all documentation they require from both ourselves and you is provided. Lending institutions will not release any funds until they are satisfied with all documentation and conditions of your letter of loan offer. When you submit a document to any lending institution, please note, it can take 24-48 hours for them to process this.

Attending to sign contracts

When you attend with us, we firstly must ensure client proof of identity/address compliance and must ensure the following documents are provided as evidence of same (take copies of ID, proof of address, PPS number details & marriage certificate, if applicable), if they have not already been dealt with. In this regard, you will need to have photo ID and proof of address, together with evidence of source of funds, if appropriate and your PPS number. If you are married, you should also bring your marriage certificate.

After going through the title, if you are satisfied to proceed and the title is in order and the conditions in your mortgage are satisfactory, we return a signed contract together with the contract deposit. The contract deposit is usually calculated at 10% of the purchase price less the booking deposit already paid. We also at this time, send your mortgage documents back to the bank if you are purchasing with the assistance of a mortgage.

Binding contracts

It is important to be aware that by sending a contract back to the vendors Solicitor (sellers solicitor) that this is simply an offer, it is only when the signed contract is returned to us duly signed by the vendor (seller) that it becomes a binding contract, which means that you must complete the purchase and the vendor must sell.  

On receipt of a binding contract, we notify our client that a binding contract is now in place and provide them with a Schedule of Monies required to complete the purchase.

Requisitions on Title

When a binding contract is in place, we press the vendors Solicitor to complete their Replies to Requisitions on Title if they have not done so already and we liaise with them in relation to closing the sale.

Completion/closing

On the closing date, we review the original Title Deeds and Deed of Transfer to make certain that the title is in order and also complete closing searches. The closing searches are carried out on the closing date to make certain that no Judgments or Mortgages have been registered against the property and also to make sure that the vendor is bankrupt or in the middle of a personal insolvency arrangement or similar. Once we are satisfied that everything is in order, we authorise the release of the closing monies to the vendors Solicitor (sellers Solicitor) and confirm that the sale is complete. At this time, you are then able to collect your keys from the relevant Auctioneer or site office if you are purchasing a new property.

Stamping of the Deed

Once the sale completes, we stamp the Deed of Assurance (title document transferring the interest/title to you) with the Revenue Commissioners.

Applying to register the title

Once the Deed has been stamped and a Stamp Duty Certificate has issued from the Revenue Commissioners, we can than apply to the Land Registry or Registry of Deeds to register the title in your name. Since the 1^st of June 2011, the Registration of a Title Act, 1964 order 2010 Statutory Instrument 516 2010 came into effect requiring that all properties purchased from the 1^st of June 2011 must be registered in the Land Registry. If the title to your property is not already registered in the Land Registry, it is necessary for us to initially registry the property in the Registry of Deeds and thereafter initiate a First Registration in the Land Registry.

When the registration of your title has completed and a Land Registry Folio number issues from the Land Registry, we forward a copy of the Land Registry Folio to you confirming you as the registered owner(s) of the property and return your original Title Deeds to your lending institution, if there is one. If there is no lending institution, we can arrange to store your original Title Deeds or alternatively they can be released to you.

10 day closing (fast turnaround)

We are in a position to offer efficient and effective completion of property purchases and can turn these transaction around very promptly. If there is a lending institution involved, the time line can extend beyond this however, if you are a cash purchaser and the title is generally in order, a very prompt turnaround can be achieved. It is important to be aware that we can only complete a sale promptly if the vendors Solicitor (sellers solicitor) is likewise   co-operating and dealing with queries in a prompt and efficient manner.