Benefits of Buying a New Build A Rated Home vs 2nd hand average D rated?

The Mulk

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

Not yet, I'm looking at a few options.

PV panels with a battery pack and maybe even a small micro turbine again for topping up the battery pack.

The plan is to essentially have options and a backup plan if there are any power outages along with cheaper electricity bills.

This is very much a long term project though, so nothing may happen for 4-5 year. We are focused on paying off as much of the mortgage as possible with them aim of having a lump sum to knock off the principal at the end of the 5 year fixed.

If all that goes to plan, we will start with the PV panels and a battery pack, 5kWh to start with and grow from there if required though I seriously doubt we will need anything bigger.

Cheers,

we've a 70's built 4 bed detached and the gas bills last year were about €600 for the year, for heating and hot water.
It took us a lot of work to get the house insulated and new windows etc.

I'll look at efficiencies for electricity, but i'd say it will be more to do with how we live rather than any investments, except for maybe PV.
I'll see what next year brings and how much 'hybrid working' our jobs allow.

LuckyLloyd

mloc123 wrote: »

The design I do not like is something like this, where you sitting room window is right up on the footpath...



In fact everything about that house is what I hate about new builds.... narrow small, 3 storey footprint, right on the footpath

Edit: link to the house - https://www.daft.ie/new-home-for-sale/mullen-park-straffan-road-maynooth-co-kildare/2558806

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

Awful yokes.
But not your only choice as new build
The 3 bed on our estate have space to 2 cars out the front. 2 story. Reasonable garden

I'd add. If people buy these houses with no front or rear garden and 3 story then builders will build them.
Far more units per site.

Building housing is an incredible fickly business. Builders will be told to stop a certain type of house in a development and move to the better sellers over night.
Buyers' behaviour has an immediate knock-on

Interesting opinions

We're in the process of finalising a purchase of a 4 bed in that very estate. For us we decided the pros:

- High Spec
- Legal protections and home bond
- HTB freeing up our savings
- Good location (walk to Maynooth town / train station / great links by road)
- Will be surrounded by people at the same stage of life as us

outweighed the cons of engaging with the second hand market. We also quite like the houses as it happens - but beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that.

It's all about choices at the end of the day. We looked at a lot of second hand houses and went through bidding wars on a couple. It is easier to picture your life in an established estate and it can make it a more emotional / passionate choice. But buying a high spec new build when the government is giving you 30k equity in it as a tax rebate is a highly prudent financial move. And it's best not to be emotional about this, if you can help it!

LuckyLloyd

cubatahavana wrote: »

I don't know if anybody said this, but there are no bidding wars with a new build

Yep, it's glorious. Stick down your booking deposit and pay the sticker price. Wonderfully simple.

Milena009

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Interesting opinions

We're in the process of finalising a purchase of a 4 bed in that very estate. For us we decided the pros:

- High Spec
- Legal protections and home bond
- HTB freeing up our savings
- Good location (walk to Maynooth town / train station / great links by road)
- Will be surrounded by people at the same stage of life as us

outweighed the cons of engaging with the second hand market. We also quite like the houses as it happens - but beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that.

It's all about choices at the end of the day. We looked at a lot of second hand houses and went through bidding wars on a couple. It is easier to picture your life in an established estate and it can make it a more emotional / passionate choice. But buying a high spec new build when the government is giving you 30k equity in it as a tax rebate is a highly prudent financial move. And it's best not to be emotional about this, if you can help it!

Good luck and all the best ☺️
We considered that estate but at the end decided against and hope to secure in Newcastle come March 🀞

House near to us is at 40k over asking without any viewings technically allowed...

IHateNewShoes

While the no bidding wars is certainly advantage, the price inflation has already happened on a new build! Worth remembering. (From someone in limbo between new vs old also)

minzabud

Pros and cons,i'm sitting here in a t-shirt and the temperature of the house is 16 according to the hive app, can get up to 21 with the heating on for a couple of hours but wouldn't say it's uncomfortable, wife would say it's cold but happy with the compromise of bigger house in an area going through a rejuvenation of new neighbours, as said before if your happy to upgrade over time we fitted 40mm slabs to the upstairs last year and changed radiators with trvs and seeing improvements, front door would be a big factor and hoping to replace along with windows this year, house had double glazed fitted to half the house ten years ago but due to poor fitting will replace everything in one hit. You may not get these heartaches with a new build but each to their own.

jrosen

We bought last year. New build. What swung it for us was cost. I was leaning toward second hand husband new. We knew the areas we wanted to buy in. Our budget was decent. Approx 500K. Any of the second hand homes we looked at went to market at approx 440. They all sold for closer to 500. Alot of the sellers were not willing to accept asking. They all needed upgrades, windows, doors, heating, kitchens bathrooms etc. We simply couldnt afford to pay those asking prices and have the cash to do the work needed.

cubatahavana

jrosen wrote: »

We bought last year. New build. What swung it for us was cost. I was leaning toward second hand husband new. We knew the areas we wanted to buy in. Our budget was decent. Approx 500K. Any of the second hand homes we looked at went to market at approx 440. They all sold for closer to 500. Alot of the sellers were not willing to accept asking. They all needed upgrades, windows, doors, heating, kitchens bathrooms etc. We simply couldnt afford to pay those asking prices and have the cash to do the work needed.

And how do you find it?

cubatahavana

minzabud wrote: »

Pros and cons,i'm sitting here in a t-shirt and the temperature of the house is 16 according to the hive app, can get up to 21 with the heating on for a couple of hours but wouldn't say it's uncomfortable, wife would say it's cold but happy with the compromise of bigger house in an area going through a rejuvenation of new neighbours, as said before if your happy to upgrade over time we fitted 40mm slabs to the upstairs last year and changed radiators with trvs and seeing improvements, front door would be a big factor and hoping to replace along with windows this year, house had double glazed fitted to half the house ten years ago but due to poor fitting will replace everything in one hit. You may not get these heartaches with a new build but each to their own.

16? If I kept that temperature at home it would be grounds for divorce

dubrov

cubatahavana wrote:

16? If I kept that temperature at home it would be grounds for divorce

Sitting in a t-shirt as well apparently

jrosen

cubatahavana wrote: »

And how do you find it?

Great tbh. The house is incredibly warm and very comfortable to live in.

If I had to be critical, the sound proofing between upstairs and downstairs could be better. I can hear the kids if they are on games upstairs. But they are loud so maybe its just my kids.
The quality of the internal doors is not great either. One year in and not anything else to complain about.

ZeroSum76

ZeroSum76 wrote: »

OK I'm lazy

Very lazy if you didn't even do your research on what you actually bought.

JimmyVik

cubatahavana wrote: »

What temp do you heat it up to? With my wife it needs to be 22 degrees or she complains

With heating off, house doesn't go below 18.5 degrees

In the main parts of the house 23C in the day time from 6am to midnight. Not idea what it goes down to out of those hours. And in the bedrooms 18 all the time. Old people
I have it at 20C all the time in the granny flat, even at night and its toasty.

JimmyVik

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Interesting opinions

We're in the process of finalising a purchase of a 4 bed in that very estate. For us we decided the pros:

- High Spec
- Legal protections and home bond
- HTB freeing up our savings
- Good location (walk to Maynooth town / train station / great links by road)
- Will be surrounded by people at the same stage of life as us

outweighed the cons of engaging with the second hand market. We also quite like the houses as it happens - but beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that.

It's all about choices at the end of the day. We looked at a lot of second hand houses and went through bidding wars on a couple. It is easier to picture your life in an established estate and it can make it a more emotional / passionate choice. But buying a high spec new build when the government is giving you 30k equity in it as a tax rebate is a highly prudent financial move. And it's best not to be emotional about this, if you can help it!

Dont add that one to your list of positives. As thousands of people have found out.

dpham178

We never considered new build until the 2 house biddings we took part in sickened us and our AIP expiry date was approaching.

It is now turning out that new build is a more suitable choice for us because:
1. We can get 30k HTB and use it for furnishing the house
2. Great energy rating
3. House is brand-new and clean. This is very important to me. 2nd-hand houses can't be as clean. (sounds like a ridiculous reason but yes this is a personal preference/priority)
4. Little to none fixing, upgrading and appliances setup work to be done. We are at the house (soft) furnishing stage now and it's stressful enough already so I don't think I will enjoy thinking about any of the fixing and building jobs.
5. Nice estate. Hopefully our neighbors will be nice too!

dubstepper

It is a fair point on the bidding. We went after a house that was on for 515, we had the highest bid which was 535. Was at that price for over a week. There had been 5 other bidders so it had a good run.

The EA turned around and said it was going to a sealed bid "to be fair to everyone"? He wouldn't take my call, the pr*ck, kept getting his secretary to get back to me. I didn't put extra offer and we missed out. Went for about 550 in the end.

cubatahavana

Other benefit: If there any issues, the builder usually sorts them out. We had a minor leak after moving in from the downstirs toilet and it was sorted within 24 hours

Yellow_Fern

ongarite wrote: »

I don't get the fascination with front gardens that people are harking on about in older houses.
In my many COVID 5km walks in D15, the vast majority have been fully converted to multi-car driveways.
What little garden is left is just for decoration.

Sound-proofing is significantly improved in newer builds mainly due to the new building regulations which call for better air-tightness.
Parents live in early 90s semi-d; you can hear light switches being turned on next door, electric shower being run, etc..
I live in celtic tiger build apartment; can't hear anything either side due to fire-regulations on adjoining units but can hear plenty from above.
Sibling in A3 rated 2019 build semi-d; can't hear a thing from adjoining neighbour & they have young child

It seems to me that it is be rare for developers apply existing acoustic requiring. BER is highly unreliable. You need to what the build of the house and look for quality, good window placement, avoid dormers, avoid hollow block (in old areas).

Yellow_Fern

minzabud wrote: »

Pros and cons,i'm sitting here in a t-shirt and the temperature of the house is 16 according to the hive app, can get up to 21 with the heating on for a couple of hours but wouldn't say it's uncomfortable, wife would say it's cold but happy with the compromise of bigger house in an area going through a rejuvenation of new neighbours, as said before if your happy to upgrade over time we fitted 40mm slabs to the upstairs last year and changed radiators with trvs and seeing improvements, front door would be a big factor and hoping to replace along with windows this year, house had double glazed fitted to half the house ten years ago but due to poor fitting will replace everything in one hit. You may not get these heartaches with a new build but each to their own.

Doors and windows tend not to make a big impact. It should be the last upgrade, not the first.

DubLad69

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Doors and windows tend not to make a big impact. It should be the last upgrade, not the first.

It really depends on the house. My parents recently upgraded their doors and windows and it made a huge difference.

They were last upgraded 21 years ago, they were warping out of shape and letting cold air/wind in at the edges. To the point that you could feel a draft behind you. Now that they replaced the house feels a lot warmer and more comfortable.

cubatahavana

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Doors and windows tend not to make a big impact. It should be the last upgrade, not the first.

Depends on size too. A 3 meter patio door/window if not properly insulated can be a disaster

dia squish

We would like to eventually build a small workshop (with electricity) in the back garden of a future home, either as an extension or separate structure. Does anyone know if this would be more difficult with a new build in Dublin? Understand the back gardens are generally smaller.

baldbear

We are living in North Dublin in a 1970s built house.

The pros & winner for us is proximity to amenities. Shop , pub schools, transport etc. C rated house too which we find is fine.

jrosen

dia squish wrote: »

We would like to eventually build a small workshop (with electricity) in the back garden of a future home, either as an extension or separate structure. Does anyone know if this would be more difficult with a new build in Dublin? Understand the back gardens are generally smaller.

Guess it depends on what your intentions are for your outside space. Some of the gardens on new builds are really small but others much better. If you dont need your outside space then it doesnt really matter. My inlaws extended their house and all it felt them with was a small courtyard style patio. Enough to have a small shed thats wired, garden furniture and a BBQ. But thats all they need it for.

DubLad69

How small are new build gardens? I was told that the garden of the house that I am looking to buy is 75sqm South facing. How small is that?

cubatahavana

DubLad69 wrote: »

How small are new build gardens? I was told that the garden of the house that I am looking to buy is 75sqm South facing. How small is that?

I think 75 sqm for me is perfect. Small area for bbq/patio. Small lawn and space for a shed. No need no more

Eric Cartman

dia squish wrote: »

We would like to eventually build a small workshop (with electricity) in the back garden of a future home, either as an extension or separate structure. Does anyone know if this would be more difficult with a new build in Dublin? Understand the back gardens are generally smaller.

you'd probably want to build something thats 25sq meters then (5x5 meters so not that big in reality) but you have to leave 25 sq meters of garden space free to be planning exempt so you need a garden of atleast 50sq meters which many new builds might not deliver.

awec

DubLad69 wrote: »

How small are new build gardens? I was told that the garden of the house that I am looking to buy is 75sqm South facing. How small is that?

If you can visualize a soccer pitch it'd be a bit bigger than the 6 yard box. About average size for a new build I'd have thought.

Size is only one part of it, as is orientation. You also need to consider the shape of the garden, and what is around the garden (is it overlooked by tall trees, are there other houses that'll block the sun etc).

JimmyVik

DubLad69 wrote: »

How small are new build gardens? I was told that the garden of the house that I am looking to buy is 75sqm South facing. How small is that?

Tiny.
You would park 3 cars in the garden.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

JimmyVik wrote: »

Tiny.
You would park 3 cars in the garden.

Why does everyone need huge gardens? Most people just want somewhere to sit out with some grass for kids etc.