01 Choosing Your New Home
When you have decided on a home and you wish to purchase, you will be required to pay an agreed booking deposit. This will be given to the Douglas Newman Good representative and you will receive a receipt in return. Unless otherwise stated this deposit is refundable at any time until contracts are signed by you and the builder with the balance of the relevant deposit paid. This information will be contained within your booking deposit receipt. In many cases the deposit is paid directly to the builders. Check your receipt for details.

02 Choosing Your Solicitor
In order to purchase property it is necessary to retain the legal services of a solicitor. On payment of a booking deposit or immediately thereafter you will be required to nominate a solicitor to act on your behalf. If you do not have a solicitor retained DNG will provide a list of solicitors from a panel that you may choose from. These solicitors are completely independent and will always act in your best interests. If you already have your own solicitor we do not wish to intrude on any relationship you may already have. After booking your new home you will receive the following paperwork (where applicable) for you to complete:

Suppliers/Extras List: (where available) for you to contact regarding changes to your new home. It will not be possible for any alterations/changes to be made until such time as a contract is signed and the full deposit paid. Your DNG representative will also provide you with a site map, house plans where available and specifications of the property you have agreed to purchase.

03 Applying For Your Mortgage
You may already have received loan approval in advance of your property search. Now that you have actually purchased, it is time to commit to your chosen lender. We would always advise employing a suitably qualified mortgage broker who deals with virtually every institution to act on your behalf in this important decision. Our sister company GMC Mortgages are Dublin’s largest retail mortgage broker and can offer you in nearly every case the best deal in the market place. If you are already loan approved through another broker or financial institution let GMC Mortgages provethemselves by trying to beat your current rate. It may cost you a few minutes but could save you thousands of euro. When you have chosen the financial institution that will finance your purchase you will have to complete a mortgage application form. This form will require your personal and financial details and information on the property you wish to buy. When submitting your application you will also be asked to provide various enclosures which will normally include, salary certificate (completed by your employer/s), recent P60/s or completed accountant’s report if self employed, 3 recent payslips, 6 months current account statements, statement of existing borrowings, statement of personal savings, valuation fee (if necessary) and photo id (copy of driving licence or passport). After receiving all your information the financial institution will then send out a valuer to inspect your chosen property. The valuation report is sent to the institution and once they are satisfied they will issue written loan approval.

04 Signing Contracts
The solicitors acting on behalf of the builder/developers will then issue the contracts to your solicitors. The contracts will normally request that you sign within 21 days of receipt by your solicitor. It is extremely important to sign and pay the required additional deposit, normally the balance of 10% of the purchase price, prior to the 21 day (or other specified time period) deadline elapsing, as whilst the builder/ developer always retains the right to sell the property to another party, the chances will be far diminished should you sign within the specified time. Formal written loan approval also issues directly to your solicitor. It is usual that you would sign this at the same time as signing contracts. However, in some limited cases builders/developers will accept signed contracts subject to receiving loan approval within a specified number of days..

05 Electricity and Gas Supply & Life and Building Insurance (where applicable)
A representative from DNG or from the builders/developers office will contact you a week or two prior to you moving into your new home and ask you to make applications to both Bord Gais and the ESB. An electrical completion certificate must accompany the electricity supply forms. It would be usual for you to pick up the certificate from the foreman on site; alternatively it may be posted to you home, please check with the DNG representative. Gas supply applications can now be made over the telephone and a member of Bord Gais will collect a completion certificate directly from the site. At this time you should contact your mortgage lender or your broker and put in place both life cover and building insurance policies in anticipation of the closing of the sale.

06 Inspecting Your Completed Home
A representative from DNG or from the builders/developers office will contact you shortly before your house is completed and will request that an arrangement be made for you and/or your surveyor to inspect the property as soon as it is complete and to prepare a snag list, if necessary. At this time your solicitor will receive a completion notice indicating that snagging and closing should be undertaken within a specified period of time, normally 14 days. It is essential to carry out this inspection within the time frame given as the builder/developer will deem the property complete and ready for closing if an appointment is not made within the required time. You will be called once again to confirm the snagging items are completed and invited to re inspect the property. It can normally be expected that the whole snagging to closing process will take a fortnight.

07 Mortgage Interest Relief
For you to qualify for tax relief on mortgage interest repayments, the interest must relate to money that you have borrowed to purchase, repair or improve your sole or main residence, situated in Ireland. For example, you cannot claim mortgage interest relief for interest on a loan used to buy a holiday home or investment property, but you can claim it if the loan is to extend or improve your main home.
If you work and pay taxes in the UK (including Northern Ireland) but your sole or main residence is in the State, you can claim relief on the interest you pay on the mortgage. You will need to have a Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) in order to claim the relief.
However, you cannot claim mortgage interest relief if your sole or main residence is in the UK (including Northern Ireland) and you work and pay taxes in Ireland.
Relief is also subject to upper limits, which will depend on your personal situation and whether you are a first-time buyer - see 'Rates' for details.
Your entitlement to mortgage interest relief depends on the start date of your mortgage.
* If you took out the mortgage in 2003 or earlier, your entitlement expired in 2009 under the provisions of the Supplementary Budget of April 2009.
* If the start date of your mortgage is between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2011, the Finance Act 2010 provides that your entitlement to relief will continue at the current rates until the end of 2017.
* If you take out a mortgage between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012, the Finance Act provides for lower rates of relief and lower ceilings on the amounts of qualifying interest.
* For mortgages taken out after 31 December 2012, no mortgage interest relief will be allowed. .

Should you require any additional information, please contact us at: New Homes Division on 01 4912600

DNG will do whatever is possible to ensure the purchase of your new home is as simple and straightforward as it could be. Our staff are available to you at every stage of the purchase process and will endeavour to help and assist with any query that may arise. We hope the above guide is of assistance to you at this very important time.

Please be aware that this section of the guide is for new properties only purchased from DNG New Homes Division. As other agents and builders offer different services one cannot assume that their systems are similar to those represented in this guide.