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.