There are many options available to those applying for a mortgage. Banks, Building Societies and some Credit Unions will offer various loan rates and terms and you should take a look at what they each have to offer.

Make sure you are ready by putting together all the necessary documents for your mortgage application:

• 3 months’ payslips
• 6 months’ current account statements
• 6 months’ bank/Credit Union saving statements
• 12 months’ loan account
• P60

For many people using an experienced broker is the best option as they are aware of the obstacles and pitfalls of the process. However, applying directly to your bank or building society may be your preferred route, with online applications now making the process much easier.

Some of the choices you will need to make can include:

• Choosing a fixed or variable interest rate mortgage
• How much can you borrow
• Mortgage term
• Best mortgage rate

Once you mortgage is secured you are ready to start house hunting.

You should apply for the Help to Buy scheme at this stage if you think you are eligible.
The Help to Buy (HTB) scheme helps first-time buyers of newly-built homes to buy a new house or apartment. It only applies to properties costing €500,000 or less.

You can claim relief on the lesser of €30,000 or 10% of the purchase price of the property.

Please contact our office for more information on completing the application process.

OLOS New Homes are one of Corks leading residential building companies and have been supplying new homes to the Cork market for over 20 years.
We strive to be a construction industry leader, providing value-added construction services to our customers by creating a successful partnership with them throughout the building process.

We provide homes of the highest standards built to the latest specifications with superb energy efficiency and sustainability into the future.

Our pledge is to establish lasting relationships with our customers by exceeding their expectations and gaining their trust through exceptional performance by every member of the construction team.

We are members of CIRI and the Homebond National House Builders Guarantee Scheme.

All our developments can be viewed at www.olosdev.com Including our current projects at

• Ard Abhainn Nua, Knockraha, Glanmire
• Coppenger Fields, Whites Cross, Cork
• Cluain Ard, Blarney
• Glenn Rua, Courtbrack

Paying a booking to OLOS New Homes or their agent allows you to secure a particular house on any of our developments. The deposit of €5000 is refundable should contracts not be exchanged on your house (if you change your mind). When paid it allows OLOS New Homes to instruct our solicitor to forward contracts to your appointed solicitor and begin the sales process.

Deposits are usually paid by bank transfer. Our accounts department will forward the necessary bank details to you once we have agreed your sale and provide a receipt once funds are received.

A payment of 10% of the purchase price, less your initial booking deposit is payable once you have signed the contracts, at which time monies paid become non-refundable.

Once you have chosen your property and are ready to pay your deposit you will need to supply your solicitor’s details to OLOS New Homes.

It is important to consider a number of criteria when appointing a solicitor to act for you in the purchase of your new home.

• Do they or their firm have a dedicated conveyancing department ?
• Are they experienced with knowledge of the market?
• Are they providing value for money?
  Note: Solicitors Fees – this can be a flat fee or a percentage of the purchase price. This is a cost that you may be able to negotiate when you appoint your solicitor.

Once OLOS New Homes have received your booking deposit we will instruct our solicitor to issue contracts to your solicitor for your chosen property.

This will include a site map for your property and details of the electrical and plumbing items included as standard in your purchase.

Your solicitor will review the contracts provided and complete all necessary documentation with you, including your mortgage offer from your bank.

You will then sign two copies of your contract and both will be returned to OLOS for countersigning. The balance of your deposit is also payable at this stage. This payment of 10% of the purchase price can be made up of your initial booking deposit, your Help to Buy funds and a further payment where necessary.

When this process is complete you will have legally agreed to purchase the property.

Once construction of your new home is complete, we will agree a closing date with your solicitor. You should instruct your solicitor to request the remainder of your funds from your bank to complete the sale. On receipt of this money your solicitor will transfer it to our solicitor to complete the transaction.

NOTE: Once your solicitor receives a completion notice from us you will have an agreed period of time to complete your purchase, this is usually 14 to 21 days.

All site visits will be arranged by the site manager on your chosen development.

Site visits are arranged when purchasers are interacting in relation to bespoke items in their new home, such as choosing kitchen, tiling and paint colours.

You will be required by your bank and indeed it is good practice to engage an engineer to inspect your property once complete.

Your engineer will arrange an appointment to inspect the property with our site manager and compile a snag list on your behalf. These will usually be cosmetic items they would like to see addressed before you take ownership.

One the inspection is completed a list should be sent to our site manager or office no later than 2 days after inspection. Once the list is completed on site you or your engineer should carry out a final inspection of the property

Before completing your sale make sure that the following items are arranged:

Bank Valuation:
Your bank will require a valuer to carry out a final bank valuation on the property. This must be arranged by the purchaser. Your site manager will be able to assist you with appropriate dates.

Home Insurance:
Make sure you have home insurance in place. Insurance can be put in place once your contracts are signed so don’t leave it until the last minute.

When all the legal paperwork has been completed, our sales department will arrange a suitable time to meet you at your new home and formally hand over your keys.

OLOS will provide a walk through of the property to help you with the initial start up of your new home. We will run through the heating system as well as providing some YouTube instruction videos via email on the operation of the system.

As your home is A rated, we will offer some advice and tips on maintaining the property going forward.

We will also conduct meter readings during handover and arrange for transfer of the electricity supply to your name.

We hope this guide has helped you at the start of your house buying journey and we look forward to seeing you in one of our developments in the near future.