Cheap Irish houses

NIMAN

retro:electro wrote: »

I don’t know where they pulled the presenter out of she is awful.

To be fair to her, she's not a professional presenter or had any work in TV before.

afaik, she's just a girl who came up with an idea for a website/blog about cheap (many derelict) houses that could be bought for less than 100k, and got lucky that someone saw a TV programme in it.

ednwireland

I live in house that's on the 1854 ordnance survey. it's a constant battle keeping it sound (as we are on limited budget) . trying to find trades that can work on old buildings is a challenge as well.
22 years before we finally got the drive tarmaced

TheAsYLuMkeY

Deleted User wrote: »

I think a lot of people dream about this, but don't take the effort involved into consideration. These are only worth doing if you can at least DIY a large portion of the work.

I did this, born and raised in dublin, bought a derelict house in the west, no pipe work even in the house.

Ripped the inside out and did all the renovation myself over years.

End product...... a house i owe nothing on in one of the most beautiful parts of the world for just under €40k

BarryD2 wrote: »

Been there, done that. A deal of work, but if you can spread over several years, entirely doable.

Agreed, done it.

A2LUE42 wrote: »

Yeah, Rewire the house, put in a new kitchen, change an upstairs bedroom to a smaller bedroom and a bathroom, replaster and decorate the entire house, all new second fix woodwork for under 20K

and my favourite, the end of line kitchen for under 1k :rolleyes:

If you are willing to give things a go and learn new things yourself you can do it for under €20k, i did.

I did all floors, tiling, partition walls, hand built kitchen, landscaping, repairs.

Grand Total for house and materials under €40k (not including my own labour costs obviously)

NIMAN

That's how I think most folk on HUTH do it, all unpaid labour from themselves, family, mates.

Greentopia

Deleted User wrote: »

Not sure why I'm still watching this to be honest. It's completely wandered away from being anything about Cheap Irish Houses. You can get a house in Drogheda for under 200k, able to be lived in and less than an hour from Dublin.

But the idea is to find a house under €100k. Some go a little over if it doesn't need much work but it's generally following that idea. I wouldn't call €200k cheap. Maybe cheaper for proximity to Dublin but she very rarely has any on the East coast close to or in Dublin on her Insta because it's almost impossible to find anything for €100k.

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't see how the houses on the show are a good example of "the secret side of the Irish property market" at all.

She wants to save the old famine cottages and farmhouses mainly that people overlook because they think they're too much work, not so much houses like the one in Drogheda. From what I see on her page anyway.

Deleted User wrote: »

I reckon a follow-up show in a year or two would show that none of these houses had been bought by the people in the show. This show makes it look like it's genuinely a pipe dream to get into a 'cheap' Irish Houses. There are some nice little gems out there, but when the asking price is over €100k and still needs an almost entire refurbishment, it doesn't qualify as 'cheap' in my opinion. Only cheap compared to certain Dublin houses.

Yeah would love a follow up too. Wonder if there'll be a second series. Would have liked hour long episodes also but maybe that decision was out of her hands.

I wouldn't pay €100k for a house needing full refurb, but there are quite a few for way less than that if you don't have to be close to Dublin that you could do up bit by bit over the course of however long it takes. So long as you have structural issues taken care of, dampness eliminated, a sound roof and some kind of heating all else can wait. I know, I've done it.

retro:electro wrote: »

It’s like they don’t even listen to the briefing of what the couple want. It was the same last week when the couple literally had a child hanging off them in a sling and I don’t think the host even acknowledged it let alone find them a house suitable for a baby. I think the houses are picked in advance and the couple are chosen secondary to that.

I don’t know where they pulled the presenter out of she is awful.

It's her concept tieing in with her website, Youtube and Insta accounts for people looking for cheap houses here. Also the building engineer has his own accounts giving some info.

I think it's more to show viewers what's out there than finding the perfect home for them tbh. She has a service on her website if people want her to search for a property for you but she's not an estate agent or a tv presenter really. She's an artist running her own business from home. This is more just a passion for her.

mickdw wrote: »

The Engineer gets on my nerves more and more each night.
Some of these properties are clearly sold as sites yet he is there giving people false impression of what is achieveable.
Its ok to say that oncw you have walls you can refurbish. It does not however follow that it would be cost effective to refurbish versus demolish.

I would have liked more detailed information on refurbishment costs also and maybe focussed on a different aspect of doing up an old house each week, but maybe the programme was constrained by time.
Maggie does give more helpful information on her Youtube channel on her essentials to look for and also what is not essential when buying, based on her own experience. I found that interesting.

They're not sites, I've seen them for sale on the show's Insta page, Daft and other property sites and they're all listed in the after show video description on her Youtube.

Greentopia

ednwireland wrote: »

I live in house that's on the 1854 ordnance survey. it's a constant battle keeping it sound (as we are on limited budget) . trying to find trades that can work on old buildings is a challenge as well.
22 years before we finally got the drive tarmaced

My cottage is from 1870 and was in good nick structurally when I got it. Could do with more insulation and work done on the attic but I don't care because i intend to sell it down the road anyway. I've done a bit of work myself painting and tearing off concrete render and Mr Greentopia-to-be does some work on it when he comes over here, it's cheap and easy to heat and has a new heating system, and two feet stone walls. It's not going to fall down.

Has been great experience for the next (and final I hope) old house we buy. I know a few people who run courses on various aspects of refurbishing old houses and there are a few building specialists now who only do work on them. Lots of Facebook groups for people who DIY it here too.

ednwireland

Greentopia wrote: »

My cottage is from 1870 and was in good nick structurally when I got it. Could do with more insulation and work done on the attic but I don't care because i intend to sell it down the road anyway. I've done a bit of work myself painting and tearing off concrete render and Mr Greentopia-to-be does some work on it when he comes over here, it's cheap and easy to heat and has a new heating system, and two feet stone walls. It's not going to fall down.

Has been great experience for the next (and final I hope) old house we buy. I know a few people who run courses on various aspects of refurbishing old houses and there are a few building specialists now who only do work on them. Lots of Facebook groups for people who DIY it here too.

did quite a bit when buying ours but now im in my dotage i do find it harder to motivate myself.

and not as steady on ladders as i used to be after a bad ear infection a couple of years ago

3 ft thick rubble stone walls here as well

Bass Reeves

Just saw it today and battled through the RTE player to watch 4 episodes. Maggie is not a great presenter, she has not got her buzz words right. Kevin is better than you think. However they are glossing over a lot on some of the houses. Having said that there is certain advantages in buying those old houses.

However you need to be wide awake. In rural areas you need to be guaranteed that these is a toilet and septic tank on the site. Electricity still turned on in the houses us worth a few K as well Smaller houses are grand for single people or older couples. You really do not want to be paying a premium for a half done up house.

Yes they can become money pits unless you have an idea about building. You need to be your own engineer. If you have to hire professional's it will cost money. But you would be amazed what you would get done for 50k even if you had to pay for some of the labour.

I thin the real hidden gems and they will become cheaper is the unloved houses in small towns and villages over the next few years. In most situation you are guaranteed broadband being available, there is nearly bound to be good reception by one mobile operator and if you are lucky s public sewages system. A lot have decent back gardens and often have rear access as well.

TBH in a lot of older houses when you straighten out chimney's you are half way there. I have seen a few conversations where they were removed in smaller houses and they have changed the inside area especially in two story houses. With modern building materials (mainly concrete board, glass fibre, steel studs and continuous flue liner) it possible to replace an old chimney. This is a real option if you are doing work on the roof.

The other thing about these older derelict or semi derelict houses is that the asking price is a guide. If they are for sale a while 70-80% of the guide price might be considered a good offer

Greentopia

Greentopia wrote: »

But the idea is to find a house under €100k. Some go a little over if it doesn't need much work but it's generally following that idea. I wouldn't call €200k cheap.

The idea is to find a "cheap irish house", there's no specific budget. Dunno where you plucked 100k from, but that doesn't form part of the process.


My point is simply that, a house in drogheda, ready to live in, next door to dublin, for 160k, makes the houes on the show look expensive by comparison.

Greentopia

Deleted User wrote: »

The idea is to find a "cheap irish house", there's no specific budget. Dunno where you plucked 100k from, but that doesn't form part of the process.


My point is simply that, a house in drogheda, ready to live in, next door to dublin, for 160k, makes the houes on the show look expensive by comparison.

All the property on her website and Insta is under €100k. The TV show is an offshoot from her website though I have seen higher than that on it, so I guess she needed to be more flexible to show houses that are in pretty good walk in nick and many of them wouldn't be below €100k.

Yes I got the point, one also has to take renovation costs into account. All depends what and where you're looking for.

Personally I would want an acre of land with an old cottage or farmhouse in the country to grow food, have animals, outhouses for a workshop and studio for my partner and myself somewhere like West Cork. Proximity to Dublin is not necessary for my work or his. I have a cottage now but it's too small for both of us and no land.

spurious

I like the presenter. It is so refreshing to see a normal person on TV and not from one of the RTE dynasties/usual suspects.

Have an 1881 house myself (IR£17500 in 1988) that needed practically everything done. They can be real money pits if anything unexpected arises (and something always does).

recipio

The core idea of the programme is to buy a cheap house and 'do it up' That's grand if you have the money or you are willing to give a few years of your life to do it yourself.
I thought some of the houses were in fact overpriced - you can still buy Irish derelict houses for as little as 25K. The programme is light on details -- last night's episode had a cottage in Co Clare with outhouses . Unfortunately it had an asbestos roof which wasn't mentioned.
I thought the presentation of the houses was incredibly lazy - two of the houses had years of sticks from Crows building their nests stacked in the fireplaces- would it have been too much trouble to clear them :rolleyes:
Maggie is a lovely person but she is selling the dream rather than selling the house !

recipio

recipio wrote: »

I thought the presentation of the houses was incredibly lazy - two of the houses had years of sticks from Crows building their nests stacked in the fireplaces- would it have been too much trouble to clear them

Thats the job of the estate agent, or person selling the house, though. Not the TV presenters.

recipio

Deleted User wrote: »

Thats the job of the estate agent, or person selling the house, though. Not the TV presenters.

The vendors certainly . I hear from some punters that the agents won't go into the houses in case their suits get dirty

recipio

recipio wrote: »

The vendors certainly . I hear from some punters that the agents won't go into the houses in case their suits get dirty

Never understood why they wear suits to house viewings in the first place. A pair of combat pants and a polo shirt would be much better, and would help if you've to do anything practical (I've been to house viewings where a gate was locked and you'd to hop over it, or the garden was massively overgrown and had to be trekked through, or cobwebs on a grand scale etc.)


Suits aren't really practical unless it's a new build and is being presented as immaculate. Even then, I don't think people attending viewings care if the agent is wearing a suit or a t-shirt and shorts. The least of their concerns, I'd imagine.

recipio

Deleted User wrote: »

Suits aren't really practical unless it's a new build and is being presented as immaculate. Even then, I don't think people attending viewings care if the agent is wearing a suit or a t-shirt and shorts. The least of their concerns, I'd imagine.

Yes but any buyer would want to ask a few questions about the house interior. I was a viewing recently where the agent sat in his car outside and refused to budge. He couldn't care less but you can be sure he will charge a fat fee.:rolleyes:

Greentopia

recipio wrote: »

The core idea of the programme is to buy a cheap house and 'do it up' That's grand if you have the money or you are willing to give a few years of your life to do it yourself.

The presenter herself Maggie is still doing up her own place 15 years later but seems happy to do it like that. I'm the same. So long as I have a warm dry house in Winter with running water, electric and internet, the rest can wait.

recipio wrote: »

I thought some of the houses were in fact overpriced - you can still buy Irish derelict houses for as little as 25K. The programme is light on details -- last night's episode had a cottage in Co Clare with outhouses . Unfortunately it had an asbestos roof which wasn't mentioned.

All houses here are overpriced... yes you can get one for €25k in Roscommon or Donegal or a few other places but you won't get anything for that in most counties with some land.
The asbestos roof is not a problem on a building. The building engineer said that on a previous episode where an old building had one, so they probably thought it unnecessary to repeat it.

recipio wrote: »

I thought the presentation of the houses was incredibly lazy - two of the houses had years of sticks from Crows building their nests stacked in the fireplaces- would it have been too much trouble to clear them :rolleyes:
Maggie is a lovely person but she is selling the dream rather than selling the house !

That's not her job though. She is presenting the houses as they are, not selling them and because she wants to show everything you can expect to encounter in an old building and then get the opinion of the building engineer whether it's a problem or not and how you can fix it.

I follow her on her social media and yes she always comes across as a kind, lovely person who has a real grá for old houses.

Greentopia

recipio wrote: »

The vendors certainly . I hear from some punters that the agents won't go into the houses in case their suits get dirty

True. A guy I know who came over from England for the good life here in the country-buy an old cottage with land and be self sufficient- said exactly that.

Not enough commission for them maybe. But it's their jobs to sell all houses listed so they shouldn't be trying to put people off buying them. He said some agents wouldn't even show him some houses and wanted to push new houses on him! he stuck to his guns though and bought a lovely old stone cottage with outbuildings and land in Galway.

Maggie posted a great video a few days ago on ways estate agents could improve the way they sell old houses in this country, well worth a look.

saabsaab

The suits could be explained by this thinking from another profession..


'If I turn up in in old Volvo and wearing jeans the client will be more inclined to argue the price with me than if i show up in a Jaguar in a sharp suit. Then they will be happy that I'm nor going to charge them more'

Water John

A business acquaintance of mine in the engineering business, has a good line; 'A consultant, is a man in a suit, carrying a briefcase'.

saabsaab

saabsaab wrote: »

'If I turn up in in old Volvo and wearing jeans the client will be more inclined to argue the price with me than if i show up in a Jaguar in a sharp suit. Then they will be happy that I'm nor going to charge them more'

A house is worth what a house is worth, regardless of who is selling it. I don't think, in real day-to-day life, that people really care whether you arrive in a '98 Focus with the exhaust dragging on the ground or a 201 Lamborghini.

The viewing agent in the Lamborghini isn't going to get any more money for the house than the other agent who spends his time at the viewing sellotaping his car back together, in my opinion.

(that said, I would perhaps agree with you if the viewing agent was also the homeowner - then you could probably argue that making it look like you don't need the money would encourage people to not lowball, but definitely not gonna have an impact if the viewing agent is a third party).

recipio

saabsaab wrote: »

The suits could be explained by this thinking from another profession..


'If I turn up in in old Volvo and wearing jeans the client will be more inclined to argue the price with me than if i show up in a Jaguar in a sharp suit. Then they will be happy that I'm nor going to charge them more'

Personally I'd ignore what the agent was wearing - there are always problems with an old house that can be used to reduce the asking price.
The whole point of 'Cheap Irish houses' is to find a gem in the countryside - don't do this if you want a lively social life. However, I think putting houses with a farmers cow byre a few meters away defeats the purpose as does a house on the side of a busy street. ?:rolleyes:

saabsaab

recipio wrote: »

Personally I'd ignore what the agent was wearing - there are always problems with an old house that can be used to reduce the asking price.
The whole point of 'Cheap Irish houses' is to find a gem in the countryside - don't do this if you want a lively social life. However, I think putting houses with a farmers cow byre a few meters away defeats the purpose as does a house on the side of a busy street. ?:rolleyes:

I'm sure many might but some won't. He/she wants to make a lasting impression and look like they put in an effort to look professional. Maybe when you move on you will think of them. People often judge the book by the cover.

Radio5

I am enjoying this series on Thursday nights. it's nice to see the variety of houses that are out there, both in the countryside and the towns and villages. I appreciate they are not to everyone's taste or suit everyone's pockets but it's nice to see the inside of houses that will never make the property supplements.

Baybay

I think it’d also be nice either to follow up with the potential buyers to see if they bought one of the houses or to see if the properties did sell & what was done to them.

elperello

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117974944#Comment_117974944

Good idea, a follow up maybe along the lines of Homes Under The Hammer would be interesting.

I know one of the houses that was in a previous series. I remember thinking at the time that it was a bargain but it still hasn't sold.

As for the show as it is I enjoy it's relaxed understated format.

I can't believe she managed to get a TV show out of this!

Brings people to see houses that they can look up on daft themselves and really doesn't help with any indication of what definitely needs doing, or how much it might cost. I

Terrible television

Princess Calla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117978835#Comment_117978835

To be fair it's pretty much a "place in the sun" Irish style.

It's harmless tv.

ednwireland

we basically did this, bought 2 house for 56k punts in 1997 might have taken 20 years but finally getting it in some sort of shape , mortgage is paid off. and i have somewhere comfortable to live (with big outbuildings for hobbies !

the biggest problem now is getting trades, i need a gable wall replastering in lime mortar and theres literally no one i can find to do it (the one guy i had lined up went and got a job!)

thats the thing with the stone house in this show all great until you have to work on it

the main thing i would say is dont expect it to Look like a showhouse and if you can put up with things not perfect (and they will probably never be !) i had painted floors until i got enough money for tiles.

lalababa

Yeah , a harmless show, relaxing enough presenter and engineer. A very good idea to bring to the masses through her blog and tv show. There are a lot of little cottages /older village and town houses slowly getting run down. When they could be bought cheapish and enjoyed. Hopefully the work from home will become a thing and these houses will be saved and some new life brought to the more rural areas. Vast swathes of rural Europe are being decimated by migration to cities. Alot of provincial villages and towns are left with just the elderly. Great places to live if only there was some work/socialising with peer age groups.