Buying a Home

Step 2 Finding the money
Before you can start looking for a house, you need to know how much you can spend. For most people this will be determined by how much they can borrow from a bank or other lending institution. In Ireland, there are three main sources of home loans:

Banks
Building societies
Local authorities.

Using the Internet is a good way to compare the mortgage rates and conditions on offer from a range of lending institutions easily and quickly. Most financial institutions now have websites and offer some of their services online. If your income is too low to qualify for a mortgage from a commercial lending institution you may qualify for a local authority loan, or be able to avail of one of the affordable housing schemes provided by your local authority.

For more information on individual financial institutions check out the web sites listed under Step 2 of the Quick Guide section.

Tip: To find out about mortgages from an independent source check out the website of the Irish Financial Services Regulator, www.ifsra.ie, which provides independent information on financial products in plain English.

Chose the Consumer Information section, thenClick on ‘Publications’ from the list of options shown.

This reveals a list of consumer guides that you can download to your computer, or print out. The Independent Consumer Guide to Mortgages is also available in a large print version.

Another useful website on budgeting and money management is the Money, Advice and Budgeting website: www.mabs.ie

Tip: For more detailed information on all the costs involved in buying a home in Ireland, return to www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/housing and follow the links to the sections called ‘Purchasing a home' and ‘Costs of buying a home in Ireland’. These will give information on the types of mortgages available, the level of agency fees and legal fees you can expect, survey fees, stamp duty, mortgage protection, home insurance and ground rent.)