The Links, Skerries

hammy007

Hi All-
I wanted to see if anyone in the last phase would be able to tell us if the houses are still relatively being completed in the estimated time frame. Our date slipped by a few weeks so far, but it seems to be relatively on track.

Also, are you willing to share or PM what energy company you went with? We heard one company had delays up to 6 weeks to get the houses hooked up to electric, so I'm curious which providers others went with.

Shebah

Hi Hammy007

We were phase 2b and were only delayed by 1 week. Builders were really informative and didnt mess us about at all.

Electricty supplier we went with was Airtricity and they had us connected up fully within 2 weeks so no problem there.

Internet on the other hand has been a nightmare.
Eir are yet to put lines in for our phase and wont commit to a timeline as to when they will do this. Just keep saying 2018. They need to input lines for us to get any broadband with any company. Virgin are the only others who can put in lines and they have no plans to.

Hope this helps!

hammy007 wrote: »

Hi All-
I wanted to see if anyone in the last phase would be able to tell us if the houses are still relatively being completed in the estimated time frame. Our date slipped by a few weeks so far, but it seems to be relatively on track.

Also, are you willing to share or PM what energy company you went with? We heard one company had delays up to 6 weeks to get the houses hooked up to electric, so I'm curious which providers others went with.

hammy007

Thanks Shebah, that's really helpful. I can't believe there's no Internet yet though- fingers crossed it happens soon!

a-non

Hi all, really like the look of these houses, would like to view the showhouse but rea cumisky won’t allow viewing until launch day. Any tips on how to get one as I know they sold out in an hour the last time?! Also anyone know if the C type has a utility room as the plans are just showing a store room would that be the location for washing machine and dryer? Also what price were the three beds last time? Any advice much appreciated.

hammy007

a-non wrote: »

Hi all, really like the look of these houses, would like to view the showhouse but rea cumisky won’t allow viewing until launch day. Any tips on how to get one as I know they sold out in an hour the last time?! Also anyone know if the C type has a utility room as the plans are just showing a store room would that be the location for washing machine and dryer? Also what price were the three beds last time? Any advice much appreciated.

If you register your interest on their website, you'll get an email saying when they launch. When it's launched you can call and ask about booking one (or at least that's how we went about it, but ours was a pre-launch which may have been a little bit different. I think for the launch of the phase before ours, people queued the night before and were given tickets with a number on them). The deposit is fully refundable before contracts signed, so that would give you time to go look at the show house and review more detailed plans before you decide for sure.

I don't know much about the C types, but from the plans it looks like under stair storage, and not a utility room. The other plans all specifically say utility room if there is one, which makes me believe this one might not have one. Someone else may be better to answer that one though.

a-non

hammy007 wrote: »

If you register your interest on their website, you'll get an email saying when they launch. When it's launched you can call and ask about booking one (or at least that's how we went about it). The deposit is fully refundable before contracts signed, so that would give you time to go look at the show house and review more detailed plans before you decide for sure.

I don't know much about the C types, but from the plans it looks like under stair storage, and not a utility room. The other plans all specifically say utility room if there is one, which makes me believe this one might not have one. Someone else may be better to answer that one though.

Thanks so much for the quick reply. How long is the walk to the train station and is it safe/lights?

hammy007

a-non wrote: »

Thanks so much for the quick reply. How long is the walk to the train station and is it safe/lights?

We did a test walk, and it comes in at just under 10 minutes I'm not sure about lights as I've only walked the path during the day since we're not moved in yet.

a-non

hammy007 wrote: »

We did a test walk, and it comes in at just under 10 minutes I'm not sure about lights as I've only walked the path during the day since we're not moved in yet.

Wow under 10 minutes is great! Do you have any idea what price the 3 bedrooms were last time? Last question I promise!

hammy007

a-non wrote: »

Wow under 10 minutes is great! Do you have any idea what price the 3 bedrooms were last time? Last question I promise!

The L type terraced houses were 299k - 315k, so I'm not sure about semi-detached. Just taking a guess I'd say they'd be mid-300s. If they are similar to Barnageerah prices maybe about 335k to 360k or thereabouts, but that's just a guess.

a-non

hammy007 wrote: »

The L type terraced houses were 299k - 315k, so I'm not sure about semi-detached. Just taking a guess I'd say they'd be mid-300s. If they are similar to Barnageerah prices maybe about 335k to 360k or thereabouts, but that's just a guess.

I saw earlier in the thread that appliances aren't included, are floors also not included/are there any other extra costs that you know of?

hammy007

a-non wrote: »

I saw earlier in the thread that appliances aren't included, are floors also not included/are there any other extra costs that you know of?

Another thought too- you can check property price register and compare house numbers to the estate layout to get an idea of cost. I think the price register excludes VAT, but should give you a rough idea of cost.

Appliances and floors are the only extra costs I can think of, unless you choose to have additional electrical work done, alarm install, kitchen upgrades, etc.

Raoul

Is the estate quite cramped though? That was one worry I had when I drove around the estate.

mattcullen

Got the same impression. Houses all different shapes too. Definitely not a traditional design. When you look at the plans though, the houses seem a decent size.

Raoul

The inside of the houses appear lovely and I am really interested but the design of the estate really put me off. I don't know if this is something that I can get over.

And the houses seem all over the place. The front door of one is at the side and different things like that.

Would love some first hand info?

mattcullen

Raoul wrote: »

The inside of the houses appear lovely and I am really interested but the design of the estate really put me off. I don't know if this is something that I can get over.

And the houses seem all over the place. The front door of one is at the side and different things like that.

Would love some first hand info?

Same here, my wife and I had a look around it. Keep trying to convince myself otherwise cause the location is good but the design of the estate for us just seems really odd.

hammy007

mattcullen wrote: »

Same here, my wife and I had a look around it. Keep trying to convince myself otherwise cause the location is good but the design of the estate for us just seems really odd.

The streets are for sure narrow and guest parking in places would be nice, but I actually like the way the estate is arranged, and the unusual look of the houses makes it interesting. Obviously all just a matter of personal tastes.

If you compare it to ones like the Forge in Lusk, that place feels like a cramped maze to me. With just one large green in the middle, all the houses feel like they're on top of each other. At least with the Links there are some small green areas interspersed so it's not all just dense housing.

I think a lot of (if not most of) the new estates are moving towards more condensed planning with less green space. It's a sad trend.

Raoul

hammy007 wrote: »

The streets are for sure narrow and guest parking in places would be nice, but I actually like the way the estate is arranged, and the unusual look of the houses makes it interesting. Obviously all just a matter of personal tastes.

If you compare it to ones like the Forge in Lusk, that place feels like a cramped maze to me. With just one large green in the middle, all the houses feel like they're on top of each other. At least with the Links there are some small green areas interspersed so it's not all just dense housing.

I think a lot of (if not most of) the new estates are moving towards more condensed planning with less green space. It's a sad trend.

Thanks for that!

The Forge is somewhere else we were looking too.

I think when we visited it wasn't helped by the fact there was lots of work going on and the place wasn't like "finished". Maybe when they are finished I would like it better.

mattcullen

hammy007 wrote: »

The streets are for sure narrow and guest parking in places would be nice, but I actually like the way the estate is arranged, and the unusual look of the houses makes it interesting. Obviously all just a matter of personal tastes.

If you compare it to ones like the Forge in Lusk, that place feels like a cramped maze to me. With just one large green in the middle, all the houses feel like they're on top of each other. At least with the Links there are some small green areas interspersed so it's not all just dense housing.

I think a lot of (if not most of) the new estates are moving towards more condensed planning with less green space. It's a sad trend.

That's true yeah, best of luck with the move.

hammy007

mattcullen wrote: »

That's true yeah, best of luck with the move.

Thanks Coming up fast now.

hammy007

Raoul wrote: »

Thanks for that!

The Forge is somewhere else we were looking too.

I think when we visited it wasn't helped by the fact there was lots of work going on and the place wasn't like "finished". Maybe when they are finished I would like it better.

Yeah, hard to tell until they are done, but it will probably look more cramped instead of less, because there will be more cars

neonman

I'm thinking of buying here, for people that are already living in the estate what is the noise level between houses like? Is the sound installation good? Can you hear your neighbours?

private

Can't speak for terraced but in semi detached and have never heard a peep from my neighbours. They have young children.

neonman

Thanks - that is good to hear. I had terrible issues with a new build in the past. The walls might as well have been made of paper it was that bad.

private wrote: »

Can't speak for terraced but in semi detached and have never heard a peep from my neighbours. They have young children.

private

If you can buy a house here you won't regret it. Its a lovely estate and so quiet but central. Within walking distance of everything!

neonman

That is great to hear. I believe they're meant to be a warm house as well? Were the builders good to deal with through the process?

private

The houses are warm and well built. I got my uncle, a builder, to look it over and he was impressed. The solar power hot water works well and the builders and their subcontractors for the extras ( shower stalls, kitchen upgrades etc.) have been very good to deal with. Most people are very happy, a couple have had problems that the builders have worked with to fix.

hammy007

private wrote: »

The solar power hot water works well and the builders and their subcontractors for the extras ( shower stalls, kitchen upgrades etc.) have been very good to deal with.

Are shower stalls not included? We weren't told anything about that, so just want to check. I thought bathrooms came same standard to the showhouse?

private

No shower stalls included. No garden doors, no flooring except tiles in bathrooms/ en suite. No kitchen appliances. The estate agent told us mistakenly on the day that the downstairs flooring was included. But we knew in advance about the rest. We used the on site guys to install the stall but sourced it ourselves. Again the in site carpenter did the garden gate.

hammy007

private wrote: »

No shower stalls included. No garden doors, no flooring except tiles in bathrooms/ en suite. No kitchen appliances. The estate agent told us on the day that the downstairs flooring was included. But we knew in advance about the rest. We used the on site guys to install the stall but sourced it ourselves. Again the in site carpenter did the garden gate.

Ah rats, thanks. We knew about all the rest, but not about the shower enclosure.

Raoul

495 for the 4 bed semi D. That is way too much!!!