Good areas in Ireland for an investment property

brenno1

Hi all.
After years of saving hard I will be looking to buy an investment property at around the 150k to 170k mark max early next year as a cash buyer; i dont want any mortgage debt on the property. Ideally a 1 or 2 bed apartment/duplex with minimal maintenance. And happy to consider renting to government on long term rental scheme.

This is my first time doing such a venture and i want to see if anyone has any experience in this and generally what part of the country they would consider a relatively safe bet (in terms of protecting the capital, a decent rental return €1,100 to €1,200 pm and bouyant rental market).

Within my price range I see plenty of properties in the following areas that I would like investment opinion on;

Drogheda

Balbriggan-this one seems v topical?v cheap for a reason?

Ballyfermot-i understand has one the best returns in the country?

Clondalkin

Citywest

Finglas

Tallaght

Limerick

Waterford

Maybe there are other areas I am missing that could be relatively decent value that people have knowledge on?

Wanderer78

Waterford should be a good place with major investment currently occuring, it's perfectly setup for rent seeking activities

Darc19

One area I'm looking at is Cahir in Tipperary. (I have one property there and keeping an eye out for another)

Strong employment, properties reasonably priced and good tenants at €900-€1000 per month.

It's also is a great town to live in with many amenities and doesn't seem to have an anti-social element

brenno1

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Waterford should be a good place with major investment currently occuring, it's perfectly setup for rent seeking activities

Thanks Wanderer, i have heard a few people mention Waterford alright. Would you have anymore insight into the type of investment currently occuring there?

brenno1

Darc19 wrote: »

One area I'm looking at is Cahir in Tipperary. (I have one property there and keeping an eye out for another)

Strong employment, properties reasonably priced and good tenants at €900-€1000 per month.

It's also is a great town to live in with many amenities and doesn't seem to have an anti-social element

Thanks Darc. Interesting indeed. Will have to investigate that one a bit further.

Wanderer78

brenno1 wrote: »

Thanks Wanderer, i have heard a few people mention Waterford alright. Would you have anymore insight into the type of investment currently occuring there?

these developments are coming on stream in waterford, theres some serious investment involved, i suspect property and land speculation, and demand for so, is increasing significantly, property prices have already risen by 12% in the last year, i expect this to continue, largely due to these investments

https://waterfordnorthquays.ie/

https://waterford-news.ie/2020/07/28/michael-street-reimagined/

ted1

Ballyfermot is good, your target audience will be a single mum (or couple) with 2-3 kids. So they can get 1300 from hap and they can usually top this up by about 200. So you are looking at 1300-1500 per month. No fear of them losing their job or not paying you.
They generally do stay for a good few years. If you are looking at the ex council houses. Chances are you may need to replace windows and heating system. Other tye. That they are good.
You can turn the house around between rentals very fast.

It’s a bit of a mad area. Try to rent to someone from the area, non locals don’t settle aswell

Wanderer78

ted1 wrote: »

Ballyfermot is good, your target audience will be a single mum (or couple) with 2-3 kids. So they can get 1300 from hap and they can usually top this up by about 200. So you are looking at 1300-1500 per month. No fear of them losing their job or not paying you.
They generally do stay for a good few years. If you are looking at the ex council houses. Chances are you may need to replace windows and heating system. Other tye. That they are good.

you d hardly be prejudice, would you!

ted1

Wanderer78 wrote: »

you d hardly be prejudice, would you!

How’s that ?
I’m just giving my experience.. can’t comment on the other places

ted1

Wanderer78 wrote: »

these developments are coming on stream in waterford, theres some serious investment involved, i suspect property and land speculation, and demand for so, is increasing significantly, property prices have already risen by 12% in the last year, i expect this to continue, largely due to these investments

https://waterfordnorthquays.ie/

https://waterford-news.ie/2020/07/28/michael-street-reimagined/

Waterford suffers from high unemployment, the Max HAP in Waterford is €600. So you have little protection.

brenno1

ted1 wrote: »

Waterford suffers from high unemployment, the Max HAP in Waterford is €600. So you have little protection.

Thank you both for your insights. Ballyfermot and Waterford seem to be good for investment from other sources Ive spoken to as well. They seem to top the list at the areas within my budget.

Ted, interesting point about the older council houses. My fear is they could be a money pit but I woupd imagine they are built v well compated to the newer apartments.

Wanderer78

ted1 wrote: »

How’s that ?
I’m just giving my experience.. can’t comment on the other places

apologies, a hasty response, but the truth is, everyone is getting hammered under our current housing situation, including property owners, its a right mess

Wanderer78

ted1 wrote: »

Waterford suffers from high unemployment, the Max HAP in Waterford is €600. So you have little protection.

yea i ll agree with this, its becoming a very serious problem, with rising property prices, and low wage inflation, this is becoming a serious problem for everyone, again, including property owners

afkasurfjunkie

brenno1 wrote: »

Hi all.
After years of saving hard I will be looking to buy an investment property at around the 150k to 170k mark max early next year as a cash buyer; i dont want any mortgage debt on the property. Ideally a 1 or 2 bed apartment/duplex with minimal maintenance. And happy to consider renting to government on long term rental scheme.

This is my first time doing such a venture and i want to see if anyone has any experience in this and generally what part of the country they would consider a relatively safe bet (in terms of protecting the capital, a decent rental return €1,100 to €1,200 pm and bouyant rental market).

Within my price range I see plenty of properties in the following areas that I would like investment opinion on;

Drogheda

Balbriggan-this one seems v topical?v cheap for a reason?

Ballyfermot-i understand has one the best returns in the country?

Clondalkin

Citywest

Finglas

Tallaght

Limerick

Waterford

Maybe there are other areas I am missing that could be relatively decent value that people have knowledge on?

7 of the 9 areas mentioned in that list stand out to me for anti social activity and not as up and coming areas in which I’d invest my hard earned money.

Del2005

afkasurfjunkie wrote: »

7 of the 9 areas mentioned in that list stand out to me for anti social activity and not as up and coming areas in which I’d invest my hard earned money.

Small areas in some of them have problems, the remaining areas are full of normal people. You'll quickly spot which areas to avoid once you visit them.

Wanderer78

Del2005 wrote: »

Small areas in some of them have problems, the remaining areas are full of normal people. You'll quickly spot which areas to avoid once you visit them.

im deeply offended by this statement, im far from normal!

ted1

afkasurfjunkie wrote: »

7 of the 9 areas mentioned in that list stand out to me for anti social activity and not as up and coming areas in which I’d invest my hard earned money.

They don’t need to be up and coming to make a good return

brenno1

ted1 wrote: »

They don’t need to be up and coming to make a good return

Agreed ted. A neighbour of mine invested his pension in a house near crumlin and has done well out of his investment over the years. By his own admission it isnt the best of areas in terms of antisocial behaviour but he was lucky and has had great tenants that look after the house v well.

Mad_maxx

brenno1 wrote: »

Hi all.
After years of saving hard I will be looking to buy an investment property at around the 150k to 170k mark max early next year as a cash buyer; i dont want any mortgage debt on the property. Ideally a 1 or 2 bed apartment/duplex with minimal maintenance. And happy to consider renting to government on long term rental scheme.

This is my first time doing such a venture and i want to see if anyone has any experience in this and generally what part of the country they would consider a relatively safe bet (in terms of protecting the capital, a decent rental return €1,100 to €1,200 pm and bouyant rental market).

Within my price range I see plenty of properties in the following areas that I would like investment opinion on;

Drogheda

Balbriggan-this one seems v topical?v cheap for a reason?

Ballyfermot-i understand has one the best returns in the country?

Clondalkin

Citywest

Finglas

Tallaght

Limerick

Waterford

Maybe there are other areas I am missing that could be relatively decent value that people have knowledge on?

Limerick is still a good bet

athlone , the roscommon side ( Monksland specifically ) is not subject to RPZ , plenty of well paid jobs and strategically a good location on the map

Tuam , galway city is so absurdly expensive , a decent sized town like Tuam has to benefit and its still considerably cheaper than other other towns with motorway access , not a good wage town itself but no town in galway is , the city is the economy

Waterford , still cheap and you have enough of a population to sustain a reasonable economy , relatively wealthy hinterland around the city in every direction , kilkenny and waterford are home to a lot of strong farming communities , this all helps in terms of spending in the city

portlaoise , good location strategically and growing in size , not as good as Athlone but certainly the second best in the midlands

one of my cousins is a modest sized builder in dublin and drogheda this past twenty years , he is based in Clonee at the moment and reckons there is still value there relative to the rest of dublin , transport options are horrendous obviously

sandyxxx

I reckon Arklow is worth a punt,....there’s a huge shortage of housing due to the lack of sewerage infrastructure but there’s a lot of inward investment Coming down the tracks,data centre,SSE port hub,possible Dublin port relocation.....good rental yields currently and commutable to Dublin on m11 network

celtic_oz

Roughly what sort of yield are people expecting

(Gross annual rent / Purchase price ) x 100

brenno1

celtic_oz wrote: »

Roughly what sort of yield are people expecting

(Gross annual rent / Purchase price ) x 100

Hoping to get at least 8 - 9 %

Mad_maxx

brenno1 wrote: »

Hoping to get at least 8 - 9 %

you will be looking at fairly modest areas wherever you buy so

ted1

Mad_maxx wrote: »

you will be looking at fairly modest areas wherever you buy so

Also factor in that your mortgage is being chipped away at. Must small times landlords treat property as a pension.
At the end you can either sell and take a lump sum or keep renting and use the rent to live off , your mortgage will be paid.

Darc19

ted1 wrote: »

Also factor in that your mortgage is being chipped away at. Must small times landlords treat property as a pension.
At the end you can either sell and take a lump sum or keep renting and use the rent to live off , your mortgage will be paid.

A lot of small landlords buy property within their pension. This gives tax free rental income and tax free profit on any subsequent sale.

However only specific pensions (company director ssap pensions are one type) can purchase property and there are strict regulations that apply.

And with stock markets at all time highs, quite a few are moving into property and cashing out of the markets.

Problem is there simply is not much choice out there at present and anything decent is selling above what would be considered value

ELM327

ted1 wrote: »

Also factor in that your mortgage is being chipped away at. Must small times landlords treat property as a pension.
At the end you can either sell and take a lump sum or keep renting and use the rent to live off , your mortgage will be paid.

OP specified cash buyer, no mortgage.

JimmyVik

IMO - nowhere.
Invest abroad. The way property investors are treated in Ireland will just end up choking you.

ELM327

The best property investment is in REIT shares.

Claw Hammer

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Limerick is still a good bet

athlone , the roscommon side ( Monksland specifically ) is not subject to RPZ , plenty of well paid jobs and strategically a good location on the map

y

Monksland is in Roscommon. It is not subject to an RPZ for a reason. The houses are badly built for the most part and are miles from Athlone or Roscommon town.

ted1

Claw Hammer wrote: »

Monksland is in Roscommon. It is not subject to an RPZ for a reason. The houses are badly built for the most part and are miles from Athlone or Roscommon town.

Are they not adjacent to an industrial estate. ? I vaguely recall visiting clients there.

Moonbeam

Balbriggan has a brilliant rental market but some of the houses had pyrite issues eg Moylaragh.

Just beware the tax burden.

Mad_maxx

Monksland is not in a RPZ because its in the county of Roscommon , even all of the houses or apartments in Monksland were " badly built " or exceptionally well built , it would be irrelevant , Roscommon county is not in a RPZ so by extension ,neither is Monksland , there are loads of very well built houses in it , monksfield bealnamulla is a well built estate with both apartments , duplexes and family homes

its also not " miles from Athlone " , its effectively part of Athlone , it has a regular bus service into Athlone itself , Monksland is almost like a second Athlone at this stage and has plenty of retail and other amenities .

i thought id correct that earlier absurd post

Mad_maxx

ELM327 wrote: »

The best property investment is in REIT shares.

great dividends on both IRES and Hibernia ( hibernia being the commercial property one ) , neither appear to have tracked the on the ground market in anyway shape or form though ?

tiredcity

Wanderer78 wrote: »

these developments are coming on stream in waterford, theres some serious investment involved, i suspect property and land speculation, and demand for so, is increasing significantly, property prices have already risen by 12% in the last year, i expect this to continue, largely due to these investments

https://waterfordnorthquays.ie/

https://waterford-news.ie/2020/07/28/michael-street-reimagined/

Waterford has been on the brink of a revival for ages now after years of gloom and doom when Waterford Crystal shipped out. I lived there for four years and you could really see the potential by the time we left. NQ development should genuinely revitalise Ferrybank and get people coming into the city, there's loads of new development out around the Ring road/Williamstown area, good independent shops (Finders Keepers, Beibhinn, Ardkeen Stores, Nest, Arch coffee etc), Greenway is attracting tourists and an amazing amenity for locals. For QOL (great access to beaches, mountains, city is very walkable) plus affordability it's got a lot to offer. I sincerely hope it does well. The locals can be quite down about the place but as a blow in you really appreciate what it could be.

duffysfarm

what about ballymahon? Would there be some rise in rents in this area due to centre parcs opening up?

drunkmonkey

Nobody seems to have mentioned it but would you consider a holiday home, there's very little left out there, Kilkee for example must only have a 1/3 of the houses for sale it did 18mts ago, still a few left there, the town needs a makeover but the pandemic might help it, you can holiday let it for a few months of the year and private or council rental for the rest of the year, return should be good and maybe a good chance of capital gains with wfh and home holidays.
There's a new development happening in Lahinch as well might be worth getting in on as property pieces are off the wall there due to demand with very strong prices for weekly rentals.

handlemaster

brenno1 wrote: »

Hi all.
After years of saving hard I will be looking to buy an investment property at around the 150k to 170k mark max early next year as a cash buyer; i dont want any mortgage debt on the property. Ideally a 1 or 2 bed apartment/duplex with minimal maintenance. And happy to consider renting to government on long term rental scheme.

This is my first time doing such a venture and i want to see if anyone has any experience in this and generally what part of the country they would consider a relatively safe bet (in terms of protecting the capital, a decent rental return €1,100 to €1,200 pm and bouyant rental market).

Within my price range I see plenty of properties in the following areas that I would like investment opinion on;

Drogheda

Balbriggan-this one seems v topical?v cheap for a reason?

Ballyfermot-i understand has one the best returns in the country?

Clondalkin

Citywest

Finglas

Tallaght

Limerick

Waterford

Maybe there are other areas I am missing that could be relatively decent value that people have knowledge on?

I would say Balbriggan is cheap because of the distance to the city , social issues and Pyrite.



I good area you have not mentioned is Dublin 15

handlemaster

what about small towns and villages around ireland. There are people who love them and never want to move but would also be renters. Prices are cheaper and the rents arent really that bad around 700 euro plus for a three bed house.

JimmyVik

I hate to be the one to say it
But Jesus this is all eerily familiar talk.

ELM327

Mad_maxx wrote: »

great dividends on both IRES and Hibernia ( hibernia being the commercial property one ) , neither appear to have tracked the on the ground market in anyway shape or form though ?

Yes but the issue with property investment (and I've been there. Direct) is that you can lose thousands with one bad tenant. Especialy for a small time 1-2 property landlord that can be devastating and the laws support the tenant to the ground and f00k the LL over.


If you invest in a REIT you invest "in property" with lower risk. That's where my money is going unless I come into millions.

ELM327

JimmyVik wrote: »

I hate to be the one to say it
But Jesus this is all eerily familiar talk.

At least it's in Ireland and not apartments in Bulgaria!

#boomposting

JimmyVik

ELM327 wrote: »

At least it's in Ireland and not apartments in Bulgaria!

#boomposting

Eddie Hobbs will be back on the telly next

Mad_maxx

ELM327 wrote: »

Yes but the issue with property investment (and I've been there. Direct) is that you can lose thousands with one bad tenant. Especialy for a small time 1-2 property landlord that can be devastating and the laws support the tenant to the ground and f00k the LL over.


If you invest in a REIT you invest "in property" with lower risk. That's where my money is going unless I come into millions.

im invested in both IRES and Hibernia , on paper they look a much better investment compared to actual property and they appear better value right now too

however , there are a few things which prevent me from buying more

1. IRES in particular is not at all liquid , trading volume daily is tiny , those kind of securities can often suffer large falls during downturns

2. board of directors can over pay themselves at the expense of share holders

Claw Hammer

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Monksland is not in a RPZ because its in the county of Roscommon , even all of the houses or apartments in Monksland were " badly built " or exceptionally well built , it would be irrelevant , Roscommon county is not in a RPZ so by extension ,neither is Monksland , there are loads of very well built houses in it , monksfield bealnamulla is a well built estate with both apartments , duplexes and family homes

its also not " miles from Athlone " , its effectively part of Athlone , it has a regular bus service into Athlone itself , Monksland is almost like a second Athlone at this stage and has plenty of retail and other amenities .

i thought id correct that earlier absurd post

the fact that it is not an RPZ has nothing to do with the fact that is is in Roscommon. RPZs do not operaste at County level. It is not an RPZ because the rents havn't been rising. There are relatively recently built estates in Mo9nkstown which have had to replace roofs at enormous expense. The tenants are mostly those who wouldn't be accommodated or were evicted from Athlone. The only time anyone walks from Monksland to Athlone is for charity. No way is it part of Athlone.

handlemaster

duffysfarm wrote: »

what about ballymahon? Would there be some rise in rents in this area due to centre parcs opening up?

Thats in Longford

Mad_maxx

you would need to be fairly fcuking lazy to consider monksland to athlone a " charity walk " ?

its less than 3km on foot

Claw Hammer

Mad_maxx wrote: »

you would need to be fairly fcuking lazy to consider monksland to athlone a " charity walk " ?

its less than 3km on foot

Joe Duffy Motors in Monksland to Church St in Athlone is 4.4km. It is an hours walk. It would be a ridiculuos place to buy an investment property.
The only place to buy an investment property is near where you live and if in Dublin, as close to the city centre as possible.

handlemaster

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Nobody seems to have mentioned it but would you consider a holiday home, there's very little left out there, Kilkee for example must only have a 1/3 of the houses for sale it did 18mts ago, still a few left there, the town needs a makeover but the pandemic might help it, you can holiday let it for a few months of the year and private or council rental for the rest of the year, return should be good and maybe a good chance of capital gains with wfh and home holidays.
There's a new development happening in Lahinch as well might be worth getting in on as property pieces are off the wall there due to demand with very strong prices for weekly rentals.

Holiday homes are not a good investment. What you are suggesting is alot of work. Council won't rent for a few months. Another thread on here some one rented there house
For a few months and the tenant refused to move out. What would you do then ?

brenno1

"The only place to buy an investment property is near where you live and if in Dublin, as close to the city centre as possible."

A bit limiting now in fairness!

brenno1

"Another thread on here some one rented there house
For a few months and the tenant refused to move out. What would you do then"

Ah thats when my size comes in handy and my fathers shotgun licence😂😂😂 many ways to skin a cat if tenants don't play ball per contract

drunkmonkey

handlemaster wrote: »

Holiday homes are not a good investment. What you are suggesting is alot of work. Council won't rent for a few months. Another thread on here some one rented there house
For a few months and the tenant refused to move out. What would you do then ?

I was thinking more from a capital appreciation view, we can build inland as much as we want but as the population ages and grows houses in areas you may want to live should keep having strong gains. Once the foreign tourist market returns short term letting prices will be expensive.