First time buyer

Gannicus

Dunno if I'm in the right place but here goes.

Looking to get on the property market. 25, Single professional male working in the city centre. The banks are willing to give me €115,000 which isn't much but as far as I'm concerned its enough to get going. I have 2 questions:

1. Is a 1 bed apartment in the city centre a good/practical buy given my circumstances?

2. Regardless of the state of the market at the moment if I went to sell in a few years to upgrade is it hard to flip it and sell?

washman3

take a look at ALLSOPS auction catalogue on their website,they're holding an auction in the shelbourne on july 7th (i think) their apartments may suit you,probably about 1/3 of the price auctioneers are asking. at that rate you will hardly lose considering you may be renting anyway and will surely be able to shift it in a few years for at least the same price. just my opinion.!!

Gannicus

Tigger wrote: »

Only a the deluded or the intellectually challanged would buy a "starter home" at the moment

Cheers for f**k all mate. I'm a first time buyer as the thread is titled yeah when it comes to buying property I am naive and thats why I put the thread up. If you're going to be a snide little assh0le take it else not what I'm looking for right now.

Victor

Be nice.

Tigger

now is an excellent time to buy, prices haven't been this good in years, also if you hurry you can still get decent value in mortgage.

the market should pick up and soon you'll have a nice nest egg to use as your deposit instead of wasting money on rent

Victor

Big Steve wrote: »

1. Is a 1 bed apartment in the city centre a good/practical buy given my circumstances?

You might not be able to get a mortgage for a 1-bed.

2. Regardless of the state of the market at the moment if I went to sell in a few years to upgrade is it hard to flip it and sell?

There is very little turnover of properties at the moment and "flipping" died a long time ago.

Tigger wrote: »

now is an excellent time to buy, prices haven't been this good in years, also if you hurry you can still get decent value in mortgage.

the market should pick up and soon you'll have a nice nest egg to use as your deposit instead of wasting money on rent

See, you can post sarcasticly without being insulting.

Gannicus

Victor wrote: »

You might not be able to get a mortgage for a 1-bed.

I've been mortgage approved by the bank so I'm assuming so...

Victor wrote: »

There is very little turnover of properties at the moment and "flipping" died a long time ago.

I mean in a couple of years when I get a promotion or married or am starting a family

washman3

Tigger wrote: »

now is an excellent time to buy, prices haven't been this good in years, also if you hurry you can still get decent value in mortgage.

the market should pick up and soon you'll have a nice nest egg to use as your deposit instead of wasting money on rent

BEWARE of obvious vested intrests like this.!! the "market" is nowhere near the bottom yet, possibly another 20-30% to go downwards. And forget about it picking up "soon" 8-10yrs IMO

Snakeblood

Big Steve wrote: »

Dunno if I'm in the right place but here goes.

Looking to get on the property market. 25, Single professional male working in the city centre. The banks are willing to give me €115,000 which isn't much but as far as I'm concerned its enough to get going. I have 2 questions:

1. Is a 1 bed apartment in the city centre a good/practical buy given my circumstances?

2. Regardless of the state of the market at the moment if I went to sell in a few years to upgrade is it hard to flip it and sell?

It's a terrible idea to buy now, and 1 bed apartments are selling among the worst of all.

Flipping property is really a dead idea. Prices are still on a downward spiral. If you buy now, you'll be incredibly lucky if you can sell it for the sale price in 5 years.

johndaman66

Big Steve wrote: »

1. Is a 1 bed apartment in the city centre a good/practical buy given my circumstances?

Given your immediate circumstances the answer may well (may not) be yes but your circumstances and outlook might change sooner than you imagine. If you were to meet a lass and who knows have a kid a few years down the line the one bed appartment would hardly be ideal living accommodation. Might all be grand if your not in NE and can sell and buy/ rent a bigger place but if you are in NE you will most likely find that your hands are tied so as to speak.

I'd also be asking myself how secure is my job and remember too that buying the appartment would obviously hamper your mobility if a better job presented itself in a different location.

Think you mentioned that the bank are willing to advance you €115k so I'm guessing that the property you are looking at is at least priced at the thick end of €130k if not more. On the face of it that would seem like a lot of loot for a 1 bed apartment but obviously I don't know the particular 1 bed appartment you are considering.

athtrasna

Don't forget apartments bring with them management fees which can be over €1k in the city centre for a 1 bed. That's every year and more likely to go up than down. That's like an extra month's mortgage payment. The liquidity and state of your Management Company has a huge effect on re-sale potential, don't buy an apartment without doing your research.

Check out Robert Gogan's book "A guide to apartment living" before you do anything about buying an apartment.

noxqs

Here's a few key points to consider:

1. You're single, young. Given the current world events, why would you tie yourself down to one location. The future is uncertain, getting a mortgage now on a property which will certainly go into negative equity, is madness.

2. Property prices are still very very high. This is undeniable fact. There has been countless of posts with charts and numbers and economic fundamentals which supports this, please look around.

3. Flipping can only happen in a market where the asset increases in price. This is not the case.

Even if it was the case, the amount of appreciation in the first 10 years of a typical mortgage will always be below the interest accrued, and ipso facto you'd be hemorraging money until the principal is reduced. Which, in a market of falling prices, is an uphill battle.

4. Houses are historically the worst possible assets from an investment point of view as they have always tracked inflation spot on. The property market in europe has been in a bubble for the last decade due to unusually low interest rates from the central banks world wide which has caused a credit glut which in turn caused bubbles. You're young so you don't know better than house prices going up by big percentages, but this is historically an anomaly (which is being corrected, sharply).

Therefore, renting, is a very good option now. And it will be a good option in 5, 10 and probably 15 years from now.

Walk away from this while you can.

ShadowHearth

This parts of boards.ie has some very bright people, who already helped me alot.

But sometimes I just want to put in EpIC facepalm in threads like this.

Firetrap

I just get the feeling that you're letting your desire to have your own place over-ride other things. A one-bedroomed apartment is something that's fine for a while but not all that desirable in the longer term. Not much storage, nowhere to put up overnight guests except in the living room etc. You're already looking at the apartment you're buying as something to get started with and then sell on. That's a big risk in this climate IMHO. What happens if you fail to sell the apartment or if you don't get the price you were hoping to? Would you not be better off continuing to rent for a while, save up more of a deposit and see what you can get in a year or two years time?

Victor

ShadowHearth wrote: »

This parts of boards.ie has some very bright people, who already helped me alot.

But sometimes I just want to put in EpIC facepalm in threads like this.

Can we keep the thread somewhat constructive?

desertcircus

To add a voice to the chorus:

1. The place will almost certainly drop in value.
2. This will almost certainly happen while you're still making virtually no dent in the principal of the mortgage.
3. This means that you're almost guaranteed to lose money on the apartment if you sell within five years, and still more likely than not for another decade.
4. Your housing needs are more likely to change in the next ten years than any subsequent point in your life. It's one thing to lock yourself into a one-bed city apartment as a forty-year old single urbanite; it's a different thing entirely when you're 25 and have no idea what the next ten years might bring.

People are not rushing to buy one-bed apartments. People will be in no hurry to buy one-bed apartments. The rent you can get from a one-bed apartment will not cover the mortgage on it.

Don't buy.

ShadowHearth

desertcircus wrote: »

To add a voice to the chorus:

1. The place will almost certainly drop in value.
2. This will almost certainly happen while you're still making virtually no dent in the principal of the mortgage.
3. This means that you're almost guaranteed to lose money on the apartment if you sell within five years, and still more likely than not for another decade.
4. Your housing needs are more likely to change in the next ten years than any subsequent point in your life. It's one thing to lock yourself into a one-bed city apartment as a forty-year old single urbanite; it's a different thing entirely when you're 25 and have no idea what the next ten years might bring.

People are not rushing to buy one-bed apartments. People will be in no hurry to buy one-bed apartments. The rent you can get from a one-bed apartment will not cover the mortgage on it.

Don't buy.

This. In ops situation it's not worth buying. You sinlge now, what if you will find a solid partner in the next 5 years? You will be stuck with very bad option for quite awile. Value will drop too, so you wont be able to switch for bigger place.

I know its hypocritical of me to suggest not to buy, as I am buying in this climate no matter what buying haters say, but ops situation does not make good value in buying. Specially when 1 bed apartment is 115k! It's Dublin I presume?

Gannicus

johndaman66 wrote: »

Think you mentioned that the bank are willing to advance you €115k so I'm guessing that the property you are looking at is at least priced at the thick end of €130k if not more. On the face of it that would seem like a lot of loot for a 1 bed apartment but obviously I don't know the particular 1 bed appartment you are considering.

No the don't even exceed €100k. in decent enough areas and are big enough for what I need at the moment.

keysersoze0330

Only my humble opinion but

(a) Don't buy yet
(b) Keep saving
(c) Take another look in 5 years, prices wont be going up before this.

johndaman66

Big Steve wrote: »

No the don't even exceed €100k. in decent enough areas and are big enough for what I need at the moment.

OK, fair enough Steve, I took you up wrong. I was thinking they were advancing you €115k for that particular appartment which wouldn't make sense if they were asking €100k or less. Your above comment makes it clearer to me. You do know that just because they will advance you €115k against a particular property does not necessairly mean they will advance you €115k or even €100k against another so that may be a consideration for you. They will do their own valuation of the particular property first before approving you, but I'm sure you most likely know that already.

As I mentioned previously the appartment might be perfect for your needs now but a few years down the line such may not be the case. If for argument case you met a girl and were expecting a child. Even if not your prespective and outlook changes over time and as you get older. You might eventually feel that city centre living is no longer for you....

dan_d

There are thousands of people stuck in NE with one bed apartments in the city because they "wanted to get started".

Apartments in Ireland don't hold their value well. I think we can all say that the last 2 years have proven this. A one bed apartment is, in my humble opinion, a complete waste of money. (And the number that developers were allowed to build is a total disgrace, but that's another story).

Alsops and also Sherry Fitzgerald (think it's them, open to correction??) are having sales of properties that belong to the banks, recently and in the coming months. Look at the number of one and 2 bed apartments that are on their books. Do the maths. Why do you think there are so many of these on the books of receivers and banks? Because they were totally over valued, they cannot be resold by the original buyer, who now cannot make the mortgage repayments either.

Look OP, this idea of getting on the ladder, and trading up is a media notion invented by journalists and lauded by estate agents. If you must buy a one bed, buy one at one of those sales that I mentioned above.At least you'll be getting it for a knock down price - just make sure there are no tenants in it, there are in many of them. But otherwise my advice would be to sit tight. One of your biggest priorities when entering the property market should be that you don't get stung - in other words you try to "recession proof" yourself as best as possible. None of us can predict economic conditions or house prices in the coming years. But you should buy with an eye to the future. I appreciate that being a single person, you can't exactly go out and get a 4 bed house. But do not think that you can just trade up in the future and it'll all be fine. Thousands of people in this country thought that way and are now stuck in too-small houses/apartments that they can't get rid of. Caveat emptor (buyer beware).The phrase still exists for a reason.

JoeyJJ

Buyer beware at auction, do not bid on a property without having a Solicitar check the title etc is good to go before you bid.

Some people had trouble after the last auction when their solicitar couldn't complete title and bank wouldn't let them draw down on Mortgage. This was mentioned on thepropertypin via ask about money afaik.