Opinions about buying this in Ardglass, Baltinglass

arelyn

Hello guys

Due to the exorbitant price of mortgage in Dublin, me and wife have agreed to look outside into Kildare and Wicklow for new but affordable houses.
We both work in and around rathfarnham and we are considering to check out this property in ardglass in the coming week
Please, I would like to know your opinion about the area ( rough or good)
commuting route to work( doable or not)
Social life
a good return for money or hole in the pocket?
Community spirit and acceptance

The link to the development is

Check out this property I found using Daft

https://www.daft.ie/ardglassbaltinglass

Horusire

That's quite a commute OP. 255k would get you an older 3 bed semi in certain parts of North kildare.

Cash_Q

The only way to know if the commute is doable or not is to try it out yourselves a few times. Get yourself there at whatever time you think it'll take to get to work and try the journey. Then head back there after work some other day and see how the return drive is. Bear in mind that it's summer and the roads are much quieter. Dark winter mornings will be different too. Consider your current commute and if the journey length and distance will really be a drastic change or similar. Consider mileage, fuel costs etc for you both, and ask is it really going to be an affordable mortgage when accounting for commuting costs.

handlemaster

OP was there not flooding in Baltinglass years ago. Might want to check this out

You would get a two bed in Nass for 235k and it a straight(ish) 30k commuter to Rathfarnham.

ec_pc

Baltinglass is a typical rural town which acts as a hub for the surrounding hinterlands. For such a large sprawling town, it could be argued that there is not a lot in it apart from the usual pubs / shops / GAA etc.

I lived in a nearby village closer to the M9 and we used Baltinglass as our main town - it has a Spar , Supervalu and Quinn hardware / mart is also there.

I work in Blackrock in Dublin and in terms of commute it was becoming unmanageable for me personally. The home journey leaving Blackrock at 4 went from taking 55 minutes to about 1h 25 before we moved 2 years ago. I also worked at home 1 or 2 days a week.

In my experience from when we were selling, I always thought houses in Baltinglass to be overpriced.

arelyn

ec_pc wrote: »

Baltinglass is a typical rural town which acts as a hub for the surrounding hinterlands. For such a large sprawling town, it could be argued that there is not a lot in it apart from the usual pubs / shops / GAA etc.

I lived in a nearby village closer to the M9 and we used Baltinglass as our main town - it has a Spar , Supervalu and Quinn hardware / mart is also there.

I work in Blackrock in Dublin and in terms of commute it was becoming unmanageable for me personally. The home journey leaving Blackrock at 4 went from taking 55 minutes to about 1h 25 before we moved 2 years ago. I also worked at home 1 or 2 days a week.

In my experience from when we were selling, I always thought houses in Baltinglass to be overpriced.

Thank you for this
Myself and wife work in the health sector, so we are on 3/4 shift every two weeks, but we have to resume 8a.m and close by 8p.m, I guess the traffic would be better that time of the day? but am concerned about the morning commute, what time do you think its the most feasible to leave home

ec_pc

Commuting is always the biggest challenge! It depends what route you take - ie N81 > Blessington > Tallaght > M50 or M9 > M7 > M50.

I always travelled up the M9 in the morning, but I left home @ 6 am to be ahead of the morning madness. Could travel door to door in about 50 minutes.

Coming home was always a lottery, relied a lot on Google maps for traffic flow, but in 2017 before I moved, I was using the N81 a lot more. Perhaps this will improve with M7 works once completed.

It all comes down to the work / life / commute balance. My daily commute is now 20 minutes shorter on average. I loved living near Baltingless, but based on commute alone, I would not move back!

the_syco

arelyn wrote: »

Myself and wife work in the health sector, so we are on 3/4 shift every two weeks, but we have to resume 8a.m and close by 8p.m, I guess the traffic would be better that time of the day?

Considering how much you'll be commuting every day, and your hours, you could only be sleeping and eating there during the week. For example, you get up at 6, and leave shortly afterwards, to maybe get in for 8 (if there was no traffic). Then you leave at 8, and get home after 9. You then have maybe one hour before going to bed? This could drain you after a while, as your work / commute / life balance couldn't be great.

handlemaster

Has the flooding issue not been looked into OP. No.mention of it yet.

https://youtu.be/RoTBkkV5nMI

LirW

Baltinglass is okay but it really is on a flood plane. You want to check that out and do your research there. It has shops and schools and childcare and if you fancy more shops it's not too far to Tullow where you get everything.

I just came home earlier from Firhouse via Baltinglass and it took me am hour with pretty much mo traffic. That commute can really wear you down if you want to stay working in Dublin indefinitely.
If you're planning to move work to Carlow or parts of Kildare or even other parts of West Wicklow you can have a nice life there, the scenery is stunning and it's a different pace of life.
But the commute really is a deal-breaker I'd struggle with if I'd have to go within the M50.

Edit:
Acceptance and community spirit is the same like in every West Wicklow town: you'll be accepted but unless you get heavily involved it can be a bit clannish. But it depends on what you want, the area isn't unpopular with commuters.
Social life: pubs, culchie restaurants, you won't be partying away the night anyway. The basic chippers are there and you can definitely grab a pint.