Buying a home in Ireland usually takes four to six months from starting to look seriously to getting the keys, and often longer. The search is the part you can't plan. Once a bid is accepted, most sales take two to four months to close. These are typical times, not rules: every sale moves at the speed of its slowest party.
Before you bid: two to six weeks
- Mortgage approval in principle. Most lenders take one to three weeks once they have your payslips, bank statements and ID. It lasts about six months. See approval in principle and proof of funds.
- Work out your budget with the deposit, stamp duty and fees in it: how much can I borrow.
- Pick a solicitor now, not after sale agreed. It saves a week later.
Viewing and bidding: weeks to months
This is the part with no fixed length. A good house can go sale agreed within two or three weeks of its first viewing; bidding itself often runs one to three weeks. Agents who are slow to reply stretch it: see how to get an estate agent to reply. Before you bid, check what homes near it sold for against asking.
Sale agreed to signing contracts: four to eight weeks
- You pay a booking deposit and your solicitor asks the seller's solicitor for the contracts. Waiting on the seller's side for them is the most common delay.
- Your solicitor checks the title and planning; you get a survey done.
- Your lender values the house and issues the loan offer, usually two to four weeks after you apply with the house's details.
See what happens after sale agreed. Until contracts are signed, either side can still walk away: see gazumping and when a sale falls through.
Contracts to closing: two to six weeks
Once both sides sign, the closing date is usually agreed in the contract. Your lender releases the money, your solicitor pays the balance and the stamp duty, and you get the keys.
What slows it down
- Probate sales. When the seller is an estate, nothing can close until probate is granted, which can take months.
- A chain. If the seller is buying too, your sale moves at the speed of theirs.
- Title problems that the solicitors need to fix, such as unregistered land or missing planning sign-offs.
- New builds, which close when the home is finished, not when you're ready.
- Silence. The agent is the middle of every step, and a week without a reply is a week lost. Put every question in writing and follow up on a set day.