This is 40

thisis40

Have recently turned 40 and all of a sudden had the realization that life has caught up on me, I had a great time in my 20's and 30's, travelled lots and never really gave a huge amount of thought to settling down and buying a house.

I had been renting for years with an ex, broke up and moved back to my parents house where I could save, cue almost a year later and I have about 40k saved up, applied for a mortgage and the reality has set in that I can only get a 25 year mortgage with huge repayments a month in property(Dublin) that is not value for money.

Anyone else in the same boat and considered actually moving abroad?

89897

Why not move out of Dublin rather than move abroad if settling down is what you want to do? Also at 40 you can get a 29 year mortgage.

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120634770#Comment_120634770

Depends on the bank.

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058297733/this-is-40

Moving abroad is an option, but not the only one. I am almost 39 and single and am considering it also, going to wait and see what the next few years bring. Until then I’ll keep climbing the ladder because as a single person you have to earn twice as much. Unless you want the country life style. You could do the h dip and live anywhere being a teacher

Consider Drogheda or anywhere on a commuter line.

Eircom_Sucks

100 % your mortgage repayments will still be cheaper than renting and then at least 25 years you have an asset at least regardless if worth it or not etc

i bought my first house in 2005 @ 24 and only have 7 years left , purchased a villa in Malaga in 2009 and that has 3 years left ( airbnb been a gift its paid for itself )

maninasia

They have affordability problems.

Just move out of Dublin, it isn't that great anyway. Look for a town or smaller city.

Your affordability issue changes quickly then.

And many towns in Ireland are very nice with friendly folks

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120646041#Comment_120646041

It’s not that straightforward when you work in Dublin which presumably OP does. Anywhere with a tolerable commute is expensive. So you’d either be looking at hours of travel or a change in career.

I know a couple who moved to Copenhagen a few months ago and are loving it - they work in engineering and pharmaceuticals. They didn’t buy and are renting but if it goes well they might. Why not just have a google and see what might be out there - depending on what it is you do then getting a job in a multinational or even an EU role can be doable. The only thing with moving abroad is it might be hard to make friends and you may want to move back when you get to old age, depends on how rooted you are to Ireland - friends and family etc.

maninasia

I would advocate moving abroad also if they are adventurous, sure.

It doesn't have to be EU either.

Undertow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058297733/this-is-40

This could have been me that written this! Very similar situation so can empathize completely. Also contemplated buying abroad, but too much risk associated with that for me at my age. Its a tough market and at that age, kind of felt I was in a now or never situation. I have just managed to secure a place within 1-1.5hr of Dublin, which is fairly commutable esp. if you dont need to be in the office 5 days a week. Repayments are a bit more than my current rent in Dublin, but I wont be sharing, or in a tiny apartment, and its an asset so I certainly think its worth it. Up to very recently I thought it was a lost cause, but it's possible. Keep the faith!

Airyfairy12

...

YellowLead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120781810#Comment_120781810

I didn’t say anything about hdip or teaching? Did you mean to quote somebody else?

Edit I can see I did mention teaching earlier in the thread. Not sure what you mean by there being no hdip, maybe it’s changed. Fair there are downsides to reaching but also positive I have friends who are teachers and have great lifestyles, albeit it’s tough for a few years at the start so maybe not greet for somebody at 40, I have friends who went into in in 20s and 30s and very happy they did.

Airyfairy12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120637610#Comment_120637610

Theres no HDIP to become a teacher??? youd have to do a 2 year masters which you cant get into unless you have a high level of Irish then teaching jobs are hard to get and even harder to get permanent in & the pay just doesnt make any of it worth it! I wouldnt recommended going that route OP. Hundreds of teachers are leaving the profession year after year & lots have to move to Dublin to get work, cant afford the cost of living there so end up emigrating or travelling long distances to get to work from commuter areas & trying to depend on the public transport, its a nightmare.

The Netherlands seems to be a very good place to get a mortgage and buy a house going by people I know who have moved there, youve also got the benefits of better public transport, more job opportunities, overall better quality of life! Australia is good too, I know a few people who have have moved there and where able to get a mortgage, buy a house and have a lovely quality of life!

Other options could be Scotland, Wales or up north.. atleast you wont be too far from home.

Otherwise, country living is your only option! The only people buying in Dublin are super rich or have lots of support from their parents or family. The other option is to sign on social welfare, declare yourself homeless for 6 months & wait 10 or 15 years in the hope you get a house through the council.

iniscealtra

I guess you have to consider what you want. Fair play for saving that much money. Do you want to stay in Dublin? Is your work flexible - work from home or can you relocate with it? Do you want big city living or would you mind a move to a smaller town? Would appartment living suit you? Do you want to live in a town or would a village be ok? Would you prefer to be close to family or be abroad ?

ClaudeVercetti

OP for what it's worth like yourself I bought single end of last year and had to buy outside Dublin and after a settling period love where I am now (South-East). There's a lot more value to be had if you're willing to go further afield and the mortgage is a lot more manageable. I'm a 1 hour train from Heuston so getting into Dublin is more than doable and I'm still up multiple times a week (not sure if you need to be there often for work, family etc.).

Of course it'd be brilliant to be able to live in Dublin, but the feeling of stability has been great and I've enjoyed planting roots in a new area and meeting new people.

Just wanted to share an anecdote in case it helps. Best of luck in whatever you decide to do!

Uncharted2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058297733/this-is-40

Dublin is very expensive, would you consider moving out of Dublin?

Warning applied for off topic soap boxing

Post deleted

HS

Cushtie

Fair play on saving the 40k in that short time frame. Would you be a able to tough it out for maybe another 12 or 18 months with the parents and save another nice chunk to put towards a bigger deposit. It's not long time in the grand scheme of things.

Oranage2

Do you think moving abroad would make you happy? Is just living with your parents the only thing you don't like about Ireland?

There are so many variables and you just have to really think what you want and set a goal to try and achieve that.

Murph85

Yeah its tough... would you consider moving to Saudi Arabia etc ? Earning big money for 2-3 years and then settling in Dublin? Or elsewhere...

Or yeah emigrating could ge a good option too. The reality in duboin is, that in the areas id want to live in , you're looking at 600k plus easy for anything id want to live in... I'm not having the kind of mortgage repayments on the dumps that 500k in the dublin 14 area would get you.. I'm sake age op, its a tricky one..

bikeman1

I bought as a single person at 28 in Dublin, 6 years ago. The difference, was that I went for it, was willing to go for a place that might not be exactly where I wanted and not where I grew up.

Roll 6 years on, and I actually love living where I do, it has many positives that I didn't think of compared to where I'm from (nicer part of Dublin). It's on the Northside, yes, but a great place to live. I now have decent equity, rent a room covers a lot of my mortgage, so life is good that way. Chatting to many people over the years from Dublin, they have a slightly snobby attitude to many parts of Dublin and incorrect perceptions. The result is that they end up with nothing and stuck because they didn't jump in time.

dory

Maybe get a map and work out where the trains go from, and start looking around all the stations. I'm 5km from my nearest station. I use an escooter to make the journey. I only have to be in the office twice a week so it's grand.

I've just realised I'm not responding to the OP! The OP wanted to know did anyone feel like going abroad. Yes, totally. I built a house on my own and have ended up in all kinds of debt! Couldn't get the Help to Buy either as my mortgage wasn't 70% of the house value. Realised only people who earn over 100k or couples can get that. Single people have to use savings, borrow from credit union etc to make up the rest, so mortgage doesn't end up being big enough for the HTB. Very annoying. With hindsight I wish I'd just emigrated.

Iseedeadpixels

Take the mortgage, you're only 40 you will meet someone again and possibly have a 2nd person to pay a mortgage with.

Hannibal_Smith

Off topic posts removed. PI/RI is not a general chit chat forum folks. As there is still some advice for the OP trickling in from others I'll leave it open for now.

HS

Beta Ray Bill

If you can Save €40k in a year you'll have no issue with high mortgage payments, if you knuckle down you might even be able to get it paid off by 55

I'm in the same boat as you, Got mortgage #2 about 3 years ago, turned 40 a month back.

Moonbeam

I bought in Balbriggan at 23 on my own, it was not my 1st choice of place to live but looking within the Dublin commuter area for trains and Darts, it was all that I could afford,that was liveable.

I recently sold it as I hate being a landlord

You travelled,had a great time and were not tied down which I think most people would prefer in their 20s and 30s. Now is the time to get your own place and put your own mark on it. Mortgage is often cheaper in repayments then rent.

Look at taxsaver.ie and try buy within it,the auction sites like xbid are worth a look too.