Selling a house in Ireland - with listing

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MIL's House

My MIL is trying to sell her house her house in Ireland to move over closer to us in Scotland. It has been on the market for 6 months with a handful of viewings and one offer well below asking price which just isn't doable at the moment.
I don't believe the agent she has engaged is particularly useful, the photos are shit, she had to fight to get a sign up in the garden just this week and he's not yet put up a sign at the entrance to the estate. He keeps telling her that the person who made this low offer is still interested but can't afford any more . However the contract she has signed says she must give him 1.5% of the selling price whether or not it is him that sells it, so she thinks changing agents isn't an option. When she asked about the photos he said it would be July before the photographer with the wide angled lens could come out.
She is considering paying a professional photographer to take new photos tomorrow.
I'm not particularly hot on the intricacies of Irish property and contract law so any insights and advice would be most appreciated.

Hopeful bump

Is it northern or rep of Ireland??

Hi, is your MIL in the Republic of Ireland? Can she not change estate agent? Is the property listed on daft.ie. Not sure how the contract states he gets a fee even if he doesn’t sell it, why did she sign that? 6 mts and he has only just put a sign up? He sounds useless!

It’ll be a contract that gave the estate agent sole selling rights? How is your MIL’s mental state. Maybe she could go down the route of getting a doctor to say she was not of sound enough mind to know/understand what she was signing?😬

Get her to send you a full copy of the contract she's signed.
Most EA sole agency contracts are time limited, after which you can give notice to leave them.
Start a thread in legal if it's not clear.

Its really difficult if she is selling a house outside of a main city or town - I know as I did it 2 years ago for parents. The estate agents are not on the same wavelength as a city agent - time is a different concept!!!!

Get the contract and read it and see if there is a time limit date or get it challenged - there is no way that if she sells the house in 3 years time that this agent should get a % so see what it says.

The agent could have a preferred buyer in mind - we had this and when they do, they refuse to countenance any other option (it seems often as if the agent is working for the buyer not the seller in a country town, especially if you do not live there but the buyer does).

Thank you!
She is in the Republic of Ireland, on the outskirts of a small town.
The house is on daft.ie and myhome.ie apart from the agents own website that seems to be the extent of its online presence.
Unfortunately MIL is a fully employed and functioning member of society, unless we go down the route that it was so soon after FILs death which she would hate then I don’t think we’d get far that she wasn’t of sound mind.
Will try and get her to send me a copy of the contract ASAP

I will admit there is a shocking difference on how they market houses over here in the rep of Ireland. Photos are never staged etc so that doesn’t surprise me. In regards to the sign in the garden a lot of ppl are opting not to have them as it’s drawing attention to rural properties in terms of theft etc.

Most houses in Ireland will only be listed on daft and myhome. Those are the sites we all use to search, you really don't need to be anywhere else.

Thank you @Youngandfree this is the kind of insight I need to try and help support her.
And thanks @UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername that’s really helpful.
It is just so far removed from what we expect over here I struggle to understand what might help and what wouldn’t.

House selling over here is completely different. We sold and completed in the Uk In the space of a month, over here in Ireland it took 8months from first offer to completion (and that didn’t involve banks 😬🙄) so it will drag on no doubt.

A decent estate agent will take good photos and it is up to yourself to ‘stage’ the house. My home.ie is the right move of Ireland and if it’s up there then it will reach the relevant audience. Perhaps the area just isn’t in demand and the asking is too high. I would look at new pics and the local paper ads also

I’m getting the gist of that now!
It’s hard because I want to go in all guns blazing and help her out, but I’m realising that’s not going to helpful here.
She has also said she has been told by solicitors that she can’t move over until it sells, do you happen to know if that’s right @Youngandfree?

@LouLouLoupee I don’t see why not, but it might make it harder to manage viewings and paperwork etc if she is abroad. But that is funny a funny requirement

Is she making excuses as she has changed her mind perhaps?

I don't think the pictures are that bad, to be honest. The house looks neat, tidy and basically OK for a small-ish bungalow. Bit twee and frilly but that's a taste thing and nothing a few pots of paint wouldn't fix.

If the Irish market is generally slow, then there's no point jumping in and making expensive alterations to the property/

House looks nice, nothing wrong with those photos. Couldn't see a floor plan?
Don't know enough (anything) about the local market to comment on price.

The photos are terrible

They need re taking on a brighter day and from a decent angle.

Where is the link to see property?

I just realized there is a link 😂 I’m going to be honest for Irish standards those photos are actually very good!! As I said it is not the same as uk at all over here. I have bought and sold in both countries, believe me!!

The photos are terrible confused

They need re taking on a brighter day and from a decent angle.

That is not going to happen the EA will think she is batshit!!

Are you sure it's not over priced? No. 11 in that estate which is a 2 bed sold for 110 a few months ago,no. 46 and 25 which I think are 3 beds sold for 113 and 121 last year. I'm not anywhere near clonmel though so cant comment on the market there. I live in small town Ireland too though and was just looking the other night at house prices and noticed that they were all selling for about 10-15k under asking.

As for the photos I think look grand, pretty standard for here I think unless they are mega expensive houses then they get a bit fancier.

Yes it's overpriced - sorry I hadn't seen the link (!!!) when I posted before. It would really need to be open plan with bifolds to get that kind of price.

I say this as someone who sold two years ago and we only sold because we were the cheapest house - all the other houses in the small town are still for sale.

I think the legal worry about moving before the house sells might be about capital gains tax. You don't pay it on your primary residence but that tax relief tapers off after you move out. You get a period of time when you still get full relief after you move out (perhaps three years I'm not sure) put then you pay CGT on a percentage of the difference between buying price and selling price. Plus, who knows what the situation will be with double taxation agreements after Brexit, there's an outside possibility she would have to pay CGT in both countries.

Plus, there is the more physical concern that houses deteriorate if they are not lived in, it would be much harder to sell from that point of view if she isn't there.

The photos have been changed now, yesterday I think the new ones went up. They are a million times better and much better than most other houses currently listed in the area. I’m just annoyed that she’s paid out her own pocket for them. I’m not seeing many floor plans when I look so I’m guessing it’s normal not to have them. She has been told it was priced that high as it’s the best house on the street, it’s been extended, has 2 bathrooms and solid outbuildings. But at the end of the day it’s only worth what someone will pay for it.
@Xichuensis can you tell me where you found that info? I’ve been looking but apart from the property register (which started to infuriate me) not been able to see what you’ve found.
Thanks for that @BlackAmericanNoSugar, I’m wondering if I should propose she takes the low offer in order to sell quickly and avoid risk. We can help out a bit if she finds herself stuck.
I really appreciate you all taking the time to respond, such an insight into the Irish property market.