Buying a House - Things to Know?

zulfikarMD

Hi,

Is there a sticky post here what first time buyer need to know about buying a house? Please point me to the relevant thread if there is any on this. Or can some one mention the guidelines for first time buyers?

thank you.

delllat

zulfikarMD wrote: »

Hi,

Is there a sticky post here what first time buyer need to know about buying a house? Please point me to the relevant thread if there is any on this. Or can some one mention the guidelines for first time buyers?

thank you.

a lot of people are saying its a crazy time to buy because we are still in the middle of a property crash

if they are right and prices fall signifigantly you could be buying yourself into negative equity (400k house today might be worth 300k next year )

i think theres a few decent deals out there but a lot of sellers still need to get real in their pricing

compared against uk and usa and you get very little for your cash in ireland although we have a higher wage to off set that a bit

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

delllat wrote: »

a lot of people are saying its a crazy time to buy because we are still in the middle of a property crash

if they are right and prices fall signifigantly you could be buying yourself into negative equity (400k house today might be worth 300k next year )

i think theres a few decent deals out there but a lot of sellers still need to get real in their pricing

compared against uk and usa and you get very little for your cash in ireland although we have a higher wage to off set that a bit

You cannot compare any two countries when it comes to things like this... It's impossible.

Blackjack

delllat wrote: »

(400k house today might be worth 300k next year )

more than likely, a house asking 400K today, will be selling for 300k this or next year, IMHO.

delllat

Kash Scary Custodian wrote: »

You cannot compare any two countries when it comes to things like this... It's impossible.

i know there is not a "like for like" comparison but IMO houses in ireland are still disproportionately expensive compared to other equally well developed countries

Senna

Best thing to do is do your own research. Your making one of the biggest financial decision of your life, are you really going to base this on a couple of threads or a sticky?

magentas

here's some links to some (hopefully) helpful info
http://www.myhome.ie/residential/advice/buying/first-time-buyers
yes they are biased! but they're good general guidelines

first time buyers are no longer exempt from paying stamp duty, which is 1% on properties valued up to €1m

review your own situation carefully, stress-testing is important, plan for worst case scenarois

make an appointment with every mortgage provider to go through your options and get the best package available to you, check out all the rates and look at getting a fixed rate for the first couple of years for stability

get approval in principal

Don't rush! view loads of properties and find out their selling history on irishpropertywatch.ie
Don't be afraid to put in a rediculously low offer

Make sure you are 100% happy with every move you make, it'll be the biggest financial decision you ever make

Best of luck!:)

magentas

Senna wrote: »

Best thing to do is do your own research. Your making one of the biggest financial decision of your life, are you really going to base this on a couple of threads or a sticky?

I don't think they are going to BASE their decision on a thread!
but it is part of their research, add something helpful perhaps?

Heyes

I thought house prices had fairly bottomed out at this stage ?!... Do you truely believe they will drop further ? I havent noticed a significant drop in some time now

syklops

delllat wrote: »

a lot of people are saying its a crazy time to buy because we are still in the middle of a property crash

if they are right and prices fall signifigantly you could be buying yourself into negative equity (400k house today might be worth 300k next year )

i think theres a few decent deals out there but a lot of sellers still need to get real in their pricing

compared against uk and usa and you get very little for your cash in ireland although we have a higher wage to off set that a bit

In my opinion there is only one time to buy and that's when you are happy with your home and investment. There are bargains to be had right this moment, though I admit they are few and far between.

I saw a bungalow for sale 20 mins from Galway city for 40k not long ago. 5 years ago, you wouldnt get a site for that. Will that property drop more, it might, but not by much(in my opinion). Thats said, a semi-D in a dublin suburb for 270k could half in price in the next few years.

That a side, I dont think the OP wants another debate on "Is it a good time to buy". He wanted advice on the buying.

I don't have much myself, but I am interested in this subject as I hope to buy property in the next couple of years.

gurramok

Heyes wrote: »

I thought house prices had fairly bottomed out at this stage ?!

Based on what?

When NAMA gets involved in those firesales, it along with the lack of credit/buyers/bad economy etc will help drive prices down further.

North_West_Art

here is a useful site for tracking house prices in Ireland

Go over the property you are interested in with a fine toothed comb. Have a reputable builder or engineer take a very close look at the property.

Make sure you fully understand the cost of borrowing. Examine every angle of the mortgage, how much you will be paying back over the term, whether you can over-pay, and if so by how much. Also, find out what the final overall sum will likely be after the mortgage is paid.

Weigh up the pros and cons between renting, and buying in the current climate.

*bear in mind that there estates all over the country that they are planning to bulldoze because of the huge over supply of new houses... you could get a real bargain at the 11th hour if you time it right

syklops

Imagine they were about to bulldoze an estate, and you said "Sure I'll take one off your hands for 20k, you can bulldoze the rest". If executed at the right time, you could get a real find alright.

That said, a lot of the ghost estate houses, are of questionable build quality, so you would want to be careful.

Monty Burnz

Heyes wrote: »

I thought house prices had fairly bottomed out at this stage ?!... Do you truely believe they will drop further ? I havent noticed a significant drop in some time now

Prices will be falling for years yet. The UK had a minor (compared to ours) bubble and a crash that lasted from 1988 until 1994. That was without the UK going bust and the IMF being called in. Our far bigger bust is only 3 years in, there may easily be 7 to go.

Oh, and just because people are not dropping the prices they dream of getting for their homes does not mean that the values of sales that actually do go through (executor sales etc) are not dropping like stones. Anyone who genuinely wants to or needs to sell will have to wake up eventually.

EricPraline

Heyes wrote: »

I thought house prices had fairly bottomed out at this stage ?!...

Where do you get this idea from? Any time I've heard this, it has invariably been an estate agent who was quoted. Of course our infallible Finance Minister also said prices had bottomed out back in April 2010. I've seen prices in Dublin decline considerably since then, and that was before the impact of December's budget.

athtrasna

My biggest issue with buying a house right now would be to avoid a managed development where you are committed to paying management fees forever. It's unavoidable for apartments but many of the housing estates built in the last decade or so also have management companies. Avoid, avoid, avoid!

johndaman66

syklops wrote: »

I saw a bungalow for sale 20 mins from Galway city for 40k not long ago.

I'd sincerely love to see a link for the above, even if it was a very run down fixer upper.

I find this site to be very good for tracking price changes, have being using it a lot lately