Living in Dundalk

Hubertj wrote: »

You couldn’t pay me enough to live in Dundalk. In my opinion, it is a kip. And yes I am making a sweeping generalisation!

The_Conductor wrote: »

BER Rating G (aka- its pretty much the same as sitting outdoors- only without the ventillation)
End of terrace
Next door to a school
Only photo is a cropped photo of the front outside of the house - zero of the interior- is it that bad that they wouldn't photograph it?

and also- in the description:

This property will be appealing to builders or those looking to invest.

Aka- you're buying a site- the current dwelling is very likely either condemned, or within days of it.

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

"Is is need of some renovation" read, needs gutting to the point you won't get a mortgage on it.

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

I doubt it's livable but who knows. Best of luck with it.

Deleted User wrote: »

OP, I can see the point you're trying to make, but this would make more sense for your argument:

https://www.daft.ie/louth/houses-for-sale/castlebellingham/50-st-olivers-park-kilsaran-castlebellingham-castlebellingham-louth-2206871/

140 asking, say you got it for 150. Easy access to the M1 and a bit closer than Dundalk to Dublin. Ready to move into, and the commute isn't that bad (less than an hour to City Centre I'd say).

And for me, personally, yes, I'd rather live in Dundalk or Castlebellingham than Dublin itself. But then I despise dublin and its general busy-ness, so I'd much prefer smaller town/village living.

Deleted User wrote: »

Because it's derelict. When an estate agent doesn't take a single interior photo, it's for good reason.


But assuming you spent the same money on it, and got it wrapped up for 150k and in a livable standard, you have to keep in mind it's a 2 bed house.



So although a student living with you sounds like a handy way to recoup some money in theory, it's unlikely you'd actually do it in real life as the place would be in bits in no time. Whist you're commuting to and from work, the student would be living it up in your house.

Deleted User wrote: »

Have you done this before? Buy a derelict house, I mean? There may well be a bit more to it than a bit of flooring and a tin of paint.

Of course, it's a mystery at the moment, so it could well be immaculate inside, but I'd be expecting to have to deal with dampness, possibly replacing windows, removing and replacing plasterboard (ceilings tend to sag when the house has been empty a while or if dampness gets into them), you might be looking at a new boiler (most of them are stolen almost immediately when the house becomes empty), potentially a re-wire of certain areas if any was damaged (oftentimes by the people who steal the boiler), radiators may need replacing (if they're still there) or you'll possibly have to get them power-flushed if they are still there, often dampness in a house that hasn't been lived in in a while may cause the internal doors to swell or buckle (although this is rare, I will admit, but no harm mentioning it).

If you're working a full time Dublin job, and relying on tradesmen to do the work, you could be looking at spending 50-70k easily. Maybe more. If you're doing it yourself you'd save a fortune, but the house would be lying as a project for a long time while you try to get the motivation to install radiators and skirting on your only days off work.

Now I'm not trying to be a scare-mongerer, but I'm in empty/for sale houses fairly regularly, and although a lot of them are grand, almost all of them have some cocktail of problems that explain why they'd be cheap.

Being a 2 bed works against it. If you were willing to detach from it completely, and hire tradesmen, and just use it solely as a rental property (2 student rooms, perhaps try get a 3rd room in a cheap extension etc) it might be a good investment over a long period of time (students don't rent year-round, and keep in mind there's a large apartment block across the road from the house that's aimed at students too, and although I'm open to correction, it's usually got vacancies).

You'd need to be aiming to rent to people who work in the area rather than students. But no working couple will want to share a 2 bed with the owner for a prolonged length of time, meaning you'd be best to not be in the house yourself, but use the income from it to get yourself something more suitable.

Duvetdays wrote: »

I’m reading this trying to work out if you’re a troll or just not very bright.

I’d could easily take 30k or 40k just to make this habitable. A tin of paint is not going to fix black mould on the wall or make you warm in winter if there’s no working central heating. And who in their right mind will rent somewhere that’s fit to be condemned when you’re done with it in 5 years. There’s legal requirements when renting out property or do you think you can fill the bedrooms and sitting room with bunk beds and fit about 15 low income migrant workers in there as that’s about all you’d attract if it’s left looking like a slum.

Red flags should be going up that’s there’s no internal pictures and is classed as a builders project.

Deleted User wrote: »

If you could get that house livable for the cost of a few tins of paint and a bit of laminate flooring, the asking price would be higher.