First-time buyers | Finnegan Maguire Financial Advisors
Finnegan Maguire Financial Advisors
First-time buyers

Your first mortgage, explained before you start.

What you can borrow, what deposit you need, what Help to Buy is actually worth, and the order to do things in. No jargon and no assumptions that you already know how any of it works.

Home  /  Mortgages  /  First-time buyers
4 x income the Central Bank limit for first-time buyers
10% minimum deposit of the purchase price
€30,000 maximum Help to Buy on a new build
Start here

The three numbers that decide everything

Add the first two together and you have your maximum purchase price. That is the number to have before you go near a property website.

01 What you can borrow. Four times your gross income as a first-time buyer, combined if you are buying with someone.
02 What deposit you have. At least 10% of the purchase price, and Help to Buy can supply a big chunk of it on a new build.
03 What you can afford to repay. Not the same as what a lender will give you. Lenders stress-test, and so should you.
Finnegan Maguire Financial Advisors

Get your figure before you go looking.

You will leave knowing what you can borrow, what you need saved, and which lender suits your situation.

Book a first meeting
4 x income The Central Bank limit for first-time buyers.
Deposit 10% minimum
Help to Buy €30,000 max
Advice No charge
The State support

Help to Buy, plainly

A refund of income tax and DIRT you have already paid over the previous four years, given to you towards the deposit on a newly built home.

€30,000 the maximum, or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is lower
Four years of income tax and DIRT you have already paid
New builds only it does not apply to second-hand houses

It is also capped at the tax you actually paid, and the scheme runs to the end of 2029. It does not apply to second-hand houses. That single fact changes what a lot of first-time buyers go looking for.

The process

The order to do things in

Seven steps, and the only one most people know about is the third. Doing them in this order is what keeps a purchase from falling apart.

01
Get your figure We work out what you can borrow and what you need saved.
Week 1
02
Approval in principle A lender confirms in writing what they will lend, subject to conditions.
1 to 3 weeks
03
Go looking Bid with confidence, because you know your ceiling.
As long as it takes
04
Sale agreed Booking deposit paid, solicitor instructed, valuation arranged.
Week 1 after bid
05
Loan offer The formal offer, once the lender has the valuation and final documents.
2 to 6 weeks
06
Protection in place Mortgage protection is a condition of drawdown.
Alongside step 5
07
Drawdown and keys Funds transfer to your solicitor, contracts close.
Varies
The application

What lenders look at

Your current account is the application. Lenders read six months of it closely, and most refusals come down to something in this list.

01 Six months of current account statements. They read them. Regular savings or rent payments demonstrate you can carry the repayment.
02 Your existing debts. Car loans, credit cards and buy-now-pay-later all reduce what you can borrow.
03 Job stability. Usually out of probation, and contract work is fine with the right lender.
04 Where your deposit came from. Gifts from family are normal and acceptable, but they must be documented properly.
The mistake we see most

Taking out a car loan or a credit union loan halfway through the process.

It feels unconnected and it is not. Every euro of monthly repayment reduces the mortgage a lender will give you, often by several times the loan amount.

Talk to us before you borrow for anything else, even if it seems unrelated to the house.

Ask us first ↓
The bit nobody budgets for

Costs beyond the deposit

Budget a few thousand on top of your deposit. Running out of cash at the closing stage is a genuinely common and avoidable problem.

Stamp duty 1% of the purchase price on most homes, rising to 2% above €1 million.
Solicitor A fixed fee plus outlay, agreed with them before they start.
Valuation Required by the lender before the loan offer issues.
Survey Optional, but strongly advised on a second-hand home.
Mortgage protection A condition of drawdown. We arrange it alongside the mortgage.
Home insurance Also a condition of drawdown, and in place from the day you close.
Book a call

Pick a date and time that suits you.

No sales pitch, just a conversation about what you can borrow, which lender suits you and what it would cost. You will get a written summary either way.

Cian O’Sullivan Director and Financial Adviser, Finnegan Maguire Financial Advisors
30 minutes Phone or video call, no charge
Rather just ring? Call 0818 44 55 66 or email go@splash.ie
What we advise on

Everything we look after

Mortgages Buying, moving or switching First-time buyers Approval, deposit and Help to Buy Pensions What yours is actually heading for Retirement The lump sum, the tax and the income Life and income cover Insuring what pays for everything Specified illness A lump sum on diagnosis Savings and investments Money that is not going into a pension Inheritance The tax your family pays For business owners Getting money out of the company Keyperson cover Protecting the business itself Stepping back or selling You get one exit, no practice run Find an old pension From a job you left Mortgages Buying, moving or switching First-time buyers Approval, deposit and Help to Buy Pensions What yours is actually heading for Retirement The lump sum, the tax and the income Life and income cover Insuring what pays for everything Specified illness A lump sum on diagnosis Savings and investments Money that is not going into a pension Inheritance The tax your family pays For business owners Getting money out of the company Keyperson cover Protecting the business itself Stepping back or selling You get one exit, no practice run Find an old pension From a job you left