Buying house off Sean McDermott St

crystalmice

Hi all

We are considering buying a house on a small road just off Sean McDermot Street, towards the Amiens St end. The house is beautiful but our only reservation is the area. I am not very familiar with Dublin 1 generally and have a perception (whether right or not) that the triangle around north of Connelly / Foley st / Gardiner st / Sean McDermott st is not safe. On the other hand, it is very central and I know from experience of the area of Dublin I live in now that a lot of areas considered dangerous by people more used to leafy suburbs can be totally fine.

Would appreciate views from anyone familiar with the area if it would be safe for a young professional couple, and if the postcode would hamper resale opportunities for what we would how to turn into a large, high-spec family home. We would be walking to Grand Canal Dock area for work, sometimes fairly late in the night and obviously in dark during winter.

Thanks

Crystalmice

ProudDUB

crystalmice wrote: »

Hi all

We are considering buying a house on a small road just off Sean McDermot Street, towards the Amiens St end. The house is beautiful but our only reservation is the area. I am not very familiar with Dublin 1 generally and have a perception (whether right or not) that the triangle around north of Connelly / Foley st / Gardiner st / Sean McDermott st is not safe. On the other hand, it is very central and I know from experience of the area of Dublin I live in now that a lot of areas considered dangerous by people more used to leafy suburbs can be totally fine.

Would appreciate views from anyone familiar with the area if it would be safe for a young professional couple, and if the postcode would hamper resale opportunities for what we would how to turn into a large, high-spec family home. We would be walking to Grand Canal Dock area for work, sometimes fairly late in the night and obviously in dark during winter.

Thanks

Crystalmice

The bit in bold does not make sense. Are you the ones planning on turning it into a large, high spec family home, or are you thinking about potential future buyers?

Muahahaha

Whatever about renting in the area short term you couldnt pay me enough money to raise a family there. Unless you are okay with exposing your children to gangland crime and murders that is. I have a lot of sympathy for the majority in the area who are are law abiding but recent events in the Hutch/Kinahan feud have shown that the Gardai do not have a handle on the problem and the gangsters know it, in fact the Sunset House murder was commited with the Gardai less than 200 metres away.

As for re-sale value, it will have a value for sure but I would doubt too many families with children will be interested in buying it.

crystalmice

ProudDUB wrote: »

The bit in bold does not make sense. Are you the ones planning on turning it into a large, high spec family home, or are you thinking about potential future buyers?

We would be planning to turn it into a family home, and we are concerned about resale possibilities once we did so in the event that we needed to move at some stage in the future.

The feedback so far has confirmed my concerns about the area and I don't think we will be progressing with it.

Thanks for the replies.

cgcsb

I think it's fine provided you don't drink in sunset house or socialise with gangsters.

Rakish Paddy

I worked in the area for quite a while and you couldn't pay me to live there. The area is full of drug addicts wandering around the place all day, shouting and roaring with can/bottle in hand. You will see people injecting themselves on the street. Excrement of both the canine and human variety is a common sight on the street. Illegal dumping is a massive problem in the area. Your new neighbours could well have neck tattoos and a pit bull, and tracksuit bottoms tucked into socks. Street drug dealing is completely open with not the slightest effort to hide it - it seems at times to be like Dublin's version of 'Hamsterdam'!. You'll see some interesting things going on in the Centra at the Five Lamps too - I have seen a loose pit bull run amok in there scaring the ****e out of everyone, and a skanger kid cycling a bike down an aisle inside the shop

All that being said, I never got assaulted or robbed in the area, so if you keep yourself to yourself you'll probably be fine, but the area really was so awful it was depressing, and I'd never take a job there again and certainly wouldn't even consider paying to live there.

ProudDUB

crystalmice wrote: »

We would be planning to turn it into a family home, and we are concerned about resale possibilities once we did so in the event that we needed to move at some stage in the future.

The feedback so far has confirmed my concerns about the area and I don't think we will be progressing with it.

Thanks for the replies.

Fair enough. It's not the best place in the world to be rearing a family, so if u invest a lot of money in the home, to make it family friendly, there is a very good chance you would not get your money back from your investment. The area has a lot of problems, that would put a lot of buyers off, especially if they had kids.

I lived just down the road,(in the apts behind Connolly Station) for 2 years & I absolutely loved it. If you are a clued in adult, who is willing to overlook the grittier aspects of life in the north inner city, in order to be so close to town, the area has a lot to offer. But raising a family there wouldn't really be on the list.

L1011

cgcsb wrote: »

I think it's fine provided you don't drink in sunset house or socialise with gangsters.

Sunset House is gone, reopened as the Brendan Behan as an attempt at a hipster bar. Run by Gary Gannon (SD councillor)'s brother now.

spurious

There is at least one house for sale in the area that has one of the currently feuding families as a next-door neighbour. I would be very wary.

Cyrus

you couldn't pay me to live there

Rakish Paddy

spurious wrote: »

There is at least one house for sale in the area that has one of the currently feuding families as a next-door neighbour. I would be very wary.

Well, if you happen to be fascinated by the Kinahan-Hutch feud, you would have a front row seat there around Sean McDermott St! I got a sneak peak at both Gary and Eddie Hutch's funerals when I worked over that way.

The gunman in drag at the Regency Hotel attack is from just down the other end of Sean McDermott St., and his father is now apparently under a serious amount of Garda protection. One of the AK47 gunmen in the Regency job, (and a former Kinahan cartel hitman) has a business registered on Buckingham Street. The Sunset House pub up the road in Summerhill was the scene of a murder not too long ago.

I know it's an awful rag, but here's a little taster from the Sunday World of some of the stuff that has gone on in the area in recent years:
http://www.sundayworld.com/news/tourists-park-car-in-dublin-s-inner-city-and-return-to-find-car-gone

And another bit, this time from the Irish Times:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/in-dublin-s-north-inner-city-people-do-not-choose-to-become-addicts-1.2673740

SmartinMartin

The entire area is a ****hole, and because of the abundance of flats it will never be rejuvenated. Don't waste your money.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I lived in Sheriff Street, then bought a house in East Wall.. When we decided to start a family I couldn't get out of the area quick enough.

Alone or as a couple, fine.. Just keep your nose out of others business.

Have a family or planning one, I'd look elsewhere.

fg1406

I rented up opposite the Sunset House at Summerhill for a year. I was working down at capel street. It was ok-ish to rent there in the shoe term. The neighbourhood was a mix of inner city salt-of-the-earth families, feral scum and immigrants. If I kept my head down and went about my own business it was ok. That said it was noisy with plenty of Garda activity (joyriders, the odd shooting, muggings etc). However not in a million years would I consider settling there long term, in particular starting a family in the area.

Muahahaha

OP with the same budget (Im presuming €350-400k) try looking down at houses on or just off the North Circular Road at the Phoenix Park end. Cabra and Phibsboro are also a possibility. Neither are as close to Grand Canal Dock but you wont get anything on the southside near there for that kind of money. Maybe Ringend but there are a lot of small houses there that wouldnt be suitable for the space a family needs.

alastair

A couple of streets this way or that make a huge difference tbh. I live in the North Inner City, and there are specific streets I'd be entirely happy on, and others close by that you couldn't pay me to live on. Sean McDermott St and Foley St are too compromised by drugs and anti-social hassles to consider - even if you dismiss the feud concerns (which I would tbh). Overall though - it's not the cleverest area to bring kids up in - too many kids left behind to compete with.