Q&A this week looks at closing dates for sales and first-time buyers.

A long closing date

We are moving from Dublin to Galway this year and, as we have three school-going children, we want to wait until the summer holidays to move so that their school transition is smoother. However, we are aware that waiting until then to sell up is not the best idea and that this is the prime selling season. Also selling now would give us an idea what we can afford in Galway. The idea would be, if we could sell the house in March and stay in it until mid-July. Would that length of closing be possible and how do we negotiate it?

You are right to say that February/March is a better time to put your house on the market than July. For the past couple of years now, agents have reported that August has been busy but it's not with houses that have just come on the market. Instead it's the time of year when houses that have been hanging around for ages finally meet a buyer - sometimes because the seller has dropped the price marginally. As regards closing dates, there really is no hard and fast rule and it is usually a matter that is decided between the buyer and the seller. It should be possible to close a sale - once there are no question marks over the title deeds - in as short a time as a month. This column has come across a closing, by joint agreement between buyer and seller, of nine months - but that does seem on the extreme side. Usually, it's somewhere between seven and eight weeks - all being well with the title, that is. How you sell can also have implications on how long the whole process takes. Putting your house to auction takes one month from the start of the campaign until the auctioneer slams down the hammer. (That's if everything goes well). Then it would be usual to have a two-month closing although you could stretch it out somewhat. A private treaty sale - and a good auctioneer can get as good a price as any heated auction room - can be a more leisurely affair which would easily take you up to your departure date to Galway. The important thing is that you are upfront with likely buyers from the very start as to what your terms are - most buyers won't have too much of a problem with waiting an extra few weeks to get the keys.

First-time buyers

I married my husband in October. We are looking to move from our home in Clonee. The house in Clonee is my husbands and in his name, he bought it about four years ago. Would it be possible for me to buy the new house in my name as a first-time buyer and after the sale has been processed transfer the property into both names? We are planning to sell the house in Clonee and we would be living in the new house.

This is a regular problem for his postbag because it now applies to so many people. The rule is: "To avail of first-time buyer relief the purchaser, or purchasers, must be a first-time buyer." If the house being acquired is purchased solely you, who is a first-time buyer, it is possible for you to claim first-time buyer relief.

According to Revenue, for you to be regarded as the purchaser of the house it would have to be established that the entirety of the purchase monies, included any borrowings, were provided by you. If part of the purchase monies were provided by your husband, or if he was a party to any borrowings, then he would be regarded as being a part purchaser of the house and the first-time buyer relief would not be available as the husband already owned a house in his own right. Where the first-time buyer relief has been correctly obtained by the wife aclawback of the relief would not arise if the house was subsequently transferred into the joint names of herself and her husband.

[ propertyquestions@irish-times.ie ]

Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.