220k budget in Dublin

Atlas_IRL

OP you may not be but if you are under 50k you can get 320k off rebuilding Ireland home loan.

JimmyVik

Muahahaha wrote: »

Yeah management fees are something many people dont take account of when buying. Some developments now are knocking almost 2k a year which adds up to a significant extra cost of ownership across multiple years. Unfortunately though houses are out of the grasp of many FTBs who want to be reasonably close to the city for work. Apartment developments with their own doors and no lifts tend to be a fair bit cheaper for management fees than those with lifts.

I have a friend who bought a €175k apartment to use as a holiday home in Cork. He goes down maybe a total of 30 days a year. A couple of full weeks and a few weekends.

He has to pay a management charge of €2000 per year.
Then he has to pay for electricity and gas connection even when not there.
And his wife spends the first day when they go down cleaning it.

So there is the capital cost, plus the mortgage, the bills, the management charge etc. I tried to explain how he was just throwing money away and they would be better off just paying for a hotel for the odd weekend they need one and going on proper holidays in the summer. And besides more relatives and friends use the holiday home than they use it themselves.

But he said the wife wanted it because some of her friends had holiday homes. End of story.

I always founb it funny how relatives of the owner get more benefit than the actual owner of a holiday home. But the owner gets all the expense.

Sorry. I digress. Yes management fees are very expensive in Ireland.

JethroC

FWIW, I was way under your limit of 220k and wanted to buy in Dublin last year but couldn't. I started to look outside of Dublin at the places with the best transport links into Dublin and the one that stood out was Drogheda. I did a lot of research into Drogheda and I ended up buying a 3 bed house in a nice area close to the centre of the town and am extremely happy with the purchase.
Travelling into and out of Dublin (door to door) takes an hour and no more as the coach (Matthews, which you can get a yearly taxsaver card for) uses the motorway / port tunnel in the mornings and evenings.
Even the non port tunnel route is only 10 mins more. If I had of bought in Tallaght or anywhere further out of the centre of Dublin the travel time would have been the same or more easily (I know of a colleague who lives at the far end of James' Street and it takes him over an hour to get into his job in Ringsend in the mornings).
You've also the option of Bus Eireann or the train and there are other transport operators that travel there and back too

Gael23

Sweet.Science wrote: »

Would you not try get a mortgage through the council ?

They offer more to FTBs than banks

Bank are offering me 125k and council are offering 180k. So taking that plus savings brings me to 220-230k very max. Management fees are a pain but as long as Im aware of it I can save towards it.

brisan

Gael23 wrote: »

Bank are offering me 125k and council are offering 180k. So taking that plus savings brings me to 220-230k very max. Management fees are a pain but as long as Im aware of it I can save towards it.

I still think Clongriffin is a good bet
20 mins by DART into Connolly ,15 Bus on your doorstep
Malahide Howth etc easily accessible
Shops takeaways etc nearby

Sweet.Science

brisan wrote: »

I still think Clongriffin is a good bet
20 mins by DART into Connolly ,15 Bus on your doorstep
Malahide Howth etc easily accessible
Shops takeaways etc nearby

I'd agree. I know a few up there who love it

Muahahaha

JethroC wrote: »

FWIW, I was way under your limit of 220k and wanted to buy in Dublin last year but couldn't. I started to look outside of Dublin at the places with the best transport links into Dublin and the one that stood out was Drogheda. I did a lot of research into Drogheda and I ended up buying a 3 bed house in a nice area close to the centre of the town and am extremely happy with the purchase.
Travelling into and out of Dublin (door to door) takes an hour and no more as the coach (Matthews, which you can get a yearly taxsaver card for) uses the motorway / port tunnel in the mornings and evenings.
Even the non port tunnel route is only 10 mins more. If I had of bought in Tallaght or anywhere further out of the centre of Dublin the travel time would have been the same or more easily (I know of a colleague who lives at the far end of James' Street and it takes him over an hour to get into his job in Ringsend in the mornings).
You've also the option of Bus Eireann or the train and there are other transport operators that travel there and back too

This is very true, sometimes locations outside of Dublin have better transport links into the city than locations inside Dublin county. eg Newbridge in Kildare is 50kms from Dublin but there is a morning train at 7.29 that only stops once and it gets to Hueston for 7.59 meaning it does an average speed of 100kph. In comparison Dublin Bus speeds at rush hour average only 16kph, it is ridiculously slow to the point of where you would cycle many journeys quicker.

But one good location inside Dublin for a fast commute is Ashtown which is why I suggested the OP see can they find anything around there. iirc Ashtown to Connolly is 20 minutes which is pretty decent compared to taking the bus. The OP cannot drive due to a medical condition so Ashtown offers him a quick commute to work near the Convention Centre as well as having two local supermarkets he can shop in without needing a car. Plus having the Phoenix Park just a 5 minute walk away from Ashtown village is a massive bonus.

For what its worth Droghedas status as a commuter town began circa 1997 with the introduction of the Belfast Enterprise service. When services first began the Enterprise from Belfast had its last stop in Drogheda and from there it bulleted into Connollly in just 22 minutes. Then along came the Malahide DART extension and the 22 minute time was no longer possible, it went up to 40+ minutes as it followed slower DARTs into Connolly. .

Gael23

Ashton/Blanchardstown is looking like a good spot. I play football in Phoenix Park on Saturdays so would be handy being close to there.
There’s a 1 bed in Ashtown for 230k and that seems to be about it

Muahahaha

Yeah but set up some alerts on Daft/Myhome. I beds are always in short supply as there isnt as many of them out there as there are 2 beds. But I think Ashtown suits your commuting & supermarket needs quite well plus it doesnt suffer from the same anti social problems that other areas in your budget can have. For me I would rather go with a one bed in a good area than a 2 bed in a bad one.

You just got to find a good one bed apartment, some are as small as 40sqm whereas others are as big as 55sqm, theres a huge difference and feel space wise between the two. In Ashtown Ive been in both the Chandler and Waxworks apartment developments and both are of a good standard and the sizes are decent enough. They're right by the train station and Supervalue less than a minutes walk out your door with Aldi just 5 minutes walk away.

skooterblue2

I doubt that 220k would go far in Dublin. You are either going to get a house in a rough area or a tiny apartment.

sauserd

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/apartment-95-applewood-main-street-applewood-swords-co-dublin/1491292

What about this place in Swords? I lived in Northwood Park in Santry for a number of years and I would go to Swords a few times a week. The Pavillions is a nice shopping center and it always seemed like a nice area to me. I liked Northwood Park but I don't see many apartments in your price point there.
I now own an apartment and the management fees can be paid quarterly instead of one lump sum. It covers insurance, bins, upkeep of common areas, window washing etc. I don't think it's unreasonable but it is well managed and I don't think that is always the case so make sure you take a good look around the complex and ask the estate agent about it. Make sure you are not on the hook for current fees if they haven't been paid.

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/apartment-114-erris-square-blanchardstown-dublin-15/2734527

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/apartment-apartment-12-amberfield-blanchardstown-dublin-15/2628199

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/duplex-30-verdemont-blanchardstown-dublin-15/2627333

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/apartment-apt-2-rathlin-hall-waterville-terrace-blanchardstown-dublin-15/2613132

Here's a few in blanch, two near the hospital, two near town centre.
Plenty of buses, the 39 is going 24 hours soon I believe.

Gael23

bubblypop wrote: »

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/apartment-114-erris-square-blanchardstown-dublin-15/2734527

I like this place, 2 spacious bedrooms plus enough room in the liiving area for a desk

notsobadinc

Atlas_IRL wrote: »

OP you may not be but if you are under 50k you can get 320k off rebuilding Ireland home loan.

Actually the maximum value of the property in Dublin/Kildare is 320k which although its possible, it is still tight going. So the most the Rebuilding scheme will offer is 288k based on 2/couple earning less than 75k but as a single purchaser on less than 50k, you could get approx 4.5 times your salary (225K). Still a fair offer if it suits but a few of my GF's friends have availed of exemptions from the banks this year as each had sizable deposits (20-25%) and were in permanent civil service roles.
Anyway that Rebuilding Ireland scheme has very lengthy waiting times in comparison to normal banks plus the MPI rate is compulsory at something very high like 10% or so..

notsobadinc

Gael23 wrote: »

I like this place, 2 spacious bedrooms plus enough room in the liiving area for a desk

Have you looked at the apartments in Leixlip beside Louisa Bridge train station.. Great location and all 2 beds are within your budget..

Mickey_James

Eric Cartman wrote: »

then you're grand, most just don't realise the higher deposit for 1 beds, if possible id try get a 2 bed as much easier to resell, more room and if you ever needed some cash you can rent a room.

of whats up at present, this would be my pick : https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/6-the-academy-park-west-dublin-12/4455136

its a spacious 72m2 , near transport and not far out of the city. The area's not great but better than ballymun or some parts of finglas.

Wow the price went up 55k in a couple of months

Gael23

Mickey_James wrote: »

Wow the price went up 55k in a couple of months

Lovely apartment but the area is not the best being kind to it.

2 of the 4 places in Blanchardstown that bubblypop pointed out yesterday are gone Sale Agreed. Shows just how dysfunctional the Dublin market is

Gael23

Unfortunately I don’t qualify for the rebuilding mortgage at the moment because I’m not 2 years in continuous employment so I have to wait until August.
Well another couple of months of saving!

One thing I have sort of decided is I need to make life easy for myself and stay in Dublin. Over the years I’ve been in situations where I have rented at higher cost because the place was in an area that makes things more convenient for me. So now I need to settle for a slightly smaller place that suits my needs, within reason. I still need enough space for a work desk.
Would it be common to find apartment blocks with lifts in Dublin? Stairs are a bit of an issue for me because of my visual impairment and I know confining the search to ground floor would be a real pain

Muahahaha

Yes lots of apartment blocks have lifts, typically when the block is 4 floors or higher. It means higher rents because of higher management fees to maintain the lifts, they cost a fair bit to look after for blocks that have them.

Though if you are visually impaired then surely ground floor with your own door is safer for you? Just think from the perspective of a fire breaking out, you cant/shouldnt use the lift if that happens due to the risk of getting trapped in it. Could you get down four or five flights of stairs with smoke, low visibility and with no assistance in an emergency?

Gael23

Muahahaha wrote: »

Yes lots of apartment blocks have lifts, typically when the block is 4 floors or higher. It means higher rents because of higher management fees to maintain the lifts, they cost a fair bit to look after for blocks that have them.

Though if you are visually impaired then surely ground floor with your own door is safer for you? Just think from the perspective of a fire breaking out, you cant/shouldnt use the lift if that happens due to the risk of getting trapped in it. Could you get down four or five flights of stairs with smoke, low visibility and with no assistance in an emergency?

Ground floor would be amazing but I could manage one floor up if the steps were clearly marked. If I found a place close to amenities and public transport I’d take first floor. It’s more for carrying shopping up and bringing out rubbish. What is out is those apartments where the stairs is out in the open because in wet weather they get really sloppy and there’s no colour change to see the step.

I’ve actually been through fire escape with Health and Safety in work because we are 3 floors up. They said in most cases evacuations are nice and orderly so as long as I have a railing to hold on to I’m ok. If there was people scrambling all around me that would be a problem because I can’t see them.
It’s all in one eye so I can live fairly independently apart from not being able to drive and things like I’d need to change a bath to a shower so as there’s no step in.

Muahahaha

Gael23 wrote: »

Ground floor would be amazing but I could manage one floor up if the steps were clearly marked. If I found a place close to amenities and public transport I’d take first floor. It’s more for carrying shopping up and bringing out rubbish. What is out is those apartments where the stairs is out in the open because in wet weather they get really sloppy and there’s no colour change to see the step.

Generally apartment blocks never have external stairs to the building, this is more something you see with council flats built in the 50s. The odd time you have duplexes where there is a ground floor apartment and then a 2 or 3 bed house on top of it with a single flight of often very steep external steps up to it. You can see an example of it in picture 19 of this listing
https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/88-bridgewater-quay-islandbridge-dublin-8/4453852
But otherwise your typical 4 storey apartment block always has the stairs internally.

As for ground floor apartments themselves, I wouldnt rule them out entirely as they do tend to be a bit cheaper than upper floors. The trick with them is to find one that has a good private aspect and about half of them have this with the other half not having it. Ideally what you want is the patio doors facing a private green area and preferably to the south or west. You dont want your patio doors to be facing onto a car park because then you'll have cars lights shining in your windows as they constantly pass by. Also avoid locations near bin stores because of smells and foot traffic.

The downsides of ground floor apartments are obviously that they are more prone to break ins and that you dont get the benefit of your neighbours heat rising up from floors below you. But there are still good ground floor apartments out there that suit many people who want easy access without the hassle of stairs. The management fees in some developments are also often lower for people with ground floor own door apartments because they dont have to pay for the maintenance of the common areas of the block buildings. A few years back I knew of a 3rd floor apartment with a mangement fee of 1,200 but the ground floor own door apartments below it were only 400 a year.

sauserd

Muahahaha wrote: »

Yes lots of apartment blocks have lifts, typically when the block is 4 floors or higher. It means higher rents because of higher management fees to maintain the lifts, they cost a fair bit to look after for blocks that have them.

Though if you are visually impaired then surely ground floor with your own door is safer for you? Just think from the perspective of a fire breaking out, you cant/shouldnt use the lift if that happens due to the risk of getting trapped in it. Could you get down four or five flights of stairs with smoke, low visibility and with no assistance in an emergency?

Everyone in our complex pays the same fees no matter what floor their apartment is on. Any difference in fees is based on the size of the apartment and those with a parking space pay more.

Muahahaha

sauserd wrote: »

Everyone in our complex pays the same fees no matter what floor their apartment is on. Any difference in fees is based on the size of the apartment and those with a parking space pay more.

yeah but thats not the same in all apartment complexes, it can vary. If youve an own door ground floor apartment your management fees can be much less than someone in the same development who has common areas (ie stairs and lifts) to pay to maintain. It all depends how the pricing structure was set up when the complex was built but as said Im familiar with complexes where the management fee for an own door ground floor apartment is much less than one inside the main buildings. The ground floors management fees are based on landscaping and rubbish only whereas upper floors have lifts, cleaners for common areas, window cleaning and maintenance of same tacked on top of rubbish and landscaping.

It makes sense really, why should an own door ground floor apartment be paying for lifts they do not even have access to or be paying for carpets on stairs to be replaced when they have no access or use for those stairs.

sauserd

Muahahaha wrote: »

yeah but thats not the same in all apartment complexes, it can vary. If youve an own door ground floor apartment your management fees can be much less than someone in the same development who has common areas (ie stairs and lifts) to pay to maintain. It all depends how the pricing structure was set up when the complex was built but as said Im familiar with complexes where the management fee for an own door ground floor apartment is much less than one inside the main buildings. The ground floors management fees are based on landscaping and rubbish only whereas upper floors have lifts, cleaners for common areas, window cleaning and maintenance of same tacked on top of rubbish and landscaping.

It makes sense really, why should an own door ground floor apartment be paying for lifts they do not even have access to or be paying for carpets on stairs to be replaced when they have no access or use for those stairs.

Interesting, I didn't realise that it was cheaper in other complexes and it totally makes sense. I have a ground floor apartment (not own door) and it has always bugged me that I don't get my windows washed but have to pay the same as everyone else.

JimmyVik

sauserd wrote: »

Everyone in our complex pays the same fees no matter what floor their apartment is on. Any difference in fees is based on the size of the apartment and those with a parking space pay more.

That was the same in ours for years, but then new people got elected to the management c. They did an in-depth analysis on the types of apartments and the portion of the services they used.

eg 1-bed ground floor apartment with its own door opening on to the street should not have been paying the same as 1bed top floor apartment that was accessed via lift and a lobby.

So all types were given a fair weighting and the annual charges adjusted accordingly. This is a much fairer system on all.

The difference was significant (in the hundreds for 1-beds) as there are many services one requires that the other does not. Cleaning, smoke alarms, lift maintenance, fire doors, fire inspections, maintenance of post boxes, public liability, widow washing, balcony maintenance, insurance, to name a few.

thencamethen

A few years ago I bought exactly that - ground floor 2 bed / 1 bath, ~65sq.m. with a small garden and own door. 240K, went up from 225 asking.

It's in Artane, called Timber Mill, was built in 2006. To this day there's not much alternative if you want to live relatively close to city centre and not pay through your nose. Build quality is 3/5, no gas, only electric heating, BER is so-so. But still there's not much alternative for the price. Management fees are a bit lower (works out around 100/m).

I still monitor what's happening in the real estate using the filter like "dublin, up to 250K, 2 bed check for low fees, good area". If I would need to start anew, I would also watch for Clongriffin, Ashtown, Cabra. And Wicklow or Greystones, but in would be 1bed most probably. In Clongriffin you could get 2bed/2baths in a good condition for this price.

Gael23

What sort of home insurance would you need in an apartment block or is it covered within the management fee?
240k is very very maximum, that wouldn’t even leave me with enough cash to redecorate for a few months

thencamethen

Gael23 wrote: »

What sort of home insurance would you need in an apartment block or is it covered within the management fee?
240k is very very maximum, that wouldn’t even leave me with enough cash to redecorate for a few months

In my case it's Irish Health, around 300/year. Property tax 80 euro / year + 1200 management. All in all 1580/year.