Hi, I'm Chris and my wife is Jeannie. We live in Dallas and are going to move to Ireland when we retire. Now we just need to retire! (Hopefully soon.) My two biggest questions are in the areas of real estate and health care. Liam (or anyone else) I noticed in an earlier reply that you said the Model we use in the US with a realtor representing the buyer isn't common in Ireland. Did I get that right? So buyers tend to represent themselves? With being able to search on the internet (I've found myhome.ie to be very good) I actually do think that the buyer's agent Model is becoming kind of outdated. People can mostly find the properties that they like without a realtor. But when it comes time to make an offer, get the required inspections, government documentation, etc,... I can see a buyers agent being useful - particularly for a non-Irish citizen. Perhaps there are lawyers that can play {some} of that role. Can you elaborate on how all that works. I'm also curious about the all in costs of the buying transaction. Here in the US, as I alluded to above, there are lots of inspections (termites in Texas!), document fees ad infinitum. I've seen a "stamp duty"(1%?) referenced on myhome.ie. Is that similar to the property tax we pay here in the US. In Texas I pay ˜2% of my home's appraised value - but I pay it annually!!! I think I like the Irish Model much better. 😉 Health care. So I think I've read that we have to buy private insurance. Yes? But I looked around and some of the prices seemed remarkably good. In the US for my wife and me and I think we would be paying $10-15k.year until medicare kicks in when we turn 65. It looked like I could similar private insurance in Eire for maybe a tenth of the US cost. Can that be right? What am I missing? Sorry for being so long-winded in my intro. I'll go away and think of more questions. But thanks in advance for any help on the housing and health fronts! Chris

Hi John I reached out to a past contributor on the site. He is a Managing Director of a moving company based in Ireland. I think you will find his answer to your question quite useful. I'll post it below here. Let me know if you WAnt me to put you in touch. ~Liam --- Buying a container and shipping it as user owner is certainly possible. If he WAnts that option there should be no reason why he can’t find a mover or a freight company to co-ordinate that for him. After clearance on this side, we (potentially we) would arrange haulage from the port with a ...

The one I have is not something I could pack Up. I did find one that will work on a UK website. It is $299 in the US, and needs about $50-100 in mods to make great. The base Model is £479 in the UK.

Hi Liam, Another interesting thing to note on our first appointment WAs we actually nearly got the Stamp 4 visa. The lady at the counter WAsn't sure how many years to give us so she went away to check but instead a different person came back to tell us that we needed to write a letter to the Justice department. We didn't know what she mean't. We didn't know what to write or why we had to write this letter exactly because we were already following the rules they placed on the INIS website. So anyway my husband and I left and read Up more about what she WAnte ...

... regards weather. Parents the length and breath of the country will be losing sleep and WAtching gray hairs grow at the thought of having less options to keep the kiddos entertained with. Ireland does not exactly have a wealth of things to do indoors for kids. There are some indoor playgrounds, but those can be a bit costly, especially if you're paying for 2 or 3 kids. For example a local place in Cork is charging €7.50 per kid. That's over €22 if you've got 3 little ones with a bag full of energy to burn. There are some malls (not many outside of Dublin I ...

Thank you! You have piqued my curiosity now. I'm going to have to check it out. I've read a few things about TCK online, and those who passionately live that life believe the outcome is well-adjusted, happy childhoods. Coming from a childhood where I lived in the same house my entire life until I moved away to the US, I probably lean more favourably on the side of giving my kids that kind of stability. But then what's right for one family, and another, can be miles apart. I guess it all comes Down to how you raise them, and what values you give them. That doesn't have to be different no matter how many countries they end Up living in. Were the non-positive results long-term affects, or just day-to-day issues? Feel free to Drop links to any useful websites you find. It's an interesting topic, for many people who will be moving, whether it be to Ireland, or elsewhere around the world.

I would be interested in this as well. We plan on bringing 2 dogs, a terrier & a lab. I typically look on daft.ie, and you can go to "Advanced Search" and select "Allows Pets" under the "Facilities" Drop Down box. I think my plan WAs to contact a local realtor or management company in the area we wish to move and see what they have or can locate for us. Probably a terrible plan, but seeing how we would be trying to secure a place while still in the US I figure I could maybe get pictures beyond what the listing shows.

... furniture in storage, a house here that WAs having some legal points sorted out and a few other complications. so to finish the purchase over here I sorted a second mortgage on the UK house and fortunately we had a large touring caravan which we effectively lived in whilst the house finally sold and Chris could stop working which WAs paying a double mortgage UK side. All irrelevant except as a demonstration of a lesson learned. My Advice. Do not commit to anything over here until your house UK side is sold or if you have funds and consider Renting your U ...

I kept medicare in case I ever needed to return to US. There is a heavy penalty. I can also telemed with my doctor. I will need to see if supplemental is needed once I settle. I may Drop that part. GP and prescriptions are not expensive in Ireland, at least not fir what we need.

@vgupta_dub_2017. Yes I am just WAiting on this winter to pass without much covid disturbance .So will apply in January . May be you can Drop me email so that we can exchange some thoughts Mine is ...link removed...