Buying your own home in Ireland

 

At some point in your life, you may wish to ditch the rental market and buy a home. Buying a house can be a wonderful and exciting time. But it can also be a complex and confusing process if you are not fully informed on the processes involved in buying a house. There are basically 5 steps to the process of buying a property in Ireland.

So, here’s a quick summary of the steps;

Financial Stage House search House viewings Putting down an offer Closing the purchase.

 

 Financial Stage

This is the most important step when it comes to buying a property in Ireland. There are two ways to buying a property, you can either buy it outrightly with cash or purchase through a mortgage. A mortgage simply put is a type of loan used to buy a property. The amount you have as cash and the amount you can get from the mortgage lender can help you set a budget on the value of property, type of property and location you can buy in.

If you are …

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AI Revolution In Mortgage Brokering: Enhancing Performance, Not Replacing Jobs

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming various industries, and mortgage brokering is no exception. AI is reshaping the landscape of the mortgage industry, empowering brokers to improve their performance, streamline processes, and deliver enhanced customer experiences. Contrary to popular misconceptions, AI is not here to replace brokers’ jobs but rather to augment their capabilities. Let’s explore how AI is revolutionizing the jobs of mortgage brokers in Ireland and why embracing this technology can lead to increased success.

Streamlining Administrative Tasks

Mortgage brokers often face time-consuming administrative tasks, such as collecting and organizing client information, verifying documents, and performing calculations. AI-powered software and tools can automate these tasks, reducing the administrative burden on brokers. By leveraging AI, brokers can focus more on building relationships, providing personalized advice, and delivering exceptional customer service.

Improved Customer Experience

AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can significantly enhance the customer experience in mortgage brokering. These intelligent systems can engage with customers, answer common inquiries, provide basic information, and potentially guide clients through the mortgage application process. Brokers can leverage these tools to provide basic, round-the-clock support, improve …

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What does “Get Rich Quick” even mean?

It is not uncommon that you probably have stumbled upon these ads where people claiming, “Want to know how I got rich quick? Watch my video for more!”. They show off their riches while standing in front of large mansions and Lamborghinis and if you continue to listen, they most likely tell you an inspirational story about how they came from rags to riches. We know this cannot be real, but we all have a small voice in our head saying, “Is it actually possible?”. Are they actually teaching us useful financial advice that could put us in jeopardy or are they just a regular old conman?

We may typically think of a conman to be the same thing as a thief or a liar but a true conman does not force us to do anything. They do not forcefully steal our possessions away from us, rather they trick us into giving up our own things. They are manipulators and we are obsessed with them. We see them in movies and comics but fail to see them in our day …

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Equity release for people over 60

There is a growing need for equity release for people who have properties with a lot of equity but who also don’t have money or an income to sustain them. This is often the twin forces of property prices that have risen so strongly in the last 30 years coupled with greater financial needs or low pension provision.

In this video some of the details are described and mentioned by David Brady of Spry Finance.

Spry Finance Q&A from Seniors Money on Vimeo.

Some points worth noting are that at times you may borrow money and make no repayments and this creates a reverse amortization or ‘growing loan’ effect. That said,  you can also pay the interest and in that case the loan doesn’t grow.

Equity release loans are underwritten on the borrowers age and the value of the property, because there isn’t an expectation of repayment you don’t have to qualify for the loan based on earnings the way you would with a regular mortgage.

To find out more you can make an enquiry …

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The Economy of Czechia

Czechia is an advanced country that ranks among the countries with the most developed economy in the world. Czechia is a member of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). It is based on industry and services (60%), agriculture and other primary production.

The main industries are automotive manufacturing, electronics, mechanical engineering, high technology , steel manufacturing, transportation equipment, chemical manufacturing and pharmaceuticals.

The main agricultural products are cereals, vegetable oils and hops. Key mineral resources mined in Czechia include black and brown cleansing, kaolin, building materials and uranium. The most important product of the Czech economy is Škoda Auto.

Czechia has the most self-employment per population in Europe. The average wage as of 2021 is around CZK 37,800 (EUR 1,540). It is among the countries with the lowest proportion of people at risk of income poverty in the EU. Unemployment and state indebtedness in Czechia remain among the lowest in Europe.

In the first quarter of 2015, the Czech economy grew the fastest among the EU states. The Czech economy grew by 3.3% in 2021 and the following …

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Are Irish banks the most generous in Europe?

Mortgage rates are rising, but at the time of writing they are higher in Germany than in Ireland, that isn’t the strange bit though.

What’s really strange is that the risk free rate in Ireland is higher than the mortgage rates available. In other words, financially speaking it is safer (if by ‘safe’ you mean accepting a lower return) to lend to a person in Ireland on a house than it is to lend to the Irish government. This is insane and it won’t last.

The response will need to be one of two things.

Banks stop lending Banks raise mortgage rates (or perhaps a little of 1 and a good dash of 2).

Take a look at government bond yields from last week, if a bank has a choice they can lend to the Irish government at 2.8% but they lend to people at closer to 2%. This is typically seen as an impossibility in financial markets so it will only last for a short time because as a rule there is no arbitrage, markets close them down …

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Fintech is the Future, Here’s Everything You Need to Know

FinTech (Financial Technology) is the new modern technology designed to compete with the traditional financial methods of delivering services.

 

With the increase of importance of technology due to the COVID pandemic, Fintech has evolved and became significantly more important to banks and people alike.

 

With this transition occurring it is important for everyone to understand what these changes mean and how it will continue to evolve in the future. 

 

What’s new

 

With the generations of people who grew up with technology getting older, businesses have had to adapt to please these generations.

 

People have become more and more comfortable managing their money and businesses online. They are eager to use new technology because it offers these businesses and people flexibility that they did not have before.

 

Some of the results of this increase in Fintech is the addition of digital mortgages and digital lenders. This technology was very important for banks because when COVID happened it was the only way to do business.

 

Now people prefer the business to be online because it …

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How to Apply for a Digital Mortgage Online

Gone are the days of doing painstaking research to find the best bank to get a mortgage from. Buying a house or apartment is already difficult, why go through the hassle of loads of paperwork when you can fill out your information online and have it done for you.

Technology has evolved and with it, the digital mortgage process has too. Applying for a digital mortgage takes the stress out of your hands while simultaneously finding the best rates.

Getting Started

Starting the mortgage process can be an overwhelming situation when looking from the beginning. Companies such as OnlineApplication work to make this process fast and easy to use.

The pandemic has shifted much of work to online and gotten rid of the need for face to face interactions. With this new technology why would you do anything on paper?

What is OnlineApplication?

OnlineApplication is a company that works for brokers to find the best mortgage.

Our quick and simple process allows you to upload all your financial information to our safe and secure website. After that we …

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Negative interest rates are both gone and here at the same time.

Many commentators are talking about the end of negative interest rates in nominal terms and it’s true, interest rates are rising but in real terms they are still negative. Look at mortgage rates (for instance), you can borrow at 3% and below and meanwhile you have property price appreciation at 15% meaning that in real terms you are paying -12%.

If you can ever get something on a continuous basis at -12% that indicates ‘buy’, and that’s what people are doing, but notice that we mentioned ‘continuous’, the reality is that there is no arbitrage most of the time and this will be closed down by either rising costs, falling prices or some other outcome that we can’t forsee. Trees don’t grow to the sky, they never have and never will so the trajectory of house prices must rationalise but it’s hard to see how or where at present because the demand side seems so demonstrably strong.

I bumped into Kieran McQuinn on Pearse Street today and in our brief chat mentioned how the price changes are not sustainable, he …

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Avant Money turned 1 year old, and in that time they changed everything.

Avant Money is part of the Bankinter group and they have been in the market for just one year and in that time they have been transformational in terms of what they have achieved in the current landscape.

To begin with they came in and offered the lowest rates we have ever had since the days of tracker mortgages, their fixed rates were also available for longer durations at these low rates than the other leading rates of the day. After that they brought out a suite of fixed rates which were also at the forefront of the market.

As a lender who distributes exclusively through brokers this is wonderful in our view as it drives people towards independent financial advice and greater selection. We can’t wait to see what Avant Money has coming down the line in year two!

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