City vs Suburbs

dutch.irish

Hi, I am a first time buyer and your advice can really help. I am looking to buy a house in Dublin for around 300k but I am confused between buying a house in city centre which is old but is renovated or buy a new house little far away from city centre. I have come across new houses in Lucan called Shackelton Park in Lucan, 3 bed new house priced at 360k, little out of my budget but i can stretch or buying something like a Villa in Caledon Court in East Wall about 20 years old and a 2 bed but very close to offices. My long term objective is to stay in Ireland for approx 5 years and then either sell the house if it can sell on atleast cost price or to rent it. I dont know if I will be able to rent a 3 bed in Lucan or not, so I am getting pushed towards East wall. I don't know to be honest. I am paying 2k per month at the moment as rent from last 2.5 years. Please guide me.
Links: https://www.cairnhomes.com/new-homes/shackleton-park/
And second, https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/12-caledon-court-east-wall-dublin-3/4439597

bobbyy gee

look for good schools.green spaces.air quality. crime.public transport.
shops.time to get to work.haveing south faceing garden.affordability.

markpb

Five years is a relatively short amount of time to own a house. Don’t forget you’ll have to pay legal fees and a mortgage deposit and buy furniture before you can move in. You might have ongoing repairs and maintenance while you own it and then you’ll have legal fees and estate agent fees to pay when you move out.

And on top of all that, the Irish residential property market is very volatile in the short term. If the price of your house collapses in five years and you’re in negative equity, will you be able to stay for longer?

If you’re renting it instead of selling, you’ll have to renegotiate your mortgage, register for income tax and with RTB and then go through the hassle of being a landlord. If you’re living abroad while renting, the tenant will be obliged to pay 20% of the rent to revenue. If you later sell the house once it’s been rented, you’ll lose the tax exemption and possibly have to pay tax on any profit you make.

I noticed gates in one of the photos of the house in East Wall. This could indicate a management company and annual service charge. If you’re buying here, check this out. Make sure your solicitor checks out the health of the management company because you’ll be joining it.

For me, location is paramount. One is in a quiet, suburban area. The other is within walking distance of the city centre. If you work or socialise in the city centre, East Wall is a great location plus you could save a fortune in time and money by avoiding having to drive or take public transport. It’s close to Sheriff St though, you’d probably be passing through that area on your way home at night and parts of it aren’t great!

Samuel T. Cogley

OP I would suggest having a look on the Northside DART line.

touts

You need to look at things like access to schools, facilities, family etc. If those don't work for you then you can't get around it.

If all those are equal for both houses then look at value for money. There is a bubble in City prices at the moment. You aren't getting remotely close to the same value for money in terms of the house. You are paying a premium for location. The question you need to ask is if the bubble bursts due to COVID Remote working etc will you be happy living in that negative equity house in that location for the next 15-20 years. If the answer is no to one or both locations then I would seriously think again.

Yellow_Fern

Suburban life in Dublin is horrible.

Gumbo

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Suburban life in Dublin is horrible.

Depends where you live.
Its been great since Covid.

No rush hour traffic commute, school runs, working from home and getting to actually enjoy the locality and shop locally more often nowadays.

Yellow_Fern

Gumbo wrote: »

Depends where you live.
Its been great since Covid.

No rush hour traffic commute, school runs, working from home and getting to actually enjoy the locality and shop locally more often nowadays.

Spending more time in the bleak endless housing estates without any centres is awful. To be fair, the dirty city is awful too. As it is in most of rural Ireland too, polluted, over crowded and bland.

Gumbo

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Spending more time in the bleak endless housing estates without any centres is awful. To be fair, the dirty city is awful too. As it is in most of rural Ireland too, polluted, over crowded and bland.

Plenty of centres near me and plenty of green space.

Sounds like Ireland is not for you.

Yellow_Fern

Gumbo wrote: »

Plenty of centres near me and plenty of green space.

Sounds like Ireland is not for you.

Yes I left. Much higher quality of life elsewhere in Europe. Family is the only reason to stay.

worded

The suburbs can be lonely if you are single

City if you are single