An impulse, a need or a desire is causing you to think about buying a property. 

Can you identify what this impulse is? Can you name one thing that your new home will give you that will make it worth the trouble of moving?

For example You'll own your home for the first time / you’ll have a fully separate home office / a big garden etc. 

What’s your one thing worth moving for?

You may already have loan approval or a mortgage in place from your bank. This may be the best deal available but it may not.

Choosing the right lender for this loan could save you thousands or tens of thousands over the course of the mortgage.  

Please take an hour to talk to an independent broker. Here’s one mortgage broker who won’t charge to talk to you.

Kieran Mc Alester of GMC Mortgages:  Tel: 086 380 6162 or kieranmcalester@gmc.ie

This property will have a minimum of  3 bedrooms and be a ten minute walk to any green LUAS station and will cost no more than €630,000

This property will have 2 bedrooms and will be within fifteen minutes walking distance to Griffith Barracks school and will cost no more than €450,000

What is your key property sentence?

This property will have ? bedrooms, will be in ? location and will cost no more than €?

Get a big picture sense of where you can buy that will meet your minimum needs. Don’t drive yourself mad looking at everything, everywhere.

Download the DAFT App to get a helicopter view of where your budget can buy you in your chosen city or county.

Open the DAFT App, click on Search. Select your filters eg. max budget, county, min number of bedrooms , then go to the top right of the screen and select the location icon to get a big picture view on the map of where you can afford to buy. 

Focus on a max of 3 areas.

Before getting into the nitty gritty of setting up a viewing, do these three things:

Phone the agent to confirm the property is not already sale- agreed and to check that the bidding has not already driven it out of your price range.

Do a driveby viewing of the property. Drive to it, park the car, walk around and get a feel for the property, the neighbours, the location, the parking. Could you be happy living here? 

Use Google to check how close the property is to places that you’lI need to go to on a regular basis.

Use a checklist. Make your own, covering issues that are important to you.

Take plenty of photos in the property.

When it comes to bidding, my suggestion is  Don’t over think it. If you like it, if it meets your needs and you can afford it. Bid it. 

Start getting recommendations for a solicitor and surveyor at step 1. You’ll need their details as soon as your bid is accepted. Once you’re  sale-agreed, keep the energy in the deal. Get your survey done within 8 working days. Make weekly calls to your solicitor to ensure they are actively managing the transaction.

Don’t forget to do a final inspection on the day of or the day before the sale closes to ensure the property has been left in the agreed condition eg. clear of all possessions and that no leaks or accidents have occurred. Good luck!