Selling a house in Dublin: the steps, from valuation to keys

Most homes in Dublin are still sold the traditional way, by private treaty: an agent markets the house, buyers make offers, and you accept one. It looks simple from the outside. In practice there’s a fixed order to things, a set of rules your agent has to follow, and a long legal tail after the offer is accepted.

How long it takes

We matched Dublin homes that sold since the start of 2024 to the date they first went on the market. The median time from listing to the sale closing was 152 days, roughly five months. The middle half of sales took between four and seven months.

Most of that isn’t time on the market. MyHome’s figures for early 2026 put the median time to sale agreed at just over a month. That leaves three to four months for the legal work, which matches what IPAV’s auctioneers reported when they were surveyed in 2023. So when people say a sale “took ages”, they usually mean the conveyancing.

Price makes a difference. Homes listed under €400,000 closed in a median of 147 days; homes over €1.5 million took 199. You can see the full breakdown by district, price and type in how long it takes to sell a house in Dublin.

1. Get a solicitor before anything else

It feels backwards, but the solicitor comes first. They need to get your title deeds back from your lender, check your planning and compliance paperwork, and have a contract ready to issue the moment you agree a sale. Most delays later on come from paperwork nobody looked at until a buyer’s solicitor asked for it. Our guide to conveyancing for sellers covers the legal side in detail.

2. Get a BER certificate

You can’t advertise a home for sale without a Building Energy Rating. The rating has to appear in every ad, brochure, sign and online listing, and a copy has to be given to anyone interested in buying. Advertising without one is an offence carrying a fine of up to €5,000.

A BER lasts ten years, unless you change the heating, extend, or otherwise alter the house enough to affect it. Since 24 May 2026 new certificates use a simpler scale of eight bands, from A0 to G, without the old A1/B2-style sub-grades. Certificates issued on the old scale are still valid. For a typical Dublin house, expect to pay between about €160 and €300.

3. Choose an agent, and read what they give you

Any agent you use must hold a licence from the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA). You can check this on the PSRA’s public register. Two documents matter, and the law sets deadlines for both.

The valuation. Within seven working days of you asking, the agent has to give you a written Advised Market Value (AMV). That’s their reasonable estimate of what a willing buyer would pay after proper marketing. It can be a single figure or a range. Here’s the rule that protects you: the agent can’t then advertise or quote an asking price below the AMV, or below the bottom of the range. If the market changes, the AMV can only be adjusted with your written consent, and the PSRA can ask the agent to show how they arrived at it.

Be wary of the agent who values highest. A big number wins instructions, but a house launched above what the market will pay sits there, and stale listings tend to sell for less in the end.

The letter of engagement. Within seven working days of starting work, the agent has to send you a letter of engagement. If you don’t sign and return it within the next seven working days, they have to stop. It must set out, among other things:

• the services they’ll provide, and the fee or commission rate and when it’s payable, plus VAT;
• for a sale, the AMV and whether it’s a sole agency, joint agency or multiple agency;
• the advertising they’ll do and what it’ll cost you;
• what you owe them if you end up selling some other way;
• how long the agreement runs and how to end it.

Fees. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) puts agent fees at between 1% and 2.5% plus VAT. In Dublin, most fall between 1% and 1.5% plus VAT at 23%. On a €500,000 sale at 1.25%, that’s €7,687.50 including VAT. Advertising is often charged separately, sometimes up front, so check whether it’s included.

4. Get the house ready

Fix the things a buyer’s surveyor will notice, clear out clutter, and make the photographs count. Gather your paperwork while you’re at it. We’ve looked at what’s actually worth doing in getting your house ready for sale. You’ll also need a list of the fixtures and fittings that are included in the sale.

5. Offers and bidding

Bidding in Ireland is open in the sense that bidders are told the current highest offer, but not who made it. The rules, set out in the PSRA’s Minimum Standards Regulations, are stricter than many people realise:

• Your agent has to pass on every offer to you, with its conditions, unless you’ve told them in writing not to.
• Each bidder gets written confirmation of their offer.
• The agent can’t imply an offer exists when it doesn’t. Inventing bids is a breach of the regulations.
• If a bidder is the agent, someone who works for them, or a relative, you have to be told in writing.
• The agent has to keep a record of all offers. Buyers can ask for a version with other bidders’ details removed.

Many Dublin agents now take offers through an online platform, with all bids going through it. Phone offers usually need proof of funds and an email to confirm them. When bidding stalls between two or three people, agents often ask for “best and final” offers in writing by a deadline. That’s common practice rather than anything in the rules, and every offer still has to reach you.

Don’t judge offers on price alone. A buyer with mortgage approval in hand and nothing to sell is worth more than a slightly higher bid from someone who’s still in a chain.

6. Sale agreed

Once you accept an offer, the buyer usually pays a booking deposit to the agent, and the ad changes to “sale agreed” within ten working days. Two things to understand:

• It isn’t binding. Under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009, a contract for the sale of land has to be in writing and signed before it can be enforced. Until both of you sign, either side can walk away. That includes you accepting a higher offer, which is legal in Ireland and known as gazumping.
• The booking deposit is refundable. The agent can only hold one booking deposit at a time unless there’s good reason, and has to return it within ten working days if the sale falls through.

7. Contracts, closing and keys

From here your solicitor takes over. They issue contracts, the buyer’s solicitor checks the title, the buyer signs and pays the deposit (normally 10% of the price, including the booking deposit), then you sign and the sale becomes binding. Closing usually follows a few weeks later: the money arrives, your mortgage is paid off, and you hand over the keys. The conveyancing guide walks through each step.

The most common reason sales collapse at this stage is time. The buyer’s mortgage approval in principle typically lasts six to twelve months, and the loan offer itself around six. A slow sale can see either one run out. In the IPAV survey, 70% of auctioneers said loan offers occasionally lapsed or were withdrawn because of conveyancing delays.

The money: costs and tax

Cost	Typical amount
Estate agent	About 1% to 1.5% of the price + 23% VAT in Dublin
Solicitor	About €1,000 to €2,500 + 23% VAT, plus outlays
BER certificate	About €160 to €300 for a house
Advertising	Varies; check if it’s in the agent’s fee

Capital Gains Tax. If the house has been your only or main home for the whole time you’ve owned it, the gain is exempt under Principal Private Residence relief. The last 12 months of ownership always count as lived in, and the relief covers gardens of up to an acre. CGT at 33% can apply to a second home, a rental, or a home you were away from for part of the time. If you owe it, the tax for a sale between January and November is due by 15 December; for a December sale, by 31 January.

Homes over €1 million. If you sell for more than €1 million, you need a CG50A clearance certificate from Revenue. Without it, the buyer has to hold back 15% of the price and pay it to Revenue. Apply in good time.

Local Property Tax. LPT has to be paid up to and including the year of sale, and Revenue clearance has to be in place before closing. In Dublin, clearance is automatic if you sell for €500,000 or less, or for no more than 25% above the top of the band you declared. Otherwise your solicitor applies, which usually takes about 12 working days. If you sell after 1 November 2025, you’ll also need to have filed your 2026 LPT return on the new valuation before closing.

Other ways to sell

Online auction. Some homes are sold through online auction platforms. When the auction ends, the winning bid is a binding contract straight away, with a non-refundable 10% deposit. The Law Society has warned buyers about some of the risks, including the auction firm acting for both sides. It suits some sellers, particularly of homes that are hard to value, but it puts off buyers who need mortgage approval and a survey first.

Public auction. Traditional auctions are now uncommon for ordinary homes in Dublin. The AMV rule still applies: any price the agent quotes, including at the auction itself, can’t be below it.