Areas to live in Sligo town

EuMendes · 03-02-2021 11:58am #1

Hello everyone,

I hope all of you are keeping safe in this difficult time.
I recently got married and my wife and I are looking to buy our first house/apartment. It will be in Sligo town. Because we don't drive we are looking for areas near town center our with easy access(walking, public transport). I am not sure if it is an appropriate question, but which areas do you recommend or do not recommend?
We are thinking about areas that is safe, not too messy, "nice" neighboring, etc.

Because it is an import decision we are not in rush, we need to think and take the best decision.

We found something in the bellow places:

Farmhill
Ballinode
Market House
Caltragh
Doorly Park
City Gate
Cartron
Harbour Court

I really appreciate any suggestions.

Thank you

Regards,
RMendes

dingding · 03-02-2021 3:42pm

Of those, Doorley park is very nice, great location but generally older and smaller houses.

Would you mind sharing a ball park budget and if you would prefer an apartment / house.

Occasionally houses come up in other areas that might be a be a bit cheaper because if work is needed.

So the other question is are you looking to a walk in condition or are you prepared to work on it.

Often the value is in houses in a good location that need a bit of work and in the long run you are better off.

dingding · 03-02-2021 3:45pm

The other issue is the heating of the house / appartment.

Some have Gas or Electirc storage heating which can be expensive.

Some also have an open fire which is can be a great asset.

Oil fired heating can be great as well as it is more controlable.

This can be a significant ongoing cost.

The Infinite Fart · 03-02-2021 10:42pm

Lived in Farmhill for a while a number of years ago and absolutely loved it. Not too far from town and nice quiet neighbourhood close to shops and a good park. Ballinode has a lot of students as it is so close to the IT so not so quiet...

EuMendes · 04-02-2021 9:46am

dingding wrote: »

Of those, Doorley park is very nice, great location but generally older and smaller houses.

Would you mind sharing a ball park budget and if you would prefer an apartment / house.

Occasionally houses come up in other areas that might be a be a bit cheaper because if work is needed.

So the other question is are you looking to a walk in condition or are you prepared to work on it.

Often the value is in houses in a good location that need a bit of work and in the long run you are better off.

Thank you for reply. I am looking for something around 150k. If I can choose I will prefer houses rather apartment. I saw some houses in not great conditions, that will need a lot of improves, it I know that will cost a lot, maybe can be a good idea if I think about the result in 5 / 10 years.

EuMendes · 04-02-2021 9:48am

The Infinite Fart wrote: »

Lived in Farmhill for a while a number of years ago and absolutely loved it. Not too far from town and nice quiet neighbourhood close to shops and a good park. Ballinode has a lot of students as it is so close to the IT so not so quiet...

Thank you for your input. I will keep checking and probably remove Ballinode from the list.

BronsonTB · 04-02-2021 1:18pm

Brooklawns (appartments) & Rathedmond (Houses) are other areas close to town & in a good neighbourhood. (Strandhill road)

For a house in those area's, your budget would be more for a doer upper.

Prices are increasing a lot at the moment & most selling fast.

EuMendes · 04-02-2021 2:54pm

BronsonTB wrote: »

Brooklawns (appartments) & Rathedmond (Houses) are other areas close to town & in a good neighbourhood. (Strandhill road)

For a house in those area's, your budget would be more for a doer upper.

Prices are increasing a lot at the moment & most selling fast.

Hi, thank you for the comment.
Yes, I agree, prices are going up and up. And there are not much options to buy at moment.

EuMendes · 05-02-2021 2:15pm

Any word about the City Gate apartments?

Thank you.

dingding · 05-02-2021 9:51pm

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-house-19-abbeyville-park-sligo-co-sligo/2568258

johnire · 06-02-2021 10:35am

No - personally I would avoid them completely. I work close by and they have a very bad reputation......

EuMendes wrote: »

Any word about the City Gate apartments?

Thank you.

dingding · 06-02-2021 3:30pm

Everyone is different, but a couple of points to consider when thinking about a house vs an appartment.

1. With the house you have your own outdoor space and garden and you have more control over what you can do externally to the property.
2. With an apartment you are locking into a management fee, which covers many of the things that you will need to pay for a house such as insurance etc...
3. The value of an apartment generally is reflected in the investment and interest of the management company, which is why some are in better condition than others. Long term this could become a risk, impacting on the value.
4. With an apartment the size is the size, while on a house if you buy wisely you have space to add on.
5. Houses are generally larger and in lower-density developments.
6. Apartments sometimes have shared spaces and corridors which might not be ideal if not properly maintained by the management company.
7. If the management company runs into problems you could have issues selling your apartment as legally they are owned by the management company and the owner leases the apartment on a 999-year lease.

My personal preference would be for a house every time but I realise that is a personal taste as there are houses that can be got within your budget and not much more than an apartment.

EuMendes · 09-02-2021 9:54am

johnire wrote: »

No - personally I would avoid them completely. I work close by and they have a very bad reputation......

Hi, thank you for the input. I probably will avoid the place so.

EuMendes · 09-02-2021 9:58am

dingding wrote: »

Everyone is different, but a couple of points to consider when thinking about a house vs an appartment.

1. With the house you have your own outdoor space and garden and you have more control over what you can do externally to the property.
2. With an apartment you are locking into a management fee, which covers many of the things that you will need to pay for a house such as insurance etc...
3. The value of an apartment generally is reflected in the investment and interest of the management company, which is why some are in better condition than others. Long term this could become a risk, impacting on the value.
4. With an apartment the size is the size, while on a house if you buy wisely you have space to add on.
5. Houses are generally larger and in lower-density developments.
6. Apartments sometimes have shared spaces and corridors which might not be ideal if not properly maintained by the management company.
7. If the management company runs into problems you could have issues selling your apartment as legally they are owned by the management company and the owner leases the apartment on a 999-year lease.

My personal preference would be for a house every time but I realise that is a personal taste as there are houses that can be got within your budget and not much more than an apartment.

Hi, thank you. Very good points. I agree, a lot of details to compare. I also prefer houses rather apartments, I am checking both at moment just because I (unfortunately) cannot buy my dream house(not yet).
I will keep in mind these points to better analyze before take any decision, once more, thank you.

AirBiscuit · 10-02-2021 5:56pm

Harbour court is one of the places where I lived as a student back in 2011, there seems to be a good few apartments let out to students in there. Some of them took to throwing loud parties until 5 in the morning every now and then, but they were on the floor below and I never met them so I can only assume they were students.

1cxb0tkuav6p4l · 11-02-2021 7:02pm

Bear in mind these are just opinions.
I was a student in Sligo for 4 years and lived all over, so have some opinions just as other posters have provided (several of which I would not agree with - to which you responded, "will avoid this area in that case").

EuMendes wrote: »

Farmhill

That side of town is considered relatively upmarket.
There's other estates out that direction that also have positive reputations and are modern, Brooklawns etc (lived here for a few months), but like you I don't like to keep a car and found that although close to the center, is still more of a distance than other locations you've listed.

Ballinode

Situated adjacent to several student villages.
Not really sure about quality of living there apart from that.

Market House

Generally a nice area and super central, so great accessibility if you're not driving.

Just make sure to inspect the property well first, real estate agents are hustlers and will tell you anything to make a sale.
Some of the places in that area are old, despite their adjacent buildings being very new and modern - so inspect the place thoroughly and check heat energy ratings etc (ask for certificates of authenticity - estate agents will often lie about this to make the place appear better).

Caltragh

Nice enough spot, used to visit friends here from time to time. Youth area'ish, so if you're having kids there'll be plenty around the open green there etc to play with.
Quality of houses etc, not sure about.

Again, inspect, get a feel for it and use intuition to make an accurate determination about what living there might be like.

Doorly Park

This used to be considered "rough" many years ago (at least when I was renting), but seemingly has undergone gentrification.
I understand it's quite big so may depend on exactly where the house therein is located.

Nice amenities close by if you're into outdoor things like outdoor gyms, football and walking.

City Gate

Used to visit friends here regularly.
They said the building management are ultra strict, so any parties etc, they said tenants got served eviction notices and therefore despite high occupancy, tends to be relatively quiet building to live in (which is good for apartments cause some places are terrible for parties/noise etc).

Cartron

Lived here also. Big estate. New apartments gone up near the entrance.

It's nice as estates go, but it's so big I can't comment on it all, naturally.

It's quiet and lots of families with good backgrounds live here.

Harbour Court

Yeah this is okay. Popped in and out to some mates here on occasion also.

Excellent location, you're basically in the center of town.

Perhaps would depend on the apartment there in.

Building is not kept quite as well as City Gate but it's still nice.

I guess it would just depend on what you're satisfied with.

EuMendes · 15-02-2021 5:40pm

Sylas Gentle Paperboy wrote: »

Bear in mind these are just opinions.
I was a student in Sligo for 4 years and lived all over, so have some opinions just as other posters have provided (several of which I would not agree with - to which you responded, "will avoid this area in that case").

That side of town is considered relatively upmarket.
There's other estates out that direction that also have positive reputations and are modern, Brooklawns etc (lived here for a few months), but like you I don't like to keep a car and found that although close to the center, is still more of a distance than other locations you've listed.

Situated adjacent to several student villages.
Not really sure about quality of living there apart from that.

Generally a nice area and super central, so great accessibility if you're not driving.

Just make sure to inspect the property well first, real estate agents are hustlers and will tell you anything to make a sale.
Some of the places in that area are old, despite their adjacent buildings being very new and modern - so inspect the place thoroughly and check heat energy ratings etc (ask for certificates of authenticity - estate agents will often lie about this to make the place appear better).

Nice enough spot, used to visit friends here from time to time. Youth area'ish, so if you're having kids there'll be plenty around the open green there etc to play with.
Quality of houses etc, not sure about.

Again, inspect, get a feel for it and use intuition to make an accurate determination about what living there might be like.

This used to be considered "rough" many years ago (at least when I was renting), but seemingly has undergone gentrification.
I understand it's quite big so may depend on exactly where the house therein is located.

Nice amenities close by if you're into outdoor things like outdoor gyms, football and walking.

Used to visit friends here regularly.
They said the building management are ultra strict, so any parties etc, they said tenants got served eviction notices and therefore despite high occupancy, tends to be relatively quiet building to live in (which is good for apartments cause some places are terrible for parties/noise etc).

Lived here also. Big estate. New apartments gone up near the entrance.

It's nice as estates go, but it's so big I can't comment on it all, naturally.

It's quiet and lots of families with good backgrounds live here.

Yeah this is okay. Popped in and out to some mates here on occasion also.

Excellent location, you're basically in the center of town.

Perhaps would depend on the apartment there in.

Building is not kept quite as well as City Gate but it's still nice.

I guess it would just depend on what you're satisfied with.

Hi there,

Thank you so much for all these comments, it was really helpful. You include a lot of details in your explanation and opinion. I will check each area careful. At the moment there are not many options, but I am already have some ideas about where to visit.

Once more, thank you.

redarmyblues · 12-03-2021 9:29pm

Despite what one poster has said Doorly Park since the day it was built was never considered rough. I would avoid all the same, the Council has plans to introduce a few million tonnes of concrete in the form of an over-engineered and badly designed bridge with attendant roundabouts and access and exit ramps. This will obliterate the green area between Doorly Park and Martin Savage Terrace and Riverside as it is now will no longer exist and this may discount future returns and make living there difficult during and after construction.

In Abbeyquarter North, St Joachims, St Annes, St Acicus Terraces are better bets as is Abbeyville Park. Garavogue Villas which according to local reputation on the rough spectrum might be worth a look at. There has been a lot of investment and owner-occupier activity in the last year and prices have risen sharply. A relation of my own was looking at a 2 - bed there recently only to bail at 106K when he became involved in a 4-way bidding war. Two adjoining 2-beds over there in need of repairs went for 52Kish money from separate vendors a few years back. When buying in ex-corpos remember there are areas within areas and one cul-de-sac might be much more desirable than others. If you have any way with people, it might pay to befriend the regular post(wo)man, nobody knows an area better than they do

With a few exceptions, I would avoid all apartments, most are badly built, have few owner occs and have dire management companies. Any builds of the last 3 or so decades that were done by Dermot Burns, Kennedy's and Gerry Healy are defo worth a look, Bernie Mullen's are pretty OK too except for Summerhill Villas (not great) and Rathbraughan Park (awful). I wouldn't touch anything by the Maguires, except maybe Ardcairn. I would be on the fence with Tansey and Kenny. Though saying all that some estates by good builders are getting on and houses that were good when new might need insulation etc now and some houses by poor builders may have had money put into them and be with a look. All the ex-Corpo up to the 60s are fantastic builds.

Areas to live in Sligo town

Comments