Welcome to tax bytes for expats. The top tax tips

you want to know as an expat, the podcast is here to help

answer the common queries and concerns expats have when moving to

or from Ireland. Complex taxes explained

simply, we'll focus on the irish and international

tax issues to be aware of to ensure you save time,

money and stress. Hey

everyone, welcome to today's episode of Tax Bytes for

expats. There's often talk in the media and

elsewhere about buying in Ireland, getting on the housing market.

What's that look like for people when they're planning to move here? So today

we are going to speak with Miriam Finn of Miriam Finn property

Consulting. She's an independent buyer's agent for the Dublin area and

she manages all aspects of a property search on behalf of

both international and irish buyers. She locates suitable

properties, she arranges viewings, advises on legal requirements and

then helps with the bidding process. She has over 30 years experience in

finance and property and she works to take the stress off the shoulders of

her time poor clients and guides them through the process so that they

can find their dream home. Thank you so much for joining us, Miriam. It's really

nice to have you with us today. Thank you, Stephanie, and it's lovely to talk

to you today. Yeah, it's great to have you on. So before we

kick off and talk about the market, you know what people need to do. Tell

us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up in

this space. Yes, my career background,

I started off in retail banking and from there

I was part of brokers and mortgage businesses growing. So I worked

with permanent TSB and I worked in the broker center already from

there. Then I joined Sherry Fitzgerald Financial

Services and became a mortgage

broker, dealing directly with clients. So that went really

successfully. At that time, the broker business was, as I said, really

growing in Ireland. In 2010, on the back

of the financial crisis, I moved in Sherrifit Sherold and joined

Sherrifjerrold residential from there. Then we were selling

houses and I managed various different

residential branches in Sherry Fitzgerald. So then, having

spent nearly 20 years in Sherry Fitzgerald, I decided

really it was time for a change and a new challenge.

So I left and set up a marine

Finn property consultant. And we're just about to enter our third year as a

buyer's agent. And I suppose really the reason I set up as a

buyer's agent is agents. Estate agents act on behalf of

the vendors. So it's very hard to, you know, they're busy people.

It's very hard to get somebody to help you. And people used to call me

all the time and particularly from abroad and say, look, can you help me buy

a property here in Ireland? We're finding it really frustrating and

it is difficult to do it as an estate agent. When you're selling houses and

being paid by the vendor, you can only sell their property or what the company

is selling. So we set up really an independent and impartial

service. There are very few people doing this here in, in Ireland,

and since setting up, it's growing from strength and

strength and definitely a service people are needing, particularly from

abroad. Yeah, I can imagine. And I know this is a service

that perhaps buyers from the US are more familiar with.

Do you find that the majority of your clients tend to be non

irish? It's an interesting breakdown. Like, if we look back on last

year, 70% of our clients last year were international

and 30% were irish. From the international,

35% of our clients are from the US and Canada, and they

would be very used to having people, realtors

there act on behalf of the buyer and you pay the realtor to

help you buy. Also, then about 10% of our clients are coming from

Australia. And a little bit like yourself when you returned, and

it's breaking down, then we have, the remaining are UK and european and

Asia, and then the 30% we have here, which

we're probably seeing a growing increase, even on buyers who are here. And they

will be people who have come back from abroad and maybe a year or two

back and just their time poor. They have, you know, very successful

careers here and they want help in

sourcing and taking some of the stress off their hands when

buying a house. So that's actually particularly start off this year. A lot of

our clients are irish, but they have been abroad. So the likes of

consultants who have returned after a number of years been

abroad and they're quite busy people. Yeah. And I

suppose you're saving them time. What does it look like

if somebody contacts you, talk us through the process, if

somebody's considering using a buying agent, what does it look like? Yeah, generally,

let's say somebody is in the US or Australia, we would have a

consultation via Zoom. And just really, for me, it's to

understand their needs. Everyone has a wish list and so

it's really to see what they want to do, what their intention, and

it's very important to get kind of their timeframe of when they're returning.

There's lots of different reasons people are returning. Some people have done very

successfully in their careers and are moving back, but they're moving back because of

family or schools, and they generally

would have a timeframe in mind. We need to be back by

September or whatever time it is. And

buying a house here is very much different to say the US,

where a transaction can take about 30 days, where here, if

you've bought a house, it's a very. It can take anything from

three months to six months to complete a sale.

And that's something, you know, we have to clearly let our clients

understand and know the process. So we kind of start at the

very beginning of the process and tell them the steps that are involved from

the beginning and even the hurdles that might be involved in financing

that property when you're returning, taking up a new role here

in Ireland. So it's putting them in touch with a mortgage

broker, solicitors, to give them the legal advice.

Little things like applying for your PPS number. They, you know, whether

you're buying it with cash or mortgage, you must have

the, you know, all of that ready when you're purchasing the property in

Ireland. So I think it's. It's helping somebody understand what it

looks like here, because obviously, with clients coming from places like the

US and Australia, the actual method of buying a

house is different. What observations do people give you when they've been through the

process as to what was unexpected for them? When people

contact us initially, they're really frustrated. They're in

Australia, they're on a different time zone. They're trying to get in touch with

agents via email. They're not at viewing, so they're

not standing in front of the agent, so they're not being taken as

seriously as somebody who's at the front doorstep at a viewing on a

Saturday. So for them, it's been really frustrating. So for

me then, it's to tell them that, you know, we're going to do all that

groundwork. We do very detailed videos and links with

our clients. So not the fancy video you would see on any

of the websites. It's through our eyes. So, you know, there are a lot of

things people don't see. And particularly if you are in the US,

you know, not everyone who's buying from our Irish, we would have

clients who are looking to retire here, particularly from the US. Our clients

look to retire here for different reasons. We're on the edge of Europe.

They think Dublin, Ireland is really, really small. It's still a very

safe place to live. And politically they just want to leave

the US for different reasons. So they don't necessarily

know where they even want to go. Some of them have only been on a

holiday in Ireland, so it's really trying to help them,

first of all, distinguish locations, what's available, and even

pricing. Because here, if we price something, that's

not necessarily the price that house is going to sell at. So if you're reading

something on daft and then you're really frustrated because you see that it went 20%

above the asking price and sometimes there isn't defined

closing dates of bidding, so it's to tell them about the

process of even bidding and negotiating. Yeah. So it is

very, very frustrating when you're abroad trying to

do this on your own, I think, as well, you. Know, we have a very

old history. You know, we're known for, you know, having,

I suppose, law and legal rules. That are quite archaic.

And I'm not a legal expert by any stretch of the imagination, but, you

know, the process of buying a property is

convoluted here in my mind, compared to how defined it can

be in other countries. That was our experience in terms of, like,

helping people through the process of actually using a

solicitor. Do you introduce them to a solicitor as well or is that something that

they need to do themselves? Yeah, we

would introduce them to a number of solicitors, particularly solicitors who

would be used to dealing with people coming from abroad,

because there is, as you just said, title,

investigating title, it's all very different here. And the

solicitor, you know, there can be many obstacles when the solicitor gets

the contract for sale and the contract for sale is only issued when

you, you go, sale. Agreed. You know, it's really important

they have the right solicitor. You know, at the end of the day, it's, it's

buyer beware here. So when you sign a contract,

that's it. You can't go back. And title can

be even, you know, whether it's title or management

companies, when it's a private development or apartments, and

if it's not investigated right, there could be upcoming things that,

particularly in apartments that, you know, you would never be aware

of. You could find yourself financially having to pay

things for remedial work or whatever that needs to be done.

So your solicitor really has quite

a big job to do here when it comes to title or,

you know, just completing the sale. I'm working with the banks as well, because the

solicitor is kind of the bank as well. They would be ensuring

they have to go back to the bank and ensure everything is in order before

the check is drawn down as well. And so

it's really important to chat and know the process

legally before you begin the process. And do you

then, in terms of the process and how it looks, I'm just thinking

through what you've said there, which is you're kind of at the end of the

process and you found your property. If I go back to the

start, if somebody approaches you, you mentioned they're like,

identifying areas. Do you generally bring them a list of different properties

you think would suit, or do you try and actually just identify? We think this

is what you need. How does it work? Well, it's interesting. Most people you

would talk to initially have an area in mind or have

a rough area in mind, and it's quite interesting. To give you an

example, we had a couple living in New York, and

their vision was they loved to live up the mountains,

have a view of Dublin. To them, Dublin was

really, really small, and it would be great. And they loved

walking as we got to know them better. And we

did view properties with amazing views of Dublin Bay up the

mountains. And, you know, we would nearly go into detail of showing

them a video of the road down. And, you know, if we're at

this moment in time, you know, the weather isn't great, but if it's a frosty

time, it's difficult. We don't have the infrastructure like somebody in the

US might be used to that. The roads would be cleared straight away, and access

is quite easy. So what looked on the map as something that

they could get into the city center really quickly wasn't the case. And

we brought them over there. They came over and we brought them

all around and showed them different areas. And when they saw it, they

realized that, you know, this is not what we want. The husband

loved walking, but she loved the idea of being close to shops

and everything else. We ended up ultimately buying a property in Dublin

Ford, a kind of mews style property where they were getting the boast to both

worlds because they could get on the dart or whatever

and get up the mountains or along the sea and walk

everywhere. So people's expectations of what they originally want

can change. It's like anything. It's like buying a car, you know,

it can change. And it's only when we talk to them, meet them,

and understand their needs, we don't always meet. Some people we

would buy has never see the property until we meet them

and they have purchased this property. My colleague, it's two of us. My colleague

Kathy sometimes said, I'm like a tourist guide of Dublin, going around

different locations, explaining what's what. Because different people have

different needs. It could be they want to be close to a tennis club

or sailing. It just depends what they're looking for. And if you're looking

at it on a map, it all looks very small. But if you're looking at

driving through traffic, it's a different story. It's quite different. Yeah. Yeah.

And so, Miriam, in terms of the type of people that you work with,

I know we were talking before we started to record there about some

interesting developments you've seen in terms of buyers that come to you. Tell

us what you've seen in terms of the types of clients in addition

to what we've already mentioned. Yeah. Apart from the families

returning to the professional couples, what we are seeing, which is a kind of

unexpected market, is we're seeing a lot of people

purchasing for their children, whether they're abroad or they're,

let's say, outside Dublin and down the country due to the

rental costs, people are looking at, particularly cash

buyers looking at buying apartments close to UCD or

close to various colleges, that they may have one or two children who

are going to be going to college over the next couple of years. So,

very much so, again, from the US and Australia, that has been

happening because they just can't deal with the rental

and searching for that rental property. And at the end of the day, for

them, it's, you know, it is a good investment. They're putting some

of their cash funds into a property long term. At the end of the

day, some people, we also, they will use it later on in

retirement or just as a second property in Dublin at a later

date. So that's a, that's an increasing and a very

unexpected market that we would. Have thought of and

probably a different type of property potentially than maybe

the couple you mentioned earlier who are retiring here. Yeah. Dealing

in different parts of the market. What are your observations at an

overall level as to what the market is like at the moment, Miriam? Because I

know people are going to be interested to hear that. Yeah. You know, at the

moment, and we're just at the beginning of the beginning of

February, the market in January stock is really,

really tight. It's gone probably 20% on

last year in January. And that was tight then. And

I suppose what is causing that? Traditionally, and I suppose post

COVID and haven't been in the business for a long time, there was

a seasonality to buying and selling properties. And

I don't know if you remember the property supplements and auction times, they were

spring and autumn. So a lot of people are holding,

are planning more, I think their time and you're going to see

some more stock possibly coming on Patrick's Day would have very

traditionally been the start of the property market of releasing stock. But it

is tight for other reasons and one of the main reasons is

movement. If somebody's looking to either downsize

or upsize from a property, they're also find it very

difficult to source something. So that's why it's so

important now to be 100% on top of your game

when you are sourcing that property and being ready. And what does

ready look like? If there's people listening to this who are planning to move and

they'd like to have a chat with you. How far in advance do you like

the client to make contact? In an ideal scenario, if some clients. Will make

contact with us nearly twelve months before they begin. And it's

really important to make contact when you are thinking about

it because if it's somebody, let's say it is

mortgage, you're looking to finance that property. Anyone in

the mortgage business will tell you that particularly from abroad is

quite challenging and it can take some time. So it's getting that

independent mortgage advice from a broker

because not every bank, there's only a number, a couple of banks that will

lend to people coming home from abroad, you know.

Secondly then the search process can

take people we deal with. I don't think there's

anyone we're not dealing with for minimum of about six months.

So our clients are very long term relationships.

So you know, the buying process from start to

finish can take twelve months. At this moment in time from

deciding which one it is to actually moving in.

Yeah. And you know, again you might find that there are

people who don't know, let's say Dublin, so well

and they may know that they're taking up a poster, they've got a job

somewhere. So sometimes you'll find that people, you know, we would advise people

to rent in the location that maybe is most desirable

for twelve months, which we will help them do because that's another

challenging part. It's when you're abroad and looking to rent

something and you're going on the various staffed and different websites

and the minute you get on them you know it's gone or you can't get

the agent. So we would have, you know, we would deal directly with the

agents and help people source property to rent while

we're looking for them to buy. You know, average people, you know,

people sign a lease for maybe twelve months here to rent a

property. I don't know if you agree with this, so

please feel free to disagree with me if you think this is not accurate, but

I think one of the observations we had when we came back was

and being irish returning, I suppose we were at an advantage in any event

because we knew the system. But in Ireland sometimes, and maybe

more so outside of Dublin, what I often say to clients is don't underestimate the

power of actually speaking with a person versus

lodging. You know, a contact us form via a website. You know, when

you're looking for something that's in short supply, of course there's. There's

spreading processes and you know, you've got the likes of daft ie. Would you

agree with that? That like. I think. I think it's essentially what you've just said,

which is, you know, there's a shortage potentially, but we're able

to kind of help our clients deal with that practically.

I would totally agree with that. Having been

an agent for many years, the person that's talking to you is

the person most foremost in your mind. And

you know, it's really important that you are also aware of what's coming

up. So every day at this moment in time, I'm on to agents asking them

what's coming up. And it's not that there are many off market at the

moment because the market is so tight, but at least we know what's coming

up and we might get in there before everyone else. If

you are online and sending emails or, you

know, sometimes they're not going to be answered. The flow,

if you look at what comes true and on the other side, if you are

an agent on say, my home inquiries, they're huge.

They're huge, you know, and somebody is sieving through all of

them and maybe missing some of them sometimes as well.

So it's just to be there and it's

much easier if you're living here and it's on your doorstep,

but if you're not, it's very difficult. And as I said,

a lot of our clients come from referral business and

it's referral business because somebody they know, or, you

know, even an agent refers to us for because they're not in that.

That, you know, impartial and independent buying service.

And I think when we talk to our clients at the end of the

process, that is probably the most important thing to them that

we were there and feet on the ground, you're essentially able to

offer. You become like the middleman. So in an ideal

world, you know, I mean, something we did when we came back from Australia

was I went into town, walked into the local

property office, made friends with the girl on the desk. Turned out she was

mutual friend of somebody who we knew and she knew us. So

when we rang her, she knew who she was talking to, she remembered us, we'd

met her. And I suppose you physically can't do that if you're not in the

country. And it's even harder if you don't know why you're, you don't even know.

Where you want to live or where. You want to actually end up. I would

see the services you offer as invaluable in the sense of you're

essentially giving that person that connection on the ground with

what's actually happening. Whereas essentially sometimes the Internet

is outdated. In other words, you know, a listing could be there, but

there's things happening with it that the Internet doesn't show and are

relevant in the context of where it's actually going to end. Yes. There, you

know, if you're looking up after my home, you know, there's property

on that, you know, that just hasn't been changed, but it's gone. It's saying

greeds and that's first of all frustrating. And then

let's say you get to further and you get to identify

property and you start to put in an offer. Let's say you put in an

offer online. The agent will most. Now, I'm not saying

like, there could be a chance that the agent, let's say they know

Stephanie and they don't know Miriam because Miriam's in Australia, they're more likely

to deal with Stephanie because Stephanie has seen this property and so

she's not going to come down or come over in six weeks or eight weeks

time going, oh, I don't like it. I don't like to feel, you

know, we do that. And sometimes people

say you have to have a feeling to buy a property. Hopefully we give the

people that feeling. I think it only takes 11 seconds, by the way, when you

walk in the door, if, you know, if you like a property or not, but,

you know, to be taken seriously, you either need to see it yourself

or you need someone like us to see it for you. And

the other thing about it, we're professionals, we're

negotiators and agents like to deal with this because

ultimately we're not going to mess them around and I'm not going to bid on

four or five properties for the same client. So, you

know, it's important that we and this is any advice for

people when they are planning on purchasing

is, you know, be ready. And what I mean by be prepared is when

you are getting to that point of putting your offer forward, you have to

put your best foot forward. You have to, if you have loan approval, put

it in. You have to have loan approval. If it's subject to something and subject

to sale, do you know what really, they're not really going to entertain

you when there's other people ready to go.

So, you know, put your best foot forward and when you

are putting in the offer, because lots of other people will be

there. If it is a cash purchase, make sure you show the evidence of that

cash. Let them know that you have a solicitor so you are

ready to go and there won't be any delay. And it's important on the other

side then as well, for the buyer to make sure, as much as they can

tell, there won't be a delay on the vendor's side. Because a

lot of property that's for sale is executive sales.

And, you know, probate can take, it's quite a lengthy process.

Again, that's something people aren't aware of here. So property can go on the

market subject to probate, because probate can take six months

to come true. So as a viewer,

it's really important to, you know, also engage with the agent and

find out exactly what the vendors situation is.

Are you buying a house that they're subject to finding something? Because

again, that could be quite a lengthy process. It's the question

of what does your, what does the chain look like? You know, is it,

are we all waiting for something here or are we all ready to actually do

a deal and move on? That's, that's crucial, I suppose, especially for somebody

who maybe has a timeline. They need to move, they have a job, the kids

start in school. Those things matter. Miriam, if people are listening to this and

they're interested, I suppose, to have a chat with you or learn more about your

services, tell us how, where they find you, you know, what

your suggestions would be. If they have questions and they listen. To this, yeah, just

contact me. It's marianfinnproperty, ie, and

they can contract us through our website or we're

happy to have a consultation with them. You know, there is no cost to

that. We'll have a chat with them, go through the process, and then we'll take

it from there. That's brilliant. Yeah. And it could be very early days, as you

said, it could be a year or two before really going to do

something, but it's good to even connect with them. We can't tell what the

property market is going to be like in a year or two, but we can

certainly give them, you know, the directions to go in

to get started, and we're always there, you know? You

know, we're happy. We love talking. We love property, so we're happy to talk

to anyone anytime. Really brilliant. Thank you so much. It's been brilliant

to talk with you. I think there's some really brilliant takeaways from what you've told

us and just even to get a snapshot of where things are at, particularly in

the Dublin market at the moment. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks, Stephanie.

It was lovely to talk to you today.

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