The Paddocks, Adamstown

Mental Mickey

Hi All

I have recently been offered an opportunity from SDCC Property Path to view a 2 bed ground floor apartment in this development! I am wondering what kind of area is it, how far is it from the city centre etc. I have been told that the price of this apartment is €228,000. Is this a good price, or should I hold out for something else.....?

Cheers
MM

The_Conductor

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Hi All

I have recently been offered an opportunity from SDCC Property Path to view a 2 bed ground floor apartment in this development! I am wondering what kind of area is it, how far is it from the city centre etc. I have been told that the price of this apartment is €228,000. Is this a good price, or should I hold out for something else.....?

Cheers
MM

Its about 13-14 miles from the city centre (on the N4). There is a trainstation in there- but the big problem is capacity- its extremely difficult to get on it in the morning (its well full before it ever gets there......) To be honest- most people drive.

Its a nice enough area- Superquinn is just down the road, as is the county library and quite a few sports facilities.

The local school (Educate together) was threatened with closure over its finances- it is a big problem......

Trafficwise its incredibly busy- something to keep in mind.

Make sure you don't take an apartment at the back on the right though (particulary ground floor).......

S.

mikemac

smccarrick wrote: »

Make sure you don't take an apartment at the back on the right though (particulary ground floor).......
.

Halting site?
Just wondering, I did look through the neighbours.ie site for Adamstown and saw people mention this. And you've been very specific about the exact location

The_Conductor

micmclo wrote: »

Halting site?
Just wondering, I did look through the neighbours.ie site for Adamstown and saw people mention this. And you've been very specific about the exact location

Errr yes. I didn't want to scare the OP- but yes.

mikemac

http://www.neighbours.ie/adamstown/

Might be some good info here OP.
Reading the bitching and fighting about parking spaces is certainly entertaining

godtabh

When I was looking out there I felt that it was to isolated if you didnt have a car.

The bus takes a very long time just to get out of Lucan (25a)

If your shopping you'll need a car if you but stuff that needs a couple of bags.

Lucan village itself is fairly far away to walk but Admastown does promise a lot of on site stuff so that maybe an advantage (not for me being from Lucan).

Its a decent enough place there all the same but not for every one. Developer is decent enough and generally does good work (if pushed at snagging stage)

The_Conductor

micmclo wrote: »

http://www.neighbours.ie/adamstown/

Might be some good info here OP.
Reading the bitching and fighting about parking spaces is certainly entertaining

Ah yes- do not park in the neighbouring estates, or leave your car overnight in the Superquinn carpark- they will clamp it (they employ a private company to do it on their behalf).

Something else- the developer has recently bought the Finnstown House Hotel and estate with the idea of opening it up to the residents of Adamstown (and anyone else). Of particular interest are the bar licence and the restraunt (which is decent enough). I'm not sure what he intends to do with the estate- but more housing cannot be rules out........

Victor

smccarrick wrote: »

Its about 13-14 miles from the city centre (on the N4).

About 14km, not miles.

1-2 years ago, much of Adamstown had prices of €350,000-450,000.

The_Conductor

Victor wrote: »

About 14km, not miles.

1-2 years ago, much of Adamstown had prices of €350,000-450,000.

Most people who drive nip down via Chapelizod to avoid the St.Johns Road madness- which does add to the journey. Its 13.2 miles this way from Superquinn (doubling back on the bridge to get onto the N4 inbound) to Merrion Row/Stephen's Green.

The other trick is to get the 239 bus (which originates at Superquinn and goes to Blanchardstown) down to Lucan village and then to switch for a 66/67 in the village to get into town. This saves 10 minutes of the 25A meandering slowly through greater suburbia (and if you time it well, you can get an 66x/67x at the Statoil in the village- 8AM-8.05AM is perfect )

S.

Victor

14km walk to O'Connell Street

Or get the route 151 bus, every 10-11 minutes all day. http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/viewer.asp?route=151

chump

Victor wrote: »

About 14km, not miles.

1-2 years ago, much of Adamstown had prices of €350,000-450,000.

For ground floor 2-beds ?
I can't believe that.

OP, the price at €228k may not be that great a reduction on the open market price.

Look on daft.ie at West Dublin 2 beds. Plenty in the ~ €250k bracket with plenty of scope for price reductions.

My advice would be to decide where you want to live - draw up a list of maybe 10 places. And then price each of them on the open market. Bear in mind substantial reductions may be obtained, possibly 20-30%.

Find out exactly how much you can borrow.

And then give it a lash.

The_Conductor

Victor wrote: »

14km walk to O'Connell Street

Or get the route 151 bus, every 10-11 minutes all day. http://www.dublinbus.ie/your_journey/viewer.asp?route=151

Cool- I wasn't aware of that route!
Its all the Superquinn buses I was looking at.
That definitely looks very appealing!

S.

Mental Mickey

Probably a dumb question, but can anyone give me directions to The Paddocks from Palmerstown.........???? I'm absolutely C**P at finding places........?

Cheers

MM

The_Conductor

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Probably a dumb question, but can anyone give me directions to The Paddocks from Palmerstown.........???? I'm absolutely C**P at finding places........?

Cheers

MM

Straight over Junction 7 and up the N4 towards Lucan. Keep going to the old Newcastle turn off and take a left (up towards Superquinn). Go straight up past Superquinn and at the lights after Superquinn go sharp right. The road forks after about 100m- take the right hand fork- its straight into the Paddocks.

Mental Mickey

smccarrick wrote: »

Straight over Junction 7 and up the N4 towards Lucan. Keep going to the old Newcastle turn off and take a left (up towards Superquinn). Go straight up past Superquinn and at the lights after Superquinn go sharp right. The road forks after about 100m- take the right hand fork- its straight into the Paddocks.

Thanks. My bloody GPS doesn't recognise The Paddocks when I input it.
:rolleyes:

The_Conductor

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Thanks. My bloody GPS doesn't recognise The Paddocks when I input it.
:rolleyes:

Most of the GPS databases are only updated every couple of months- it'll probably be recognised if you update it again in a few months time.

Mental Mickey

smccarrick wrote: »

Most of the GPS databases are only updated every couple of months- it'll probably be recognised if you update it again in a few months time.

Probably, yeah?

johnnyskeleton

micmclo wrote: »

Halting site?

They probably took the name Paddocks literally and thought it might be a nice place for their horses to play.

woody27

smccarrick wrote: »

Ah yes- do not park in the neighbouring estates, or leave your car overnight in the Superquinn carpark- they will clamp it (they employ a private company to do it on their behalf).

Something else- the developer has recently bought the Finnstown House Hotel and estate with the idea of opening it up to the residents of Adamstown (and anyone else). Of particular interest are the bar licence and the restraunt (which is decent enough). I'm not sure what he intends to do with the estate- but more housing cannot be rules out........

jim mansfield recently bought this hotel not the developers http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0321/citywest.html?rss

The_Conductor

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

They probably took the name Paddocks literally and thought it might be a nice place for their horses to play.

Lol......
There always was a site planned for up there- the developers thought they'd be able to persuade the council to quash it, but it wasn't to be. Its been on the plans for the last 15 years......

Mental Mickey

Well...............................


I went up to the Paddocks this morning to view the apartments, and they are quite nice. But, there are a few hurdles to overcome. Before I move in, I would have to get adaptations done to the apartment to make it more accessible for myself. This would mean adapting the bathroom and kitchen. God only knows how much that's going to cost me, even though I can get a grant to help me out......?

However, even though they are being sold at an "Affordable" price(€228k), I still think that I would be unable to afford the mortgage repayments......?

I contacted my bank to ask them to do some figures for me, and I don't think I'd be able to afford them....? After my mortgage/bill payments I would have f**k all to live on!!!!????

I'm going to contact some more banks etc in relation to my mortgage to see if I can get a lower rate....?

If this doesn't work out, I don't know what I'm going to do.....?

The_Conductor

Rates have gone up- for someone who hasn't had a mortgage before the best you can probably get is tracker at about ECB + 1.15% or fixed at a little shy of 6%

The days of easy money are gone for all of us

Mental Mickey

smccarrick wrote: »

Rates have gone up- for someone who hasn't had a mortgage before the best you can probably get is tracker at about ECB + 1.15% or fixed at a little shy of 6%

The days of easy money are gone for all of us

This is all completely new to me. I've had all sorts of figures chucked at me from left, right and centre, and I can't make head nor tail of em. I am trying get on the first step of the property ladder, but I don't think I will be able to......?

The_Conductor

You really need to sit down with an independent financial advisor (aka not one employed by the bank/mortgage advisor). They will go through your finances with you to ensure that you are fully aware of where you stand and what the implications of different courses of action actually are.

Re: costs of modifying the kitchen/bathroom/bedroom(s)- you might actually be pleasantly surprised. In the current market there are a lot of under-employed builders out there willing to take on what they would consider to be very small jobs, at very reasonable prices.

An affordable price of EUR228k probably translates into a mortgage payment of around 1,000 per month. This is not a million miles away from what it would cost to rent the property (though keep in mind that you will have a lot of other costs associated with ownership that you would not have to consider if you were renting- e.g. property management charge, insurance etc).

Feel free to post any questions here that you have- hopefully some of the knowledgeable people here might be able to shed light on whatever you're encountering.

Mental Mickey

smccarrick wrote: »

You really need to sit down with an independent financial advisor (aka not one employed by the bank/mortgage advisor). They will go through your finances with you to ensure that you are fully aware of where you stand and what the implications of different courses of action actually are.

Re: costs of modifying the kitchen/bathroom/bedroom(s)- you might actually be pleasantly surprised. In the current market there are a lot of under-employed builders out there willing to take on what they would consider to be very small jobs, at very reasonable prices.

An affordable price of EUR228k probably translates into a mortgage payment of around 1,000 per month. This is not a million miles away from what it would cost to rent the property (though keep in mind that you will have a lot of other costs associated with ownership that you would not have to consider if you were renting- e.g. property management charge, insurance etc).

Feel free to post any questions here that you have- hopefully some of the knowledgeable people here might be able to shed light on whatever you're encountering.

Re: the highlighted part, I don't think I would be able to afford the mortgage repayments, and be able to feed myself, and pay the bills.......? I can afford the deposit no problem, but as far as the repayments/bills etc go, it seems to be a non-runner......? I guess I'll have to hold out until(hopefully)something cheaper comes along.......?

johnnyskeleton

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Re: the highlighted part, I don't think I would be able to afford the mortgage repayments, and be able to feed myself, and pay the bills.......? I can afford the deposit no problem, but as far as the repayments/bills etc go, it seems to be a non-runner......? I guess I'll have to hold out until(hopefully)something cheaper comes along.......?

Hang in there, prices will drop.

There are thousands (nay, hundreds of thousands) of properties waiting to be sold, and not a lot of people who can afford them at these prices.

Whatever you do, don't get yourself into debt that you can't pay - aside from financial difficulty this also causes tremendous amounts of stress.

Mental Mickey

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Hang in there, prices will drop.

There are thousands (nay, hundreds of thousands) of properties waiting to be sold, and not a lot of people who can afford them at these prices.

Whatever you do, don't get yourself into debt that you can't pay - aside from financial difficulty this also causes tremendous amounts of stress.

Tell me about it. I only went up for a viewing today, and I'm already getting stressed thinking about applying for a mortgage and the repayments.......? I'm not that young, and by the time property prices drop, I'll probably be a bloody pensioner!!!???


:eek:

The_Conductor

Mental Mickey wrote: »

Tell me about it. I only went up for a viewing today, and I'm already getting stressed thinking about applying for a mortgage and the repayments.......? I'm not that young, and by the time property prices drop, I'll probably be a bloody pensioner!!!???


:eek:

Prices are dropping on a daily basis. They have dropped by over 10% in the past year, and as of May the rate of price falls was actually increasing (I haven't seen more recent figures). Apartments in particular are bearing the brunt of the price falls.

If you cannot afford to pay the mortgage and feed yourself/pay for your general living expenses- you have no business even contemplating the purchase at this stage.

Is there any possibility of getting some sort of additional assistance towards the purchase price (ontop of the Affordable House price)? It is of course enabling you to live an independent life- surely its in everyone's interests to try to push that aspect?

Re: Modifications- the builder is still onsite- instead of getting external contractors to do the work- why not explore the possibility of getting the original builder to do it (then of course it would probably be covered under the original homebond insurance- plus if you needed them to come back for anything it might be a tad easier to track them down?)

Mental Mickey

smccarrick wrote: »

Prices are dropping on a daily basis. They have dropped by over 10% in the past year, and as of May the rate of price falls was actually increasing (I haven't seen more recent figures). Apartments in particular are bearing the brunt of the price falls.

If you cannot afford to pay the mortgage and feed yourself/pay for your general living expenses- you have no business even contemplating the purchase at this stage.

Is there any possibility of getting some sort of additional assistance towards the purchase price (ontop of the Affordable House price)? It is of course enabling you to live an independent life- surely its in everyone's interests to try to push that aspect?

Re: Modifications- the builder is still onsite- instead of getting external contractors to do the work- why not explore the possibility of getting the original builder to do it (then of course it would probably be covered under the original homebond insurance- plus if you needed them to come back for anything it might be a tad easier to track them down?)

I never thought of approaching the builder in relation to the modifications. Good idea. I think I'll be holding off until something a bit cheaper comes along.....?

The_Conductor

Or alternately approach the council with your situation and enquire whether they would be willing to revalue the property (taking the market situation and everything else into account). 228k is not a big discount on the current open market selling price after all.

Mental Mickey

smccarrick wrote: »

Or alternately approach the council with your situation and enquire whether they would be willing to revalue the property (taking the market situation and everything else into account). 228k is not a big discount on the current open market selling price after all.

That's a "no-go". I already asked them, and they told me that this was as low as they could go.....