Northwood vs. Charlestown

Joza

I'm hoping to get some advice on a potential property purchase. Long story short I'm looking at buying an apartment as a single first time buyer.

I'm limited in what I can afford and I've seen reasonable apartments in Northwood area near Santry and also in Melville near Charlestown. My max is 250k. I walked around Northwood recently and it's a much prettier area (has a park with lake and trees), seems more upmarket, but what's also drawing me to Melville are the 3 bedroom duplexes as opposed to only a 2 bedroom apartment in Northwood. However, the proposed Metro North will have a stop in Northwood which is a big plus.

Has anyone else been in a similar position? What did you choose? Should I forgo the bigger place in Melville for what seems like a much better area in Northwood? I know in the end it's entirely up to me, just hoping others might share some experience or wisdom to help me decide

wersal gummage

I'm not sure you'll get a 2 bed in Northwood for 250

Joza

I've looked already, there are a few (doer uppers too).

DubJJ

I'd go for the smaller property in your preferred area.
The extra bedroom may be appealing but the local amenities are what you will really appreciate on a day to day basis.
I also think 3 bedroom duplexes have a bit of an identity crisis and can be a bit harder to shift.

Gumbo

Northwood is a ghost town in the evening.
Melville has great bus links to the city. The 140 has you on O’Connell street in 20 mins.

Melville will be a bigger property with less management fees but are timber frame construction so noises will be more noticeable. Northwood is concrete built in places but some are timber frame too.

Management fees in Northwood are about 2.5k and Melville under 1k. Mainly due to having no requirement for lifts.

Joza

@DubJJ When you say the duplexes have an identity crisis, have you first hand experience in this regard? I'd be interested to hear more.

wersal gummage

Joza wrote: »

I've looked already, there are a few (doer uppers too).

Do you mean looked as in you looked on the Internet, or have you viewed and got into bidding etc? Some estate agents will deliberately price low just to get people in to view

kceire

kceire wrote: »

Northwood is a ghost town in the evening.
Melville has great bus links to the city. The 140 has you on O’Connell street in 20 mins.

Melville will be a bigger property with less management fees but are timber frame construction so noises will be more noticeable. Northwood is concrete built in places but some are timber frame too.

Management fees in Northwood are about 2.5k and Melville under 1k. Mainly due to having no requirement for lifts.

I know for a fact that there are apartments in Northwood with fees under €1400. Don't know what you mean by ghost town, but lack of late night noise is a pretty big dealbreaker when it comes to apartments. I don't know of any timber frame apartments in the country, let alone in Santry.

I'm unfamiliar with Melville, so wouldn't know of the merits or any pros/cons. To suggest it is better serviced by public transport when that same Bus route is equally accessible from one end of Northwood is a bit much. The other end of Northwood is also serviced by the 16, which is one of the best routes in the entire city, before we even get into other routes or MN.

Other positives for NW: Cinemas, restaurants, supermarkets (LIDL x 2, ALDI, Tesco), parks, airport, Omni / Gulliver's retail park, nicer area, cheaper taxis into/outta town.

The one big thing it's missing is a decent boozer, tbh. The hotel is fine for an odd pint but the Comet is probably the closest to a real pub in the vicinity.

Gumbo

Deleted User wrote: »

I know for a fact that there are apartments in Northwood with fees under €1400. Don't know what you mean by ghost town, but lack of late night noise is a pretty big dealbreaker when it comes to apartments. I don't know of any timber frame apartments in the country, let alone in Santry.

I'm unfamiliar with Melville, so wouldn't know of the merits or any pros/cons. To suggest it is better serviced by public transport when that same Bus route is equally accessible from one end of Northwood is a bit much. The other end of Northwood is also serviced by the 16, which is one of the best routes in the entire city, before we even get into other routes or MN.

Other positives for NW: Cinemas, restaurants, supermarkets (LIDL x 2, ALDI, Tesco), parks, airport, Omni / Gulliver's retail park, nicer area, cheaper taxis into/outta town.

The one big thing it's missing is a decent boozer, tbh. The hotel is fine for an odd pint but the Comet is probably the closest to a real pub in the vicinity.

Melville is timber frame apartments.
My friend has apartment in temple court. Fees there are 2.5k.
Melville has Charlestown also, cinema, Dunnes, Aldi, LIDL, pub.

Both very similar estates.

mel123

Ive lived in Melville, and im very near Northwood now so would be in it a lot

Defo Northwood all day long IMO

Joza

Thanks for all the info so far folks, feel free to keep it coming

It does seem like Northwood is a better option. I think I'd be willing to sacrifice an extra room for a generally nicer area to live in. And, as I've mentioned already, Metro North.

LirW

Northwood is nicer imo. I'm not a big fan of the area around Charlestown, but that's taste really.
I've heard that some buildings in Northwood were affected by Pyrite but it was supposed to be fixed, might be something you wanna look out for.

l5auim2pjnt8qx

Location Location ! !

Santry is a far nicer area than Charlestown.

Numerous anti-social problems with estates in Charlestown with regards
to attacks by gangs of feral teenagers roaming the areas.

A smaller 2 bed in a nice area you feel safe walking about wins everytime
than a larger duplex apartment in a less desireable area.

As another post suggests 2 beds for 250K around santry would be hard to come
by even if posted on daft for amount, I would be thinking 275-285 for a generous
sized apartment.

jd

LirW wrote: »

I've heard that some buildings in Northwood were affected by Pyrite but it was supposed to be fixed, might be something you wanna look out for.

That was fixed..

bikeman1

I'm in Northwood since last August, bought a two bed apartment. I am loving it so far.

Pros:
Nice area
Loads of shops
Beautiful park for walks / running
Nice cafés
Frequent buses to City centre, Airport, Swords, North County Dublin. Hourly nitelink at weekends to 0400. Airport shuttle every 20 mins 0400/0000 everyday from hotel.
No rough element around/ on site security
Great road access M1 / M50 / Port Tunnel
Well maintained common areas.

Cons
Aircraft noise. I'm used to it now. Airport is very busy these days.
No pub within 10 minutes of the place apart from hotel. I go to Kealys in Cloughran or town.
Cycle route to town is not safe. Very busy route.

I'm not aware of the Charlestown scenario. But that's the happy view from Northwood.

LirW

Cycle route to town is not safe. Very busy route.

Just an advice on that one, Swords road is incredibly busy, try get out to Ballymun road and go straight down into the city, that way is safer.

factnee

kceire wrote: »

Melville is timber frame apartments.
My friend has apartment in temple court. Fees there are 2.5k.
Melville has Charlestown also, cinema, Dunnes, Aldi, LIDL, pub.

Both very similar estates.

I have a 2 bed apartment in Parklands, Northwood. Management fees for 2018 are 1593

Captain Flaps

Rent an apartment near Charlestown (don't know Melville specifically). There's no good/safe boozer around there either, you're heading back towards Glasnevin for that which is hardly a stroll itself. The centre there is nice enough but pretty soulless, without the cinema it's really just Dunnes and an Eddie Rockets. Shallots Indian is about the height of nice, sit down dining. You wouldn't convince me to buy in the area and the fairground that pops up a few times a year seems to attract the kind of people you'd rather avoid in droves.

Gumbo

Captain Flaps wrote: »

Rent an apartment near Charlestown (don't know Melville specifically). There's no good/safe boozer around there either, you're heading back towards Glasnevin for that which is hardly a stroll itself. The centre there is nice enough but pretty soulless, without the cinema it's really just Dunnes and an Eddie Rockets. Shallots Indian is about the height of nice, sit down dining. You wouldn't convince me to buy in the area and the fairground that pops up a few times a year seems to attract the kind of people you'd rather avoid in droves.

The same fair ground that pops up in Northwood beside home base too?

Captain Flaps

kceire wrote: »

The same fair ground that pops up in Northwood beside home base too?

Wasn't aware of that, you can factor out that one I guess. Only counter point is that I'd assume charlestown has a few more scrotes than northwood but that's neither here nor there.

jd

kceire wrote: »

The same fair ground that pops up in Northwood beside home base too?

I've seen circuses there, not fair grounds.

mel123

kceire wrote: »

The same fair ground that pops up in Northwood beside home base too?

The circus lands there once a year, defo no fair ground ever in Northwood

vichitra

I am living in Melville since 2004, it is very convenient and not a bad area at all. I haven't seen any issues. Many buses 9,83,140, 40.
All the popular shops around, near M50

l5auim2pjnt8qx

Its hardly a place for picnics in the park with the family.Sometimes you just get what up pay for.

https://www.boards.ie/b/thread/2056890179

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/innocent-family-terrified-as-two-shots-are-fired-at-house-by-kinahan-thugs-35453046.html

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/sword-attacker-sliced-off-victims-left-hand-26523796.html

http://www.neighbours.ie/forums/index.php?threads/anti-social-behaviour.67613/

DubJJ

Some of those articles are almost a decade old.