Advice on moving to the city

RinkyDinkSlink

Hello :-)

Hoping for a bit of advice from city locals and those in the know. We're currently renting a house in the Fermoy area but now we're looking to buy and after much consideration we've decided to move to the city. We're both originally country kids so it's a big change for us but having spent the best part of a year discussing it we're sure it's the right decision. So the problem is that although we love going in to the city on our days off we normally only go around the city centre, we wouldn't know any of the residential areas that well.

What we're looking for is pretty simple (and therefore impossible to find I'm sure!);
Nice residential area
Close to city centre/amenities
Close to schools/parks (no kids yet but we do plan on having them)
Older/character property - no housing estates
Easy to get to Kent Station (for my work) and handy enough to get on motorway to Fermoy (for hub's work)
Parking for 1 car would be nice
Garden - not huge like (though happy out if it was) but not a case of putting out the bin and there's the garden full either!

Really don't want anywhere that is proper rough, scared we'll end up buying in some god awful hole and be stuck with a house we can't get out of! We have 2 cats and I'd like to be able to let them out in a garden without worrying about little beggars throwing stones (or worse) at them you know?

So far we've seen houses on daft that we like in Blackpool, St. Lukes, Blarney St, Douglas Rd, Gould St, Redemption Rd, Pouladuff, Windmill Rd and Glasheen Rd. Our budget is pretty small so while I know there's loads of houses we'd LOVE in Cork City there's only a few we can actually afford and if anyone can shed light on the above areas (or knows of any other places that tick all the above boxes) I'd really appreciate your input. First time buyers so it's scaaaary making the leap - at least with rented places you can move on easily enough!

Ugh, sorry 'bout the essay!

Balmed Out

Areas of Ballinlough / Blackrock close to town and the link entrance and exits. Think between the link road / town and ashton school.
Never lived in area but its very easy to get everywhere, parks around, schools etc.

pwurple

Here's a character property on Church Road in blackrock. I passed it this morning and thought it looked lovely on the outside. Probably a kip inside!

There's a bus-stop practically outside the door (number 202), primary school and creche either side, church behind it, so the neighbours won't be partying all night long.

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1383527

1 bedroom might be a bit small though, and the rooms look tiny. BUT, that area is very nice. Blackrock / ballinlough / douglas is all nice.

horgan_p

Have a look at boreennamanna (sorry for spelling) road. Depending what time you travel at lower glanmire rd can be as quick as the tunnel

RinkyDinkSlink

pwurple wrote: »

Here's a character property on Church Road in blackrock. I passed it this morning and thought it looked lovely on the outside. Probably a kip inside!

There's a bus-stop practically outside the door (number 202), primary school and creche either side, church behind it, so the neighbours won't be partying all night long.

http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1383527

1 bedroom might be a bit small though, and the rooms look tiny. BUT, that area is very nice. Blackrock / ballinlough / douglas is all nice.

Oh wow that place is GORGEOUS but we're looking to buy, not rent. It's so pretty though!
1 bed is too small for us, we're not originally from Cork so we'd need to put visitors up when family come to stay. We're looking for 3/4 bed ideally.

pwurple

RinkyDinkSlink wrote: »

Oh wow that place is GORGEOUS but we're looking to buy, not rent. It's so pretty though!
1 bed is too small for us, we're not originally from Cork so we'd need to put visitors up when family come to stay. We're looking for 3/4 bed ideally.

Ooops, sorry misread you! It's hard to come by places in that area for sale actually. Took us two years to find something that fit all criteria.

On your original list, I've a friend on windmill road and it seems like a nice street. very close to town, and not much parking though.

Glasheen road can be a bit studenty maybe? But a nice area all the same.

Douglas road is very nice, possibly expensive?


I'd advise renting in the area you are thinking of buying for a year or so if you can first. Buying is a big long-term investment, want to make sure it suits you.

hoodwinked

pwurple wrote: »

I'd advise renting in the area you are thinking of buying for a year or so if you can first. Buying is a big long-term investment, want to make sure it suits you.

this this and more of this, i cannot recommend a place to live until you try this,


we can recommend good area's and bad areas, but to be fair every house has good neighbours and bad neighbours and the only way you'd know what an area is really like is to live there,

then its a matter of buy if you like it, move elsewhere if you don't.

i live in an area considered to be nice/posh,in an estate with people who spent upto half a million on their homes, and the anti social behavior here is not only unreal, but a constant issue.

so get a feel for the area yourself before you buy. don't go on what people say!

who_me

Based on being near to Kent station, being easy to get to Fermoy, wanting a place with character and possibly a garden, I think around St. Lukes, or Wellington Road are good areas to start looking at. Maybe near Richmond Hill / St. Patricks Hill. If you're using Google Streetview, check out the area labelled Sidney Park on Google Maps (not sure the place names are 100% correct.. but you get a good feel for the area before having to walk around there in person).

Best of luck!

VincentLeB

who_me wrote: »

Based on being near to Kent station, being easy to get to Fermoy, wanting a place with character and possibly a garden, I think around St. Lukes, or Wellington Road are good areas to start looking at. Maybe near Richmond Hill / St. Patricks Hill. If you're using Google Streetview, check out the area labelled Sidney Park on Google Maps (not sure the place names are 100% correct.. but you get a good feel for the area before having to walk around there in person).

Best of luck!

This seems like the most practical post so far. Blackrock and Boreenmanna Rd. and Douglas are all great, but in practical terms during rush hour or for being near Fermoy, they're pretty useless. I'm from Douglas, so I would know.

With regards to the areas:

Blackpool: same as other areas re: Kent Station and Fermoy. But as Blackpool goes, it's not considered a really great area, and you would definitely be looking at housing estates. Just based on your description, it doesn't sound right.

St. Lukes: depending on what part, it could work out pretty good for you. This is the most practical one from your list — it's five minutes from Kent Station and as close as you can get without going outside the city centre. There are some rough parts, but there are some really nice houses in older estates there.


Blarney St.: definitely avoid. Not what you're looking for.

Douglas Rd.: really, really nice. You could get something really reasonable here that's also really nice. Loads of choice here. But then as I said, it doesn't work with your requirements of Kent Station and Fermoy.

Gould St., Pouladuff: Never heard of Gould St., but plugging it into Google Maps they seem to be about the same area. Nice enough, but still not what you require!

Redemption Rd.: No

Windmill Rd.: Grand area, but maybe not what you're looking for. Still far away from Kent and Fermoy, especially in rush hour.

Really, you should be focusing on St. Lukes, Montenotte, Patrick's Hill area (including Sidney Park — you've got the best primary and secondary school in Cork right around the corner, though some will dispute that!), Lower Glanmire Road. Anywhere else and you've moved too far out of the city or are too far away from where you need to be.

Given your requirements though, I'm pretty sure you'll have to give in on a few to get some of the others. It's a balance thing, and you have to decide what's most important to you.

sensormatic

Blarney St.: definitely avoid. Not what you're looking for.

what's wrong with this street their very grand up there sky sports as well

searching the sun

Don't buy before you come and live here for a while.
We can tell you what areas are good and which are not and can recommend which area seems to suit you better according to what you are telling us about yourself, but in reality, although not a huge city, Cork has so many different areas that you might end up buying somewhere you really don't and won't like.
Rent even for few months until you look around.

That all said, it seems to me that south of the River Lee would suit your expectations and needs most.
Even though near Kent station would give you easy access to travel to Fermoy, i would not recommend it to you as Lower Glanmire Road is not what i would see as a family/child friendly area by no means. No shops, no play areas, no place for a nice walk, not on a bus route to town (oh yes, there is load of buses passing there, but barely any stopping). Also Blarney street and blackpool don't seem to be what you want to be honest.