u/AlgaePractical8342

I was asked the other day, by a first time buyer, what happens next, when I pay a deposit on this apartment for sale in Cork City so I sent her this..... I hope this helps.

Here's the process, stage by stage:

1. Get finances in order
   Get Approval in Principle from your mortgage lender or broker
   Work out your total budget including deposit, stamp duty, legal fees, and survey costs
   If a first-time buyer, check eligibility for Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme separately
2. Find and view properties
   View through estate agents, Daft.ie, MyHome.ie
   Check the BER rating and ask for the Property Particulars
3. Make an offer
   Offer through the estate agent, usually verbally then confirmed in writing
   Agent brings the offer to the vendor, negotiation may follow
4. Sale agreed
   Once accepted, property is marked "sale agreed"
   Engage a solicitor if you haven't already
   Booking deposit paid (usually a few thousand euro, fully refundable until contracts are signed)
5. Solicitor's due diligence
   Your solicitor requests contracts and title documents from the vendor's solicitor
   Solicitor reviews title, planning permission, any charges on the property
   You arrange a structural survey/building survey
   Solicitor raises pre-contract queries with the vendor's side
6. Mortgage formal approval
   Submit final documents to lender (contract details, valuation report)
   Lender issues formal Letter of Offer
   Life assurance and home insurance must be in place before drawdown
7. Sign contracts
   Once queries are cleared and mortgage is approved, contracts are signed
   Deposit paid, usually 10% of the price, minus the booking deposit already paid
   At this point the deal is legally binding
8. Closing
   Solicitor requisitions title, prepares for completion
   Mortgage funds drawn down and sent to vendor's solicitor
   Balance of purchase price paid, keys released
9. Post-completion
   Solicitor pays stamp duty to Revenue via eStamping (currently 1% up to €1m, 2% from €1m to €1.5m, 6% above €1.5m for residential property)
   Solicitor registers you as owner with the Property Registration Authority
   A note on that stamp duty figure: rates can move in the Budget, so worth a quick check with your solicitor or Revenue.ie before you're quoting it to a client, especially with anything involving new builds where reliefs sometimes apply differently.