Solicitor Fees for Selling a House in Ireland

Unlike the estate agent, your solicitor’s fee is largely fixed rather than proportional. The work involved in selling a €250,000 house and a €600,000 house is broadly the same, which is why flat-fee quoting has become common and why a percentage quote gets expensive at the top end.

Outlay is money your solicitor pays out to third parties on your behalf and then recovers from you. It is not their fee and they do not profit from it.

On a sale it covers Land Registry searches to prove clean title, copies of the folio and file plan, commissioner for oaths fees where declarations are sworn, and bank handling charges on the transfer of funds.

It matters when comparing quotes because a firm quoting €1,400 “plus outlay” and one quoting €1,750 all-in may cost you the same. Always ask for professional fee, VAT and estimated outlay as one number.

Irish firms quote both ways. A percentage is typically around 0.5% of the sale price with a stated minimum.

The higher your sale price, the more a flat fee is worth to you — because the work does not scale with the price even though a percentage does. Above roughly €320,000 a flat fee usually wins.

On a sale, their job is to prove you own what you say you own and can pass clean title. That means:

• Taking up your title deeds, usually held by your lender if there is a mortgage
• Drafting the contract for sale and sending it to the buyer’s solicitor
• Answering the buyer’s requisitions on title — a standard set of questions about the property
• Dealing with planning compliance documentation for any extension or conversion
• Obtaining your mortgage redemption figure and arranging for the loan to be cleared
• Handling management company documentation if it is an apartment
• Closing the sale, discharging the mortgage and agent commission, and paying you the balance

Quotes assume a straightforward sale. These are the things that make it otherwise, and every one of them is worth flagging at the quoting stage rather than discovering in week eight:

Unregistered title. Older properties may still be held under the older Registry of Deeds system rather than registered in the Land Registry. First registration adds cost and, more significantly, months.

Planning non-compliance. An extension, attic conversion or garage conversion without a certificate of compliance. You will need an engineer or architect to certify it — typically €300 to €800 on top.

Probate. If the property is being sold from an estate, the sale cannot close until the Grant issues. That is separate legal work with its own fee, covered in our guide to selling an inherited house.

Boundary discrepancies. Where the folio map does not match what is on the ground — common with older rural properties.

Marital status and family home declarations. Straightforward in most cases, more involved following separation or divorce.

Almost always at closing, out of the proceeds. Your solicitor receives the buyer’s funds, redeems your mortgage, deducts their own fee and the estate agent’s commission, and transfers the balance to you.

You may be asked for some outlay during the process, and some firms request a modest payment on account at the outset. Neither should be large.

Get the quote in writing, all in. Professional fee, VAT and estimated outlay as one figure. It is the only way to compare firms honestly.

Ask how many residential sales they close a year. Conveyancing is volume work and a firm that does it constantly moves faster than one that does it occasionally.

Ask who will actually handle the file — the solicitor you meet, or a legal executive. Either is fine, but you want to know who to ring.

Tell them about complications up front. The extension, the probate, the title you are not sure about. It changes the quote a little and the timeline a great deal, and nobody benefits from finding out late.

Instruct them before you go to market. This is the single most useful thing you can do to make an Irish sale move quickly.