Many of you would have been in the process
of buying or selling a property prior to the current pandemic. Some
transactions may be at a more advanced stage than others.

At Healy Crowley Ahern, we are striving to
keep the momentum going with these transactions and doing all within our power
to get transactions over the line. 
Luckily, most of our colleagues in the property sector are operating
remotely or behind closed doors to ensure ‘business as usual’ for the most
part.

As a property transaction requires the
involvement of a number of bodies and professionals, we are liaising with
banks, engineers and auctioneers regularly to keep up to date with how they are
operating their business.  For now, the
good news is that while there may be longer delays than usual due to businesses
ensuring they comply with government guidelines, they are all working towards a
common goal of getting property transactions over the line for people.

For people who are buying a property and
have obtained a Mortgage to finance the purchase, we advise the following: –

1. Ensure you contact your
   solicitor to advise of the expiry dates of your Loan Offer.  Usually, a Loan Offer lasts for 6months,
   however there are circumstances where Special Conditions/ Terms of a Mortgage
   may state otherwise.  If this is about to
   expire, you should contact your Bank to request an extension.
2. Ask your Mortgage Advisor if
   there are any further documents you need to complete/ obtain to satisfy the
   Banks requirements before they will release/ drawdown  funds to your solicitor e.g. Mortgage
   Protection and House Insurance.
3. Valuations as part of your Loan
   Offer, these typically remain valid for 3 to 4 months.  The Terms of your Loan Offer may require you
   to engage an Auctioneer to carry out a revised Valuation after this time
   period.  This is important to check and
   note that the Auctioneer must be approved by the Bank (on their list of Panel
   Auctioneers).

As part of any property transaction,
depending on what stage you are at, there will be documents for signing i.e.
Contracts for Sale, Bank documentation (where you are getting a Mortgage) and
Closing Documents (in the context of a sale). 
Some of our team are working behind closed doors and others are working
remotely, to ensure we are at all times observing government guidelines to
maintain the health and wellbeing of our clients, staff, family and colleagues.

We are arranging advice via telephone,
email and videoconferencing (zoom) in an effort to keep all channels of
communication open and transactions progressing.  For some documents i.e. Contracts for Sale,
with your Authority, we will be able to sign on your behalf as agent.  For other documents, which you are required
to sign and a solicitor is required to witness, we can arrange for signing
while adhering to social distancing policies. We are getting creative here and
it may involve witnessing of documents through car windscreens or closed
windows! 

While these are uncertain times, please be
assured that we are doing everything within our control to move matters along.
We will keep up-to-date of current circumstances and adapt accordingly.

We hope you have found this information of
use and please contact Colm Kelly or Orla Howe for any further queries.