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FAQs for commercial

The first step is finding a reputable agent you can trust from the first meeting. If Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty is active in your area, we can arrange a free detailed inspection and walk-through, at any time that suits you. After this thorough preliminary work, we’ll sit down with you and discuss the valuation of your home, market trends, the cost of selling, and answer any of your questions. After this meeting we will give you a realistic estimate of your home’s selling price, and discuss your options.

For a simple breakdown of this process, you can download our Ultimate Home seller’s Checklist.

Selling a home can be stressful, as it’s an important life decision. For most people, it’s their most valuable asset, and it’s natural to feel protective of it. After decades of experience we’ve learned that people really value the advice and guidance of a third party.

Viewers are often reluctant to give their honest opinions to the homeowner, for fear of being too direct or personal. A neutral estate agent can answer any of their tricky questions, backed up by extensive industry knowledge.

This knowledge can also be called on selling off-market. Agents will have a current list of buyers in the area, which may help sellers who are under pressure to make a quick sale. Agents can also advise on the type of sale, the marketing campaign and the optimum time to sell your home.

Most importantly, estate agents will have valuable information on buyers in the market, as the highest bidder is not necessarily the best option. And once you have finally agreed on a seller, agents can start taking care of the paperwork, such as organising booking deposits and chasing contracts.

Everyone’s circumstances are different. Maybe you have a growing family and you need more space, so a sale may seem urgent. Or maybe you just want to downsize, so you’re in no rush to move.

I always tell sellers to have a look around the neighbourhood. If you can see lots of For Sale signs it might not be the best time to sell. If a buyer can choose between four similar homes on the same road they have more bargaining power.

As a general rule, a higher number of properties for sale in an area is good news for the buyer, and fewer properties on sale is better for the vendor.

If you choose Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty and we do the initial valuation, we immediately start our marketing campaign for your home. We then arrange a professional photographer to capture shots of your home when it suits you. Once we start marketing your home through all of our channels, we arrange an open viewing, usually held on a Saturday.

The open viewing lasts between one and two hours and you don’t need to be there. We can also arrange private appointments for viewers who can’t make Saturday viewings, to ensure all buyers are considered.

First impressions count — buyers are influenced by what they see as soon as they arrive at a home. They’ll be swayed by a nicely painted front door and a well-maintained entrance.

The second, and most important rule is to make sure your home is clean. It may sound simple, but well-made beds with crisp new linen will make a great first impression. And if you have any clutter, get rid of it! This will remove distraction, and make the space look bigger and more inviting.

That’s why hiring an agent with the right experience is crucial. We will calculate a suitable asking price based on your desired amount, balanced with the price you can actually realise on the market.

We can generally gauge the level of interest in your property within four weeks of it going on the market. There are many factors that may affect demand — for example, you may need to update your decor, or there may be a lot of properties for sale in your area. If the market suggests your asking price is too high, we can reassess the price and guide you at every stage.

If you have any more questions about selling your home, get in touch today. With nearly a century of experience in the Irish property market, there’s no question we can’t answer! And for all the latest news from Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

There is a wide variety of new homes types currently on the market. You can secure anything from a city centre one-bed apartment to a future-proof five-bed in leafy suburbia, and almost anything in between!

The benefits of buying a new home over secondhand are many. To reference a few, I would point to the energy efficiencies currently available these days by buying new. Older homes can haemorrhage heat by way of dated insulation, which amounts to heavy power and electricity bills. Building Energy Ratings (BER) of new homes tend to be A2/A3 rated, which means there are significant energy savings for you.

Modern layouts are also appealing. An open-plan layout has become very popular and is now frequently seen in new starter and family homes. Parking spaces, attractive landscaping and communal spaces are all incorporated within new home schemes as well. New homes are ready for move-in and any work will likely be cosmetic, which is a benefit if you need to think about refurbishment and building costs for a secondhand home.

Getting on the property ladder by buying new is particularly beneficial as a first-time buyer in Ireland. The Irish Government has incentivised purchasing new homes with the Help-to-Buy Scheme. This assistance programme essentially allows a first-time buyer to secure a €20,000/5% rebate on a brand new property, up to a purchase price of €500,000. It has been invaluable as assistance to get on the ladder to Irish first-time buyers.

There are no additional significant costs that need to be considered when buying a new home. Legal fees to your solicitor will be the same, if not less given the clean book of title attached to a new home. Surveyors’ fees are much the same and are likely to generate a smaller list of snags given the “brand newness” of the house. Stamp duty is applicable on houses old and new. Items to be aware of and clear on are the BER rating of the home, whether the house is in a scheme that is to be privately run (in which case a management fee is applicable) or whether the local council are to take it in charge.

Generally, you’ll find a development that you’d like to call home and buy from plans or a show house, usually from 3 to 6 months before completion. Once you reserve a property with the sales agent, be it apartment or house, you’ll pay a nominal refundable deposit. Contracts are then issued from the developers’ solicitors to your solicitor.

Once you sign your contracts, you’ll put down a payment of the balance up to 10% of the price (minus the deposit). Your purchase is now non-refundable, which is something to be aware of as a purchaser. Upon completion of the property, you can inspect and send in a surveyor to take a look over your new home, ensuring there aren’t any finishing defects. After the balance is paid off, the keys are yours and you can move into your new home!

The areas you look for to buy a new home are essentially up to you. Keep an eye on the property portals and keep in touch with Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty New Homes for an up-to-date list on what is currently on and coming to market. Consider things like local amenities, including schools and shops, and good transport links when looking into new neighbourhoods. As sales agents, we will provide as much info about the area as we can, but you need to consider what is important to you.

People often aspire to live close to where they grew up. We are seeing this a lot at our development at Kinsealy Woods. Kinsealy is located right beside Malahide and Portmarnock, locations extremely popular with the existing locals. Quite a few young adults from these neighbourhoods, who possibly lived abroad or rented elsewhere, are choosing to buy in Kinsealy given its close proximity to family.

The house-warming is extremely important. I suggest having two! One to invite your neighbours to in an effort to make friends and suss out who is who, and the other one for your friends, family and of, course your Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty New Homes sales agents who will have guided you through the buying process and will be only too happy to share in the celebration of your New Home. PS — we can recommend caterers, party planners and bubbly providers also – all part of the service!

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