Aikens Village, Sandyford...worth the price?

jon1981

hi,

Anyone living in Aikens Village, Sandyford? i see there are alot of 2 beds going for around the 340k mark. whats the area like? is the transport good there? im not overly familiar with the area but how far of a walk would it be to the luas line? What appeals to be the proximity to the dublin mountains and the nice views.

tHE vAGGABOND

There are a lot of apartments around there, so shop around.

Those places were 380-400 only a short few months ago. So I would bet there is plenty of wiggle room on the price if you did have your heart set on living there.

The transport is not amazing, a few irregular bus services. But the LUAS extension is going nearby [and work is well in hand, as you can see over the m50]. So if you were clever you could get somewhere which will be a bit out of the way now but will be walking distance to a LUAS stop in a year or so..

jon1981

i noticed on daft a similar property in the same complex sold for 385k in march, that is a serious drop, 45k in 3 months

gixerfixer

That area has seen a huge price drop in recent months compard to other areas of south Dublin.If it was me i'd think twice about buying there at present.A friend in the business says the area could see a further 20% :eek: drop in prices in the next 6 months alone.Just saying what i heard.Good luck whatever you decide.

johnnyskeleton

1) Do you want to live there long term (as opposed to a couple of years before trading up or as an investment)?

2) Do you have any particular desire to live in this particular area?

3) Do you have a 20% deposit ready to hand?

4) Are you prepared to buy for 340k when the price could drop to 250k in 3 years time?

5) Could you afford the installments if interest rates went up to 7-8%

If the answer is yes to the above, then buying in this area might make sense, otherwise no.

Here are 66 2 bed properties in the area to rent, from €1300 pm for a decent place, up to 1800 for a fancy penthouse. A lot of those properties are within 10 minutes walk of the luas, whereas Aiken's Village is miles away.

A 272k mortgage for 30 years at a variable rate will have repayments of approx €1440 (€1289 of which is interest) so given the huge risks and uncertainties involved in purchasing property at the moment, it's worth the extra tenner to rent rather than buy.

copacetic

currently it is about a 35 min walk to the luas at kilmacud, about 1.5 miles from entrance to aikens village. hardly 'miles' away:rolleyes:. the new station will be a 5 minute walk, they are opening a pedestrian route to kilgobbin road.

Prices have been hit but personally I think buying somewhere which has excellent transport links and is in a nice area insulates you as much as possible.

The complex at belarmine is opening shortly with Griffins anchoring it. Its a 5 minute drive to dundrum, superquinn in balinteer, new dunnes on ballyogan road and carrickmines retail park. You also have the new dunnes in industrial estate and all the other new shops there too. The development in Stepaside is just finished also. Dublin Bus have just announced a regular bus service from Belarmine, the current one only runs a few times in morning and in evenings. The linear park and lake has always been open between aikens and belarmine but they are now just abot finished the path linking around the back of the park which should be nice.

If you plan on living there and like the mountain access (You can be on 3 rock in about 15 mins or less via a shortcut off enniskerry road) etc then you would be nuts to buy in the industrial estate which is presumably where johnny means. It is impossible to get in and out during on weekdays and well, it's an industrial estate. It is generally extremely quiet in Aikens Village, not sure if thats what you are looking for.

As for the prices, who knows, they seem to be back to around what they were when new, but it also seems to vary a bit depending on which area of the development you are looking at.

edit: I see Johnny meant to rent rather than buy, hard to know on that. Trying to catch the bottom of the market is going to be difficult.

jon1981

i see what people are saying and i can see the argument for renting right now. but if i plan on living there for 5 years or more, is it likely that they will have levelled out...whos to say! Its very difficult to hold off when your keen to move on with your life and get a place. I was thinking about damage limitation, would the likes of kilmainham/inhicore be better as its more central and practically 30 min to town.
I dont have the 20% deposit just a mere 8%. this is so frustrating, not knowing what to do. :mad:

Ste.phen

Get them to lower the price such that your cash now represents a 20% deposit

jon1981

Igy wrote: »

Get them to lower the price such that your cash now represents a 20% deposit

im no del boy when it comes to price haggling lol :pac:

Ste.phen

I never said it'd be easy

That said, if you can't afford what they're asking either you need to save more money, or they need to drop their price. I think the latter's going to happen anwyays...

Treehouse72

I think you would be absolutely insane to buy any Sandyford apartment at the moment. There is no doubt in mind whatsoever that these apartments will be cheaper in 12 months than they are today. Maybe significantly so.

johnnyskeleton

copacetic wrote: »

currently it is about a 35 min walk to the luas at kilmacud, about 1.5 miles from entrance to aikens village. hardly 'miles' away:rolleyes:. the new station will be a 5 minute walk, they are opening a pedestrian route to kilgobbin road.

Miles as in "Jaysus, that's miles away". Try walk 35 minutes (+ however long it takes you to get from stephen's green to work) every morning and the same again in the evening, and you wouldn't say aikens village is near the luas by a long shot. Then, if you factor in that you might be in work shoes, carrying a bag/brief case, and for at least 100/365 days a year it will be raining, windy and/or cold, and then you will be saying "Jaysus, that's miles away".

copacetic wrote: »

Prices have been hit but personally I think buying somewhere which has excellent transport links and is in a nice area insulates you as much as possible.

1) Transport links, while they will improve with the luas extension, are not good.
2) If you consider a nice area to be one where there is little in the way of shops, pubs, schools etc for approx 1.5 miles, then fair enough.

copacetic wrote: »

The complex at belarmine is opening shortly with Griffins anchoring it. Its a 5 minute drive to dundrum, superquinn in balinteer, new dunnes on ballyogan road and carrickmines retail park. You also have the new dunnes in industrial estate and all the other new shops there too. The development in Stepaside is just finished also.

Requiring a car.

copacetic wrote: »

If you plan on living there and like the mountain access (You can be on 3 rock in about 15 mins or less via a shortcut off enniskerry road) etc then you would be nuts to buy in the industrial estate which is presumably where johnny means. It is impossible to get in and out during on weekdays and well, it's an industrial estate. It is generally extremely quiet in Aikens Village, not sure if thats what you are looking for.

I would have thought that a 5 minute walk to the luas 2x daily 5 times a week and a 45 minute walk to the mountains on Sunday is better than 2x daily 35 minute walk 5 times a week and a 15 minute walk to the mountains. Maybe the difference in our views is that I see living in an Apartment in Sandyford involving public transport or a 5 minute walk to work. If you plan to drive to work, then I suppose Aikens Village might be slightly better (although it will still take a good while to get to work by car). True the industrial estate is an industrial estate, but Aikens Village isn't even a village - it's a bunch of apartments built onto the side of a hill.

jon1981

hey guys,
thanks for all the feedback. i guess im gonna hangon. considering also that i work around the citywest area, im now factoring in the cost of petrol, handiness to local pub and local transport selections. while it is a lovely area to live in, i thinl at present it is alittle too out of the way. i suppose the 45k drop since march has scared me off too lol

johnnyskeleton

jon1981 wrote: »

i see what people are saying and i can see the argument for renting right now. but if i plan on living there for 5 years or more, is it likely that they will have levelled out...whos to say! Its very difficult to hold off when your keen to move on with your life and get a place. I was thinking about damage limitation, would the likes of kilmainham/inhicore be better as its more central and practically 30 min to town.
I dont have the 20% deposit just a mere 8%. this is so frustrating, not knowing what to do. :mad:

There are so many apartments for sale / to let in these areas, that if you were to rent for a while and then buy, you would at worst be moving across the street, and at best buying the exact same property, only for cheaper.

I'll tell ya what, rent for a month, and if the property market recovers in that month (prices are highly unlikely to increase singificantly by July 2008), then buy. If not, then repeat for July. Each month you rent you are paying less and if prices drop then you are avoiding making a substantial loss.

But more importantly:
1) You avoid the risks of negative equity, interest rate increases, dodgy managment companies, dodgy conveyances and all the other joys of owning over renting; and
2) You get to see if you like the area - after 3 months there you might be bored stiff, or you might like the area but want a different apartment that is nicer or doesn't have paper thin walls through which you can hear your neighbours "being intimate", which is an experience you would never get when viewing an apartment for sale in the afternoon (well, maybe in some estates).

copacetic

obviously for some reason you don't like the area, don't want to make a big deal but you don't seem to know it very well? Not arguing with the OP waiting but don't see why you are posting 'facts' that are incorrect?

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

1) Transport links, while they will improve with the luas extension, are not good.

I suppose it depends on your point of view, most places in Dublin are much further from the Luas, their is a bus service a minute from Aikens Village to city centre from belarmine and 5 mins away at lambs cross to the N11 and dart at blackrock. It is a couple of minutes by car onto the m50/N11. How could they be better?

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

2) If you consider a nice area to be one where there is little in the way of shops, pubs, schools etc for approx 1.5 miles, then fair enough.

This is what makes me think you really don't know the area. Shop at lambs cross is a 5 min walk, ones in stepaside are about 10. The new shops at Belarmine opening this month will be a minutes walk.

Pubs, the step inn is a 10 minute walk, as will the pub replacing the mountain view shortly. The sandyford house is about 15 minute walk.

The closest primary school is a 5 minute walk also and the new one being built in belarmine will be a minute of a walk.

Victor

Be careful about the distances involved, Aikens Village is a big area. The near bit might be a 35 minute walk to Kilmacud stop, but the DTO Journey Planner puts the bit up by Belarmine at 43 minutes.

http://www.dto.ie/web2006/jp.htm

The Luas Line B1 extension to Cherrywood will have a stop on Murphystown Road
(outside Glencairn House) and Ballyogan Road (at Glencairn Crescent). Which will still be a 2km / 20+ minute journey unless access is allowed via Sandyford Hall, which doesn't seem to be the case.

copacetic

Victor wrote: »

Be careful about the distances involved, Aikens Village is a big area. The near bit might be a 35 minute walk to Kilmacud stop, but the DTO Journey Planner puts the bit up by Belarmine at 43 minutes.

http://www.dto.ie/web2006/jp.htm

The Luas Line B1 extension to Cherrywood will have a stop on Murphystown Road
(outside Glencairn House) and Ballyogan Road (at Glencairn Crescent). Which will still be a 2km / 20+ minute journey unless access is allowed via Sandyford Hall, which doesn't seem to be the case.

I was taking the distance from the far bit Victor, the DTO must expect people to go out the entrance to Belarmine which would have you walk 5 mins in wrong direction, then 5 mins back to before you got to entrance to Aikens Village. Everyone just walks through Aikens from Belarmine.

As I noted above there will be pedestrian access to kilgobbin road from between belarmine and aikens village at the castle.
You can see roughly here where it will come out
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.261337,-6.213927&spn=0.006289,0.018711&t=h&z=16