First Tine Buyer - Cork City

biglovin

Hi,
I am a potential first time buyer living in cork city at the moment. I have been renting for the last ten years but I am now thinking of buying a house with my girlfriend.
She is after going back to college so doesn’t have full time employment so I will be applying for the mortgage myself as I feel that it will be easier to get.
She is potentially going to provide up to 30K for either deposit or some of the deposit and left over money for renovations etc needed on the house. I earn 60K plus bonus a year and have been employed for 8 years.
I’m looking for advise on locations, how much would be wise to spend etc. on the mortgage, best offers available at the moment with banks, any common pitfalls etc. first time buyers with little to know experience of this kind of thing makes.
I have rented in the south side of the city since I have been in cork and work in ballincolig and travel a good bit with work so I think the south side of the city with easy access to the link is best for me.

I would appreciate your thoughts on any of the above or anything you feel I am missing which I should be considering.

Thanks

BryanF

Watch out for cash buyers- vendors are taking their bid even if it's not the highest. And expect many of the <200k properties to go for well in excess of the asking. Just my two cents, been actively looking since sept. Imo The media only covers the Dublin property price increases - in my experience the same is happening in cork - and imo its most definitely a supply v demand issue

Plenty of the autioneers are not emailing/ formally recording the bids, my advice would be always email them 'confirmation' of their phone conversation.

Last week I was the highest bidder on a run-down 3 bed property - the auctioneer rang and asked would I increase my bid further??? As the 2nd bidder was a cash buyer and the client was going to take there bid. That's the 3rd time that's happened.

cpoh1

I would echo Bryans comments - if you are looking in Ballintemple, blackrock or ballinlough on the south side expect competition to be fierce. 3 bed semi d houses in Ballintemple for example that were selling for ~€250k in early 2013 are now reaching €350k and need a complete refurb to boot.

Might not be a bad idea to take a look in the outer douglas area, carrigaline, maryborough directions?

Eldarion

If you're looking at houses in Ballincollig be very aware that there is subsidence in the area. There's definitely value to be had in the areas a little further out from Ballincollig e.g. Dripsey, Ovens, Aherla. If you go nearer to the city then the prices rice exorbitantly.

Your gf's 30k is going to be a tricky one. If you apply together then her 30k might bring the LTV down enough that it would offset the increased monthly requirements of a second body, but that depends on how much you buy the house for. If you could source the deposit all on your own, and secure the mortgage on your own then only use her 30k for renovations etc after you're in then you should do that.

60k would usually indicate a 200k-300k ballpark but this might need to be revised down these days. Hard to comment further without getting right into the guts of your financial situation.

cpoh1

Eldarion wrote: »

If you're looking at houses in Cork be very aware that there is subsidence in the area.

Fixed that for you Eldarion :pac:

Eldarion wrote: »

Your gf's 30k is going to be a tricky one. If you apply together then her 30k might bring the LTV down enough that it would offset the increased monthly requirements of a second body, but that depends on how much you buy the house for. If you could source the deposit all on your own, and secure the mortgage on your own then only use her 30k for renovations etc after you're in then you should do that.

Good point. Will there be complications with her adding to the deposit and not having a stake in the mortgage. It would be much cleaner if you could apply for the mortgage while using just your own savings.

El_Dangeroso

Bear in mind that getting a mortgage with someone is arguably a bigger commitment than marrying. My brother got a house with his girlfriend at the time. They split up but are still in touch because the house is in NE and they have to rent it for now. Luckily they are on good terms.

Not to say your relationship isn't solid. But I wouldn't advise getting a mortgage with someone I wouldn't legally bind myself to.

Also if your the sole person on the mortgage and you split she would could claim adverse possession for any contribution towards renovations or the mortgage.

I know it's horribly cynical to think like this but it's best to think out all scenarios before making such a huge financial commitment with another person.

Good Luck!

biglovin

thanks for all the replies, very helpul