Your property questions answered
Agent won't go 'sale agreed' until I sign contracts
Q I made a good offer on a house I am very interested in but because I was not prepared to proceed immediately to sign contracts the agent is not prepared to go "Sale Agreed". He advised me to come back when I am nearer to actually going through with the purchase.
I am obviously keen to see what will happen with the market, like the house and was hoping to put a deposit on it and see how the market fares in the next few months, maybe after Christmas. I have my money in place.
This seems to be what others are doing as I know of at least three houses that have been sale agreed since the summer. This agent won't entertain me.
AMostly "sale agreed" is a fairly meaningless term as we have said in this column before as it usually does not legally commit either the buyer to buy or the seller to actually completing the sale.
If your offer is accepted and the house goes to "sale agreed" then it cannot be marketed, i.e. no other prospective buyers can be shown it, etc.
This is good for a buyer who wants to actually buy, but you are trying to hedge your bets which is fine for you, but not for the seller.
The seller, acting on good advice from his agent, quite reasonably wants to keep his options as open as possible.
Those other "sale agreeds" could be for many other reasons, not least the inability of prospective buyers to actually secure the level of mortgage they assumed they could get.
Is mortgage interest relief backdated?
Q I am a first-time buyer who bought my house in November 2007. I understand that mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers changed and increased in the Budget and applies to people who bought up to three years ago. So is it backdated? And how do I apply for a refund?
AIn this year's Budget, mortgage interest relief changed for both first- and second-time buyers - it increased for first-timers and decreased for everyone else. The changes apply from January 1st, 2009 and will not be backdated. Mortgage interest relief is to be increased from 20 to 25 per cent in year one and year two, so you will be entitled to the 25 per cent increase until November 09, then the new increased rate of 22.5 per cent for the next three years and 20 per cent relief for years six and seven. The relief for non-first-time buyers will be reduced from 20 to 15 per cent. The idea is that the rebalancing helps people like you who have the most exposure in a market where house prices have fallen. Although the new rates apply to first-timers who bought as far back as 2005, you will not be getting a refund.
Your questions
Send your queries to Property questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or e-mail propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.
