What's wrong with Rathfarnam?

iguana

As it's looking more likely that we'll be moving back to Dublin next year I've been spending quite a bit of time seeing what kind of options we'll have when we move back. It's maybe a bit stupid, as I do believe that the Dublin market will be quite different by next year but I find it very hard to stop obsessing.:o

Looking on Daft I saw that there are 88 houses for sale in Rathfarnam, which seems like a lot. I know that Rathfarnam is not that close to the city and doesn't really have any amazing amenities, but neither do places like Goatstown or Churchtown, who have 10 and 3 properties for sale. Tyrellstown and Ongar each have less properties for sale and to my mind Rathfarnam was a much more established community with not that much new development.

Rathfarnam was sort of my back-up choice in the event that we moved before prices came down significantly. But the amount of properties up for sale there have really made me have doubts. I don't actually know that area that well, but my husband thinks it's quite nice, if nothing special. Has it changed? Was it never actually that nice? Is this another case of my husband actually not knowing much about Dublin apart from the areas that he has lived in. He'd lived in Dublin for almost all 27 years of his life when he told me Rialto was on the northside:rolleyes:, so I tend to have doubts about is opinions of areas.

iguana

Nothing wrong with Rathfarnham but the house prices!

iguana wrote:

amenities

it does have Nutgrove shopping center and Marley park.
Traffic is a consideration, like all of Dublin, depending on where you will be travelling to and from

iguana

Deleted User wrote:

Traffic is a consideration, like all of Dublin, depending on where you will be travelling to and from

One of the reasons we were considering there was because it would be in cyclying distance of were my husband would be working. And Marlay and Bushey parks would be good for the dogs. (And future children).

depadz

hmmm.. bit of a sweeping statement there..
what 'amazing' amenities exactly are you looking for?

it is quite a large area. the closest parts of it are about 3 miles from stephens green. The marley side is a bit further out.

One side of bushy is in terenure, the other in rathfarnham. Bushy and marley are about 2 miles apart.

parts of rathfarnham it are within walking distance to the luas.

Pretty good selection of schools, sports clubs, parks, mountains (well, hills), shops etc in the area.

where is it your backup to?

iguana

fwedrest wrote:

hmmm.. bit of a sweeping statement there..
what 'amazing' amenities exactly are you looking for?

Don't get me wrong, I was always under the impression that Rathfarnam was a nice place where you could have a decent lifestyle without needing to use a car for almost ever aspect of your life. But the fact that there are so many houses there up for sale right now is making me a bit suspicious.

fwedrest wrote:

where is it your backup to?

Ideally I would rather live within walking distance to the city centre. But in a nice area, not somewhere "up and coming." Someplace like Rathgar would be fantastic, but I just don't see house prices dropping enough for there to be even remotely affordable for me.

Deleted User wrote:

Nothing wrong with Rathfarnham but the house prices!

Do you say that houses are over-priced there in the same way that they are in the rest of the country or that Rathfarnam is even more over-priced. Because that would explain why so many houses are for sale right now.

super_furry

iguana wrote:

Don't get me wrong, I was always under the impression that Rathfarnam was a nice place where you could have a decent lifestyle. But the fact that there are so many houses there up for sale right now is making me a bit suspicious.

I think it may be more to do with investor concern over the state of the markets that the area itself. Rathfarnam is a place where the majority of the properties seem to owned by landlords and a lot of them could be trying to get out while the going is good.

iguana

super_furry wrote:

I think it may be more to do with investor concern over the state of the markets that the area itself. Rathfarnam is a place where the majority of the properties seem to owned by landlords and a lot of them could be trying to get out while the going is good.

That wouldn't really bode well for the area then would it? Houses would become unsaleable at prices the landlords hope to acheive. And then they would be rented out cheap or through the health board.

Keith C

iguana wrote:

That wouldn't really bode well for the area then would it? Houses would become unsaleable at prices the landlords hope to acheive. And then they would be rented out cheap or through the health board.

what a snobby post!! you'll find a lot of areas, even rathfarnham, have houses rented out to health boards & theres not one bit of trouble.

Kinetic^

Have lived in Rathfarnham for 15 years. Really nice place and plan on buying there myself within about 3 years. (living at home atm). You've got plenty of good schools, Rathfarnham, Nutgrove & Dundrum Shopping centers, a couple of smaller shops like Londis etc, Bushy & Marlay parks.........there's a few estates where I wouldn't buy..........Whitechurch, Tara Hill & Mountain View.

It's a quiet enough area too with a predominantly older generation of residence close to the village with a younger crowd living out towards Glendoher and Boden Park.

As far as why there's so many up for sale is due to the fact that many of them are just out of people's reach due to the excessive stamp duty rates. Having many friends in the area, I've been in houses in most of the estates and they are all well built houses.

If you've any more specific questions you can ask here or drop me a PM.

Have to disagree on most of them owned by landlords.

tbh

Keith C wrote:

what a snobby post!! you'll find a lot of areas, even rathfarnham, have houses rented out to health boards & theres not one bit of trouble.

nor any sense of community, which for me is the real issue,

joemc99

We live there, moved just over 2 years ago from Lucan, greatly changed our lives (for the better of course)!! Great place, lots of amenities, close to everything. Not walking distance to the city, but good busses, and the Luas is 10 mins away. Lots of parks (dont forget St Endas park). Lots of sports, etc. Pool being built in Ballinteer very soon. Steer clear of the estates mentioned earlier. I'd say the reason there are more houses up for sale is because Rathfarnham is a huge area, stretches from Rockbrook in the hills to Terenure, that about 4km as the crow flies. No real traffic around us, wife gets the Luas into town, very quick.

Houses in the area are still being sold, not as fast as the last couple of years, but they are still being sold.....sale agreed and sold signs all over the place. May seem pricey as it is one of the better areas in Dublin. Rathgar is v v nice, mega bucks though.

iguana

Keith C wrote:

what a snobby post!! you'll find a lot of areas, even rathfarnham, have houses rented out to health boards & theres not one bit of trouble.

The street I live on in London has 5 housing association tenants. Each and everyone of them is a complete nightmare. The woman nextdoor has threatened me and threatened to kill my dogs because I complained about her noise. She allows her children to climb on my shed throwing things at my dogs. The family across the road are even noiser than the people next to me. The mother recently threatened another woman with a broken bottle, when she complained about being hit by her kid.

A twat of a 19 year old who lives three doors down has been threatening me for the last 6 months, only stopping when the police called to his mother. Last year he threatened the elderly man who lives nextdoor to him with a knife.

I lived on a corporation estate as a child, and my dad spent his entire childhood on one. They are not nice places to live and it is almost entirely the fault of a small percentage of families. And it is regularily these families who get moved from estates into private houses. Health board housing schemes could be good things, but they aren't.

I am not going to sink a fortune into a house in order to live in the kind of place that my parents sacrificed everything to move us out of. Or back to the kind of place that I am in here.

iguana

Kenny 5 wrote:

there's a few estates where I wouldn't buy..........Whitechurch, Tara Hill & Mountain View.

What is the problem with these areas? Are they the parts that are largely rented out?

I probably shouldn't be asking too much right now anyway. It'll be at least a year before we move, so I have no real idea what our budget will be. But so far Rathfarnam appears to be the front runner.

Is it dog friendly? London is a great city to own dogs as you can take them on all public transport and there are so many big parks and woodlands within the city. I'm a bit nervous about moving them to Ireland as I don't drive and need to live within walking distance of a few parks where they can have a run around and a swim.

Kinetic^

iguana wrote:

What is the problem with these areas? Are they the parts that are largely rented out?

I probably shouldn't be asking too much right now anyway. It'll be at least a year before we move, so I have no real idea what our budget will be. But so far Rathfarnam appears to be the front runner.

Is it dog friendly? London is a great city to own dogs as you can take them on all public transport and there are so many big parks and woodlands within the city. I'm a bit nervous about moving them to Ireland as I don't drive and need to live within walking distance of a few parks where they can have a run around and a swim.

The problem with these specific areas is that they have a lot of undesirables living in them. Tara Hill is rather secluded so you wouldn't even know it was there and the other 2 are on the outskirts of Rathfarnham so you wouldn't be passing them everyday. Don't know whether they are rented or owner occupied but all I know is that I don't go ever venture into any of the estates.

I don't own a dog so not sure about dog friendly but I'm sure the parks allow dogs to be walked in them. I don't think you can bring them on public transport but I'm not 100% on it. Afaik you've to keep them on leads most of the time and you've to pick up their poop as well.

I'd say that you won't come across housing association tenants as the rent for the property in the area would be too expensive for such schemes over here so most of them get thrown into old corporation estates etc etc.

Due to the market atm prices have come down, some have even dropped 10%. This is due to the slower market at that end of the scale. With the proposed changes in stamp duty, I reckon you'll pick up a nice sized house plus decent sized garden for about 600k next year.

godtabh

iguana wrote:

London is a great city to own dogs as you can take them on all public transport

I would say you'd have a problem doing that on public transport here

iguana

kearnsr wrote:

I would say you'd have a problem doing that on public transport here

Definitely, which means that I'd have to live within walking distance of a few places that I could walk them. At least while I learn to drive - which is one skill that I'd be happy to live my life without.:( Realistically wherever we move in Dublin we will probably each need a car eventually.

This is a very helpful thread. It's hard to consider buying in an area that you don't know that well when you have little opportunity to go visit. Especially as we will pretty much have to buy from London as we won't be able to rent a place with dogs. We'll definitely have to make a trip there next time we're in Dublin.

joemc99

iguana wrote:

What is the problem with these areas? Are they the parts that are largely rented out?

Nothing too much wrong with them, just old council estates, bit gruddy around the edges, boy races, scobos hanging around etc.....still, gafs in whitechurch are still going for 380k.....much better now than 10 years ago.

Loads of places to walk to the dog, loads of parks. Plus, the mountains are minutes away.

Glowing

About 3 years ago, I got into a bidding war for a 3 bed semi-D in Whitechurch for 230,000! Didn't get it mind you ..

Seemed like an absolute bargain for the location, but I didn't realise it had such a bad repuation ....

Kinetic^

Well it's probably gone up 150k so would've been a great buy. 3 years of persecution would've followed in the area though.

Glowing

Persecution? Did you have problems with that estate yourself?

Yeah would have been a good buy alright, faced out onto the green as well ....

Kinetic^

I've been in there a couple of times. I know the type of people that live there. You wouldn't be asking them out for a pint anyway. They were in my school also and even at that age they were rough around the edges. I've also met a couple of great people from the area too but it's predominantly a looney tune estate.

joemc99

Jez lads, its not that bad!!!

BobbyD10

Kenny 5 wrote:

but all I know is that I don't go ever venture into any of the estates.

Kenny please be mindful of statements like this as people do live in this areas and might not appreciate these off-hand remarks.

BobbyD10

Kenny 5 wrote:

3 years of persecution would've followed in the area though.

Another not so clever remark.

Kinetic^

A question was asked about the area which I've lived in for 15 years, I'm speaking from experience and what has been said to me.

giddyup

There are that many houses for sale because it's a huge area. A long strip of land right through the middle of central south dublin. There are nice parts and not so nice parts. You'd need to be a bit more specific about where you want to live in Rathfarnham, what you'd like to be near, shops, a pub, a park - which one, Bushy, Endas, Marlay etc. Do you want to be down at the M50 end or up near Terenure or Churchtown or Knocklyon? You could pay 1 million + for a house in one Rathfarnham address and less than 400K in another address.

BobbyD10

Kenny 5 wrote:

I've been in there a couple of times. I know the type of people that live there. You wouldn't be asking them out for a pint anyway. They were in my school also and even at that age they were rough around the edges. I've also met a couple of great people from the area too but it's predominantly a looney tune estate.

Fair enough Kenny but statements like these make you look very narrow minded.

Waylander

I lived in Rathfarnham for most of my life and now live up the road in Ballycullen. Have nothing but good to say about Rathfarnham. Think Kennys comments are a bit over the top, I would have no problem walking through any of those estates at night, although there are some tough nuts in all 3 of them. Schools are good in the area, plenty of sports facilities, and Ballinteer has always had a pool, as does Terenure and Tallaght and Templeogue. Marley is a lovely park, and the Dublin mountains with the likes of Cruagh Wood are a few minute drive away. My longterm plan is to move back down that direction, and my folks still live down there. Generally a good sense of community as they are mostly mature neighbourhood with people living there for decades, but will usually be welcoming to new buyers also.

regarding the number of houses on sale, I would say there are two reasons for this. Firstly as has already been said it is geographically a big area. Secondly, allot of people in the likes of Churchtown or Knocklyon would try to squeeze their houses in with Rathfarnham addresses as it would be seen as a more desireable area by most, and would definitely be more likely to be searched then either of those two areas. Any specific queries when you are actually looking at buying also feel free to pm me.

Kinetic^

BobbyD10 wrote:

Fair enough Kenny but statements like these make you look very narrow minded.

I'm aware of that but there's no point in me sugar coating something for the OP if they're looking to spend big bucks. This is a lifetime investment the OP + SO are looking to make so I'm giving them as much info as possible.

iguana

Waylander wrote:

I lived in Rathfarnham for most of my life and now live up the road in Ballycullen. Have nothing but good to say about Rathfarnham. Think Kennys comments are a bit over the top, I would have no problem walking through any of those estates at night, although there are some tough nuts in all 3 of them.

Tbh, I'm glad of Kenny5's comments. I live in an area of London where some people will say similar about or refuse to go to, whereas the reality is that it is safe enough to walk around at night for the most part. However it is a stressful place to live and tbh, I can't wait to move and have no desire to move back somewhere similar.

Waylander wrote:

Marley is a lovely park, and the Dublin mountains with the likes of Cruagh Wood are a few minute drive away.

Are there shops or bars in the vicinity of Marley Park? Ones that you could walk to?

iguana

Oh, and do any of the nightbuses go to Rathfarnam? And do they go far in?