Buying a house in Ireland: the 12-step checklist.

Three groups of checks, in cost order: first the location's records (flood history, radon, mica/pyrite designations, BER, planning applications, crime statistics, schools, broadband and sold prices), the 18 checks PropertyPack runs for any Eircode in about a minute, free snapshot first; then, once sale agreed, the professional checks: a surveyor for the building and a solicitor for the title; finally the closing checks: contracts, insurance including flood cover, and closing costs.

The solicitor checks the paperwork: title, planning compliance, boundaries, contracts. The surveyor checks the physical building: structure, roof, damp, defects. A data check covers the location's official records: flood, radon, planning pipeline, crime, prices. All three answer different questions, and skipping any one of them is where expensive surprises come from.

Typical additional costs: solicitor's conveyancing fees €1,500–€3,000 plus outlays; a pre-purchase survey €450–€799; stamp duty at 1% of the price for most homes (higher bands apply on higher values: see Revenue for current rates); lender's valuation fee; mortgage protection insurance; and a €29 data check per property you're serious about.

After your offer is accepted, before contracts are signed. Surveying every house you bid on would cost thousands; that's why the order matters: run the cheap location checks on every contender, and pay for the surveyor once, on the house you're actually buying.

Recorded flood events at the address, a mica/pyrite-designated area (Donegal, Mayo and others: check the DCB designation), no BER or an F/G rating, dense planning activity that changes the area, and sold-price comparables far below the asking price. None is automatically a deal-breaker, but every one of them should change what you ask, what you offer, or both.

Under Central Bank lending rules, most first-time buyers need a minimum 10% deposit, with mortgage borrowing capped at four times gross income. Get approval in principle before you start bidding: sellers take bidders with approval in place more seriously, and it tells you your real ceiling.

The location checks apply unchanged: new estates can sit on flood-risk land or in high-radon areas like any other address. What changes: a snag list replaces much of the structural survey's role, HomeBond/structural warranties cover certain defects, and Help to Buy may apply. Timing also differs, because you often go sale agreed long before the house physically exists.

No. Steps one to four are desk checks of official data, which the report runs for you in minutes. The survey is a later step, on the house you have decided to chase.

No. Enter the Eircode, get the free snapshot in about a minute, and pay €29 for the full report as a guest. If you are checking several houses, a pack of 3 reports costs €59 with a free account.

Run the free snapshot on each one. If you want the full report on more than one, a pack of 3 reports costs €59 with a free account, and the credits never expire.