Sell or hang tough

MarcusP12

Hi folks,

I'm sure this isnt the 1st post here on the subject but just looking for people's opinion on my situation. Apologies in advance for the length!

Firstly, the background....i bought an appartment (in D15, near clonee) in a nice small development back in 05 off the plans and moved in in 06. it was a modest price compared to some and i could have made a killing as a buddy flipped his within days of getting the keys and got the stamp duty treshold of 317.5k almost immediately in 06. However i wasnt in it to make a few bob at the time. I spent a few years there through the crash and values dropped like a stone. however i decided to buy a house to start a family with my wife which meant i had to rent out the appartment. Luckily it has been easy rent out and havent had it free even a month since. Its been relatively trouble free and i pay a property manager to look after things for me.

So here's the thing. When i got my mortgage statement i was pleasantly surprised by what was left. Based on the asking of one in my block, i might actually be back in the black sooner than i thought i would be which has me thinking about what i should do. Luckily i've been on a tracker so the rent i get is a couple of 100 more than the mortgage which effectively covers the annual tax bill. however, what with property tax, insurances, property management and manager fees, etc, i'm probably subsidising the property to the tune of 250 to 300 a month. A decent amount by any standards.

Luckily, i have a decent job which is going well so it hasnt prevented us from progressing. The thing is, we're planning on doing a lot of work to the house which is going to ramp up our monthly outgoings which means that the shortfall on the apartment would ease the burden of this.

So, what i'm asking my fellow boardsie's is, would you sell up while there seems to be a demand there, i think, and i might actually make a few quid. Or would you hang on to it indefinitely.

Just to help with the opinions, i have a good pension (so will my wife) so nice and all as it would be to have a property to supplement this, touch wood, i don't think i'll need it to have a decent retirement (which is a long way off BTW).

My own thinking at the moment is that i should maybe see how values go in a year or 2 and if things are still good, i might cash in. I would be delighted if values returned to near what i paid within a 2 or 3 years, 5 even and had a nice little lump sum to pay off a bit of the house mortgage or push the boat out on a car to treat myself but nothing is guaranteed i know!

but would it be silly to rush into selling, even within a year or 2? Should i be looking at the long game?

I know my situation as described above is a lucky one to be in and a 1st world problem. Not a day goes by that i dont consider myself lucky in the decisions i/we made on the appartment and then the house. We all know the hardship which too many people have had to endure so apologies if my query is self interested.....

Thanks in advance for the opinions.....

Pinkycharm

Hey, I was in much the same situation as you last year. I bought a 3 bed semi (cash buy though) for very cheap and did it up and rented it for a few years. Last year I got my first mortgage so had to make decision to sell or go. I paid around 30k (put 20k into it) for the house and sold it for 79k so made a handy enough profit. I'm down the country though but it shows that the market is picking up a little- properties are fast selling down here now. There would be no harm in putting it up for a year and seeing what bids/offers come through on it and then make the decision.

I really got rid of mine to pay a lump of my mortgage for house I am in now and to do renovations, I hope to flip this one in about 2 years once all is done too. I put the other property up just to test the waters and was very happy with the interest in it. Just my advice. I didnt really see myself wanting to hang onto it, rent was handy but repairs etc over time do add up and i can only imagine them trying to introduce more taxes or up property tax in the future.

No doubt in Dublin, offers will fly in for it though. At least you'll get an idea then.