Buying - 1-bed or 2-bed

dearg lady

I know this question has been put forward before, but I suppose I'm interested in opinions on my specific circumstances!

Currently saving for deposit (20% required) and my intention has been to go for a 2 bed in Dublin, and stay there for 10 years minimum. However I'm casually lookign and somewhat struggling to see 2 bed's I'd be happy in for 10 years+
So am now considering the possibility of buying a 1 bed apartment (25% deposit required) and holding it short term, circa 5 years. In that time I would intend to pay down a sizable chunk of the mortgage. I will do the full calculations later, but think around 40% would be achievable.
I would then sell the 1 bed, releasing the equity and with my larger deposit and (hopefully!!) larger salary be in a better position to purchase a 2 bed I could stay in long term.

Good idea/bad idea??

ash23

Personally I would say bad idea.

Less demand for one beds make them harder to sell. If anything happens to your income (wage cut, less hours or redundancy) you can rent out a room to help pay the mortgage.

Just my tuppence worth.

_Kaiser_

I'd say bad idea.. Most 1 beds are tiny, awkwardly laid out, and with almost no storage, and the price differences (certainly if renting outside Dublin) aren't that big

As someone who moved home recently myself I ended up renting a 2 bed just so I had more space in the kitchen and sitting room with enough places to store things. The 2nd bedroom will likely be unused for anything more than another store room (or maybe home office)

Everlong1

I'm with Ash on this - have a two bed myself and will be letting out the spare bed this year.

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

dearg lady

Thanks for the opinions guys. a 2 bed definitely would be my preference, but I really am struggling to find one I'd be happy in long term within my budget. I might have to go back to the drawing board!

the_syco

dearg lady wrote: »

So am now considering the possibility of buying a 1 bed apartment (25% deposit required) and holding it short term, circa 5 years.

They're cheap because no-one wants them. They're not very cheap because people bought them in the boom years with the intention of

dearg lady wrote: »

holding it short term, circa 5 years

and then

dearg lady wrote: »

sell the 1 bed, releasing the equity and with my larger deposit

to get on the "property ladder".

=-=

Look for a 2 bed house, within a 10 minute walk of a road that has bus corridors to and from the city centre, and/or 10 minute walk from a train/luas station. Main benefit of a house over an apartment; you can alter the house.

dearg lady

Of course there's not much point in me buying a 2 bed that I'm unhappy in! It's important that I like the property and area.

FWIW, I don't think the idea of a property ladder is so bad, unfortunately we've been experiencing a very dysfunctional market for quite a while!

hellyeah

If you can stretch to a 2 bed house go for it. I purchased a 2 bed apartment 6 years ago with the view of staying long term. After problems with noisy neighbours, lack of support from management company, I was glad i purchased a 2 bed as it was easier to sell. From my experience stay away from apartments if you can. Your sanity is more important. Back to square one for me.
Now saving for a house. Which i should have purchased in the first place.

jayjay2010

I would only choose a 1 bed if it is in a much better location than the 2 bed, and thus 1) would be a nicer area to live in and 2) would be a desirable area to rent or sell on if thats what you plan on doing.

I decided to go for a 2 bed apartment (which I'm still waiting to move into) for the flexibility. I have a friend who will rent the spare bedroom off me covering a large chunk of my mortgage. If I decide to kick him out I can turn the room into a study or anything else I want really.

I would have preferred a house for many reasons (biggest reason: to avoid management fees) but unfortunately I simply couldn't afford a house in the area where I want to buy that's within my budget.

Good luck!

dearg lady

I definitely would prefer a 2 bed, but it's about affordability really. Like you jay I'd prefer a house, but that is looking less and less likely. I don't know if I could see myself in an apartment long term.

I suppose as another scenario if the choice were rent a 1 bed (c €1,000pm) or buy a 1 bed, what would people recommend?

Dandelion6

Try to get one that comes with a parking space if you can. Even if you don't have a car. It'll make the apartment far more resellable and if you don't need it you can rent it out for extra income.

johnnyskeleton

the_syco wrote: »

They're cheap because no-one wants them.

Which means they have a low sale price. But if you look on daft the difference in rent between a 1 and 2 bed in the same block is usually 100-200 e.g. 1200 for 1 bed, 1350 for 2 bed. Roughly a 15-20% premium on the rent. If the two bed costs 30% more i.e. 150k for 1 bed 200 for 2 bed, then from a rental income perspective the one bed is better priced.

So when asking the question whether you would like to live in a 1 bed or a 2 bed, the answer is a no brainer if you can easily afford either one. But the OP is asking does the one bed make financial sense, and the answer is work out the above figures and if you get a better yield on the one bed, then yes.

The smart investor has regard to what other people are doing, but focusses on the bottom line at all stages.

Chris_5339762

Buy a 2 bed and covert one room into a study area / entertainment room. Much more space. 1 bed apartments are too small for one person once you start to accumulate stuff.

dearg lady

As I said, I'm struggling to find a 2 bed I'd be happy in. I've reached an age where sharing is becoming less and less a viable options. My options really are as follows:

Rent a 1 bed and have next to no capacity for saving.
Purchase a 1 bed apartment, live there for maybe 5 years and sell.
Purchase a 2 bed (probably apartment) that ticks very few of my boxes and stay there long term.

Not great options!

Idbatterim

They're cheap because no-one wants them. They're not very cheap because people bought them in the boom years with the intention of

well in areas i am currently looking to rent, 1 bedroom apartments are asking 1300-1400 for nice ones. I was looking at the figures for buying. I could afford the mortgage over a 20-25 year period. I could not, rather will not, pay E1300 or more a month to live on my own, despite the fact that I really want to. Its simply to large a slice of my income. So I am in a similar position to your dearglady, I am getting to the point where I am done with living with others, and another thing I learned first hand, location is very very important to me, I vowed having lived in what I deemed a crap one for 3 years, it is never a mistake I will repeat again. So then onto apartments, my current one is doing my head in with noise and another poster on this thread has mentioned this issue. There is also another long running thread on noisy neighbours and how they can make your life a misery. It really is picking the least crap option...

Dandelion6

dearg lady wrote: »

My options really are as follows:

Rent a 1 bed and have next to no capacity for saving.
Purchase a 1 bed apartment, live there for maybe 5 years and sell.
Purchase a 2 bed (probably apartment) that ticks very few of my boxes and stay there long term.

Why not purchase a 2 bed that ticks very few of your boxes, live there for maybe 5 years and sell?

dearg lady

Dandelion6 wrote: »

Why not purchase a 2 bed that ticks very few of your boxes, live there for maybe 5 years and sell?

hmmm, I hadn't really thought of it! I suppose my idea was with a much lower mortgage on a 1 bed it would be easier to pay down a chunk given the lower interest payments