By: Andy Doyle
For many of our U.S.-based clients, buying a home in Ireland is part of a much bigger plan.
Buying a property in Ireland from the U.S. can involve a surprising number of people.
There's the team directly involved in buying the property — your buyer's agent, solicitor, surveyor, mortgage advisor and potentially a currency specialist.
But for many of the U.S.-based buyers and Irish expats I work with, buying the home is only one part of something much bigger.
They are moving their life to Ireland.
We know that side of it personally.
When Natalie and I decided we were actually going to make the move from Southern California to Dublin with our two children, that's when the real planning began.
We did what I think a lot of people do. We researched online, dove into Facebook and Reddit groups, asked a lot of questions and tried to understand all the moving parts.
Who do we need to speak with? What do we need to do before leaving the U.S.? What can wait until we arrive? What happens with our finances and assets in America? How do we ship our belongings? What do we need for the kids? And what are we not even thinking to ask yet?
One question usually led to three more.
Along the way, you start to realize just how many different people can become involved in an international move. There isn't one person who handles all of it. Instead, you gradually build a team around your move.
Having now gone through that ourselves — and working with U.S.-based buyers and Irish expats doing the same — we have come to think of that team in three parts:
Your international real estate network. Your Irish property-buying team. And, if you're actually making the move, your relocation network.
Not everyone will need all three. But if you are planning to buy a home in Ireland and move here from the U.S., there's a good chance you'll interact with quite a few of them along the way.
1. Your International Real Estate Network
Sometimes your Irish property journey actually starts in the United States.
Before returning home to Dublin, I spent nearly 20 years living in the U.S., including more than a decade working in residential real estate in Southern California.
Today, I'm a licensed estate agent in Ireland working exclusively for buyers, with much of our business focused on Americans and Irish expats purchasing property here.
I understand the important connection between the home someone is buying in Ireland and the life — and sometimes the property — they are leaving behind.
Someone planning a move to Ireland may need to sell a home in the U.S., keep it and rent it out, or coordinate a sale in America with a purchase in Ireland.
Others aren't relocating at all. They are simply buying a second home, holiday property or investment in Ireland.
Your real estate needs do not suddenly begin when you arrive in Ireland.
The Compass Global Division
That international side of our network recently took another step forward with the launch of the Compass Global Division.
In September 2026, Compass, one of the largest residential real estate brokerages in the United States, launched the Global Division — an agent-to-agent network connecting U.S.-based Compass clients with real estate professionals who have established experience in international markets.
I was selected as the Irish advisor for the newly launched Division.
Having spent part of my U.S. real estate career with the Private Client Group at Compass in Orange County — a group I remain connected with today — it brings the two sides of my real estate career together in a very natural way.
More importantly, the network can be genuinely useful when a client's real estate needs cross borders. If someone buying a home in Ireland also needs help with a property in the U.S., having relationships on both sides of the Atlantic can help connect those pieces.
Learn more: Read Compass’s launch announcement
Your property journey doesn't necessarily begin or end at the Irish border.
2. Your Irish Property-Buying Team
Once you are actively buying property in Ireland, the team becomes much more specific to the transaction itself.
As a buyer's agent, I'm often the main point of contact here in Ireland for our overseas clients. But there are several other professionals who become important at different stages of the purchase.
Buyer's Agent
For someone sitting in the U.S., having representation on the ground can make the search considerably easier.
A buyer's agent can help with the property search, attend viewings, provide video walkthroughs and feedback, communicate with selling agents and help with bidding and negotiation.
Once a property goes Sale Agreed, the role starts to change. At that point, much of my job becomes helping keep the different pieces moving and communicating with the buyer, selling agent, solicitor, surveyor and other professionals involved.
Solicitor
Your solicitor handles the legal conveyancing process.
They review the contracts and title documentation, raise pre-contract enquiries and investigate legal matters affecting the property before you sign contracts.
For overseas buyers, I generally recommend having a solicitor selected before you are seriously bidding on properties rather than trying to find one after you have already agreed a purchase.
Surveyor
Once a property goes Sale Agreed, most of our clients arrange an independent survey or home inspection.
I can walk through a property with a camera, show you the rooms, point out things I notice and give you my impressions.
But a video walkthrough is not a building survey.
A good surveyor can identify issues that may need further investigation and give you a much better understanding of the physical condition of the home you're purchasing.
Mortgage Advisor
If you need an Irish mortgage, this relationship should usually begin much earlier.
Obtaining a mortgage while living and earning in the U.S. can be more complicated than borrowing as someone already living and working in Ireland.
Before getting too far into a property search, it's important to speak with someone who understands mortgages for overseas buyers so you know what's realistically possible.
Currency Specialist
If your money is currently in U.S. dollars and you are buying in euro, at some point a significant amount of money may need to cross the Atlantic.
You will want to understand exchange rates, transfer limits, verification requirements, timing and how you are actually going to move the funds well before closing.
The week you need to transfer the money is not the week you want to start figuring out how to transfer it.
And Sometimes the Property Requires More People
Depending on what you're buying, the team can grow from there.
A renovation project might require an architect, engineer or contractor. Someone furnishing a property from overseas might want help from an interior designer or with starter furnishings to have on arrival. A second home or investment property may eventually require a property manager.
Not every buyer needs every professional.
The goal is simply to have the right person available when you do need them.
3. Your Relocation Network
Sometimes you are not just buying a property.
You are moving a life.
This is the part I understand very differently now than I would have a few years ago.
Natalie and I moved our family from Southern California to Dublin. We had already purchased our home in Ireland, so you might think the biggest piece was taken care of.
In reality, there was still an enormous amount to figure out.
What were we bringing with us? How were we shipping it? What happens with our U.S. finances and investments? What did we need to figure out with schools, healthcare, insurance, banking, phones and driving licences? And, perhaps most importantly, where were we going to find ranch dressing?
And that's before getting into some of the bigger questions families may face around residency and immigration.
None of these things feels particularly overwhelming on its own. It's trying to figure them all out at roughly the same time that can make an international move complicated.
Immigration & Residency
One of the first things to understand is whether and how you can actually live in Ireland.
For some families, the answer may be relatively straightforward. An Irish citizen may be returning home with an American spouse and children. For others, the pathway may involve employment, citizenship, family connections or another type of immigration permission.
There's an important distinction for anyone looking at Irish property from the U.S.:
Being able to buy property in Ireland and having the right to live in Ireland are two separate things.
If there's any uncertainty around your circumstances, appropriate immigration or relocation advice can be important early in the process.
International Tax & Financial Planning
Moving countries can also change your financial picture.
U.S. citizens may continue to have U.S. tax and reporting obligations after moving abroad while also having Irish tax considerations depending on their circumstances.
There may also be questions around retirement accounts, investments, pensions, rental income or other assets that remain in America after the move.
These are not areas where your estate agent should be advising you. Appropriately qualified international tax and financial professionals can help you understand how those pieces fit together — ideally before the move rather than after it.
Selling or Managing Your U.S. Home
For many families, the move to Ireland starts with another major decision:
What are we doing with our house in America?
Some people sell before moving. Others keep the property and rent it. Some want to move first and decide later. And some need the proceeds from their U.S. sale to fund their Irish purchase.
The right answer will depend on the family, but the timing of the two property transactions can become an important part of the overall plan.
This is also where having real estate connections on both sides of the Atlantic can be genuinely useful.
Moving Your Belongings
Then you have to physically move.
International movers, shipping companies, customs requirements and storage suddenly introduce an entirely different group of people.
And there are plenty of decisions before anything gets packed.
What are you bringing? What are you selling? What isn't worth shipping? Will your furniture work in your Irish home? What do you need immediately when you arrive versus what can spend weeks crossing the Atlantic?
We went through all of this ourselves.
You very quickly discover that moving countries is very different from moving house.
Schools, Children & Everyday Life
For families moving with children, the school piece can become just as important as the property search.
Where you live may affect school options, commuting and everyday family life. There's also the practical side of transferring records, understanding the Irish school system and helping children adjust to a completely different environment.
Then there are all the other things that come with getting established — healthcare, insurance, banking, utilities, phones and driving licences.
None of these are particularly exciting parts of moving to Ireland, but collectively they're a big part of getting settled.
And sometimes the most useful person is not a specialist at all. It's someone who has already done it and can simply tell you, “This is who I used,” or “This is how that works.”
One Purchase. Potentially Three Different Networks.
Your Property-Buying & Relocation Team in Ireland Guide
This is ultimately how I have come to think about working with overseas buyers.
There's the international real estate network that can help connect the property pieces on either side of the Atlantic.
There's the Irish property-buying team that helps you find, investigate and complete the purchase here.
And if that purchase is part of a permanent move, there is the much broader relocation network around it.
I don't need to be the solicitor, surveyor, tax advisor, mortgage broker, financial advisor, immigration expert or relocation specialist.
In fact, I shouldn't be.
But I do want to know when one of our clients needs one.
A question we hear fairly regularly is:
“Andy, who do I need for this?”
I want to have an answer — or at least know the right person to ask.
For someone sitting in California, Texas or New York trying to coordinate an Irish property purchase and potentially move their entire family across the Atlantic, finding all of these people is one more unfamiliar thing to figure out.
I have now experienced that from both sides — buying our own home in Ireland while we were still living in California, and later packing up our family and actually making the move.
That's probably why I see the job as being about more than finding the house.
The property is a big part of the move. But it's still only one part of building a life in Ireland.
Your Property-Buying & Relocation Team in Ireland
We have put together a free resource outlining some of the people you may need when buying property — and potentially relocating — to Ireland.
Your Property-Buying & Relocation Team in Ireland Guide
A practical guide to who does what, when you might need them and what to look for when building the team around your move.
If you're considering buying property in Ireland from the U.S. or elsewhere overseas, you do not need to have every person figured out on day one.
Sometimes the first step is simply figuring out who you need on your team.