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After buy disappointments

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    #92
    iColdFusion
    Registered Users Posts: 995 ✭✭✭iColdFusion


    Deleted User wrote: »
    "How are ye getting on? I was looking at buying the house next door, and the estate agent was saying the neighbours were a bunch of ****, so i just wanted to have a look for myself".


    Really, though, just lie and say you were told by a friend of a friend that the next door neighbour had a planning dispute about the garden or something and you were getting fuzzy details, and were just looking to see if that side was the neighbour with the issue or were you just hearing rumours or lies.

    Of course they'll have no idea what you're talking about, but it'll give you the 60 seconds that you need to make a somewhat informed decision.

    Or throw a hi-vis on and call up with a letter for Mary McMaryson and ask does she live there. They'll say no, and you can ask do they know where she lives and they'll point around vaguely without giving any real instruction. Again, gives you the minute or two that it takes to make a gut decision.

    Or get a Garda hat and knock the front door loudly. If they go out the back window, probably not a great neighbour. :D

    Yeah its an awkward one because they might be nice neighbors but tell you to piss off just because five other people interested in the house have already been bothering them!


    Back on topic, I haven't ever bought house but am in the market and can only imagine the list of potential unknowns from the various places ive lived over the years:

    A porch that howls when the wind hits it a just the right speed and angle.
    Roof lights in bedrooms that amplify any rain
    Showers that seem to clog up every 6 month or so
    Parts of the garden that turn soggy
    Internal doors that rattle a bit when the windows are open
    Cold draughts and windows that don't quite seal properly
    Attic water tanks and pumps the seem to reverberate through the ceiling
    One house had two sockets that turned out were never actually wired, just faceplate on the wall
    Even just the fact that prime house viewing season is the summer so you never really know how cold it is

    And im sure there are many more, but just annoys me there are so many things you cant really check during a viewing and only potentially find out when its too late!


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    #93
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 14,344 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    houseyhouse wrote: »
    The high vis/postman/garda routing makes it a bit awkward if you buy the house and they recognise you though :o


    Not at all. Gig economy. :P


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    #94
    Caranica
    Registered Users Posts: 10,002 ✭✭✭✭Caranica


    C14N wrote: »
    True, but you can also compare against the property price register to see if there have been many sales nearby. In the place I'm looking in Dublin there is only one house in the surrounding area bought since then. Obviously age demographics will have shifted a few years and if it's a high level of renters it could have shifted a fair bit, but otherwise it should be sound.

    What about new builds? Thousands have gone up in some parts of Dublin. I can't believe that only 1 house in total has sold since 2016? I know Dun Laoghaire Rathdown have granted pp for thousands, maybe 10k plus, of units in that time.


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    #95
    C14N
    Registered Users Posts: 2,641 ✭✭✭C14N


    Caranica wrote: »
    What about new builds? Thousands have gone up in some parts of Dublin. I can't believe that only 1 house in total has sold since 2016? I know Dun Laoghaire Rathdown have granted pp for thousands, maybe 10k plus, of units in that time.

    New builds often go up in pretty specific areas, and the CSO tool goes to a pretty low-level of detail (the zone I was looking at included something like 70 or 80 households, and only one was built since 1980).

    If you're looking at a more central built-up area there aren't going to be many new builds around. The ones in DLR are mostly in the further reaches of built-up areas, closer to Leopardstown/Cherrywood/Carrickmines, where there was a lot of undeveloped land to sprawl into, because building any kind of large developments in areas full of owner-occupiers is extremely difficult in this country.


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    #96
    covidcustomer
    Registered Users Posts: 77 ✭✭covidcustomer


    SMdPP87 wrote: »
    Was searching boards today hoping to find someone with similar sentiments. Not long in our home having searched for 2/3 years. Came up earlier this year, quick sale in the end and we’re fortunate to find something like this in the area. This house ticks almost all boxes however I have been so down since moved in. I’ve a pain in my stomach thinking we did the wrong thing. I really feel like I hate this house. I can’t see myself ever being happy here. We put some money into doing it up as we had planned for this to be our only home. However, since been doing the maths and I recognise for the same money I could have purchased previous houses that fell into bidding wars and to which we bowed out. I understand I sound like a privileged snob and should be blessed to have purchased in current climate, and I am thankful. I feel I can’t say it to my SO or family and friends as they’ll think I’m mad. I just lie awake at night wishing I could hand the keys back and hold out for a property I’m more sure about to come on.

    I would say to you take a deep breath, it is a very overwhelming process, all the panic and worry before you buy, the madness of the market and so on.

    I would echo the sentiments of others and say take a break from searching for other houses because you'll always see a better, bigger, nicer house, but that you're still searching indicates to me that you may never be happy in the house.

    I do think you really need to sit down with your SO because this doesn't seem to have occurred after you bought, but it was there before and during the process.

    I would hate if my SO was lying awake at night about this, I wouldn't care what my family and friends thought to be honest, they're not paying my bills and they're not living my life.

    You feel like you've made a huge mistake, but it's not unfixable, it's not forever, you can sell up and move, at the very least I think you'll break even.

    Best of luck.


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    #97
    SMdPP87
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭SMdPP87


    covidcustomer wrote: »
    I would say to you take a deep breath, it is a very overwhelming process, all the panic and worry before you buy, the madness of the market and so on.

    I would echo the sentiments of others and say take a break from searching for other houses because you'll always see a better, bigger, nicer house, but that you're still searching indicates to me that you may never be happy in the house.

    I do think you really need to sit down with your SO because this doesn't seem to have occurred after you bought, but it was there before and during the process.

    I would hate if my SO was lying awake at night about this, I wouldn't care what my family and friends thought to be honest, they're not paying my bills and they're not living my life.

    You feel like you've made a huge mistake, but it's not unfixable, it's not forever, you can sell up and move, at the very least I think you'll break even.

    Best of luck.

    Thank you for those words of advice. I am going to explain my feelings to my SO soon. I’ve accepted that in any course of events the reality will be that we will be here for at least 2 years. I am going to focus on seeking some advice with regards to managing my feelings and head space about the situation. I think it might help me change my way of thinking about it all. Having spent 2 years searching and bidding, the fear of never owning a house is immediately replaced with a fear that this ‘is it’ and would be extremely difficult to ever move. I feel I need to get some help and make a plan of attack so that in 2 years if something comes available we are in prime position to go for it.


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    #98
    listermint
    Registered Users Posts: 33,617 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    SMdPP87 wrote: »
    Thank you for those words of advice. I am going to explain my feelings to my SO soon. I’ve accepted that in any course of events the reality will be that we will be here for at least 2 years. I am going to focus on seeking some advice with regards to managing my feelings and head space about the situation. I think it might help me change my way of thinking about it all. Having spent 2 years searching and bidding, the fear of never owning a house is immediately replaced with a fear that this ‘is it’ and would be extremely difficult to ever move. I feel I need to get some help and make a plan of attack so that in 2 years if something comes available we are in prime position to go for it.

    Unless the house is in an area that you simply don't like or your neighbours are from hell then. The layout and design and decor can all change and will change .

    Owning a house is never static. You'd have wanted to change all those other houses you bid on too. Don't ever expect everything to be perfect their are compromises. Perfection is a myth.


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    #99
    Yellow_Fern
    Registered Users Posts: 2,570 ✭✭✭Yellow_Fern


    iColdFusion wrote: »
    Yeah its an awkward one because they might be nice neighbors but tell you to piss off just because five other people interested in the house have already been bothering them!


    Back on topic, I haven't ever bought house but am in the market and can only imagine the list of potential unknowns from the various places ive lived over the years:

    A porch that howls when the wind hits it a just the right speed and angle.
    Roof lights in bedrooms that amplify any rain
    Showers that seem to clog up every 6 month or so
    Parts of the garden that turn soggy
    Internal doors that rattle a bit when the windows are open
    Cold draughts and windows that don't quite seal properly
    Attic water tanks and pumps the seem to reverberate through the ceiling
    One house had two sockets that turned out were never actually wired, just faceplate on the wall
    Even just the fact that prime house viewing season is the summer so you never really know how cold it is

    And im sure there are many more, but just annoys me there are so many things you cant really check during a viewing and only potentially find out when its too late!
    Excellent post.

    One thing I notice on new builds is zinc roof panel, mostly it is fine but I do notice it can be noisy, for example on porches. There might be a way to stuff rockwool under it to damp the noise.

    Another annoying issue is noisy soil pipes. Always watch out for houses that have no external soil pipes as it means they are internal and may be noisy.


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    #100
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Aside from one seller removing all the laminate flooring and lightbulbs the big disappointments have always been around neighbours and sometimes parking. I lived in a ground floor flat in an 'up and coming' area and my upstairs neighbour was dealing....he was shot dead eventually in the flat and wasn't found for weeks....and yes it was as awful as you might imagine to live underneath that.

    Currently house-hunting and my top two must haves are it has to be detached and not have any shared parking/driveway/access. Other than that I'm not too fussy.


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    #101
    Dolbhad
    Registered Users Posts: 782 ✭✭✭Dolbhad


    I should add that we have an esb Pole in the middle of our back garden. So obvious but I completely missed it. We only had two viewings of the house and I was more focused on inside. SO assumed I saw it and thought I was fine with it so said nothing.

    So it’s been so interesting to figure out how to get it moved maybe a boundary fence to it’s less obvious.


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    #102
    hustlenbustle
    Registered Users Posts: 25 ✭hustlenbustle


    I bought my house just before the crash and after the initial excitement wore off I hated it. Deeply regretted my purchase.
    Rented house next door which was not cared for. Didn't like the area. Many rented houses - none of them cared for - twas in the time many people were buying their little investment second home and where I bought were the cheaper end. Plumbing problem and other minor problems which weren't sorted. Had I waited a few years I'd have bought a much better house for the same money AFTER the crash.
    Couldn't afford to move so still there. Definitely a bad buy. Even now. I have settled into living here and am content enough but still dream of moving one day.
    My advice - Think twice and very carefully before buying.
    Visit there - the area -at all hours of the day and night.
    Visit the house itself both day and night. Be there in the evening so that you can hear what sort of noise you'll be listening.
    Check out the neighbours as best you can
    Make sure an engineer checks out the house thoroughly and get a reduction on any problems.
    Most of all TAKE YOUR TIME


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    #103
    Cash_Q
    Registered Users Posts: 1,920 ✭✭✭Cash_Q


    Deleted User wrote:
    .. my upstairs neighbour was dealing....he was shot dead eventually in the flat and wasn't found for weeks....and yes it was as awful as you might imagine to live underneath that.


    Oh jesus, we had it bad, but not that bad! Hope you get out of there soon!


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    #104
    pauliebdub
    Registered Users Posts: 1,061 ✭✭✭pauliebdub


    [Deleted User] wrote: »

    Currently house-hunting and my top two must haves are it has to be detached and not have any shared parking/driveway/access. Other than that I'm not too fussy.

    Totally agree with this, a big problem we had in our estate was people using the residents parking as a long term parking for the the airport which is close by. Parking in general seems to lead to disagreements, so next place I move to will have enclosed parking


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    #105
    Bass Reeves
    Registered Users Posts: 18,158 ✭✭✭✭Bass Reeves


    pauliebdub wrote: »
    Totally agree with this, a big problem we had in our estate was people using the residents parking as a long term parking for the the airport which is close by. Parking in general seems to lead to disagreements, so next place I move to will have enclosed parking

    Parking cost money

    Slava Ukrainii



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    #106
    gogo
    Registered Users Posts: 1,452 ✭✭✭gogo


    We bought at the height of it and it’s only now, 15 years on that we are finally moving away from our ‘starter home’. Absolutely blessed with our neighbours and the whole estate is owner occupied, which is quiet an achievement.
    Basically the house is great..
    But … the walls are all curved by design.. they look amazing but are so impractical, you can’t push furniture up against the wall, can’t hang a picture. Any straight walls here have radiators in them. It’s looks so good but in hindsight not at all practical.
    The top of the range shower unit that was included in the purchase price, again looks amazing .. but when it finally died last year, it’s cost three times what a normal shower costs to replace..
    small stuff but annoying … anyone want to buy a lovely house with beautiful curved walls, pm me ;)


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    #107
    Bigmac1euro
    Registered Users Posts: 1,454 ✭✭✭Bigmac1euro


    Entering month number 10 in new house.
    The initial feeling died straight away and it was quite deflating. The morning after moving in I set the alarm off and the previous tenant who had rented the house we bought came knocking on the door and gave us the alarm code (he was friends with my now neighbour) told us we bought a really bad house which had previous damage and leaks. He really hated his landlord who sold me the house.
    Previous owner left no rubbish behind but I have learnt overtime the house had not been looked after at all. Noise levels are bad so will look at insulating between floors. Plumbing seems to be awful so in October we’re going to get the en-suite and main bathroom done. En-suite is currently unusable as tiles and plasterboard is damaged so going to get the whole en-suite done.

    Main bathroom hadn’t got an electric shower and the water was barely spitting as the pressure was messed up. Basically couldn’t clean ourselves for the first week. But got an electric shower installed which resolved this.
    Our boiler didn’t work so we had no heating. Plumber couldn’t fix it so called his friend who specialised in our particular boiler. He fixed it for 50 euro. Turns out the boiler was quite new barely out of warranty and just got jammed. Apparently last tenant used electric heaters and didn’t get heating fixed. (The last tenant was clearly an idiot).


    Few months on and the place looks fantastic we’ve really transformed it. Looking forward to getting the en-suite and main bathroom completely done in October.
    Downstairs we installed all new flooring throughout and painted the kitchen. Painted all walls and ceilings and really made it our own. It’s looking fairly modern downstairs now.

    Next year I’ll focus on new external doors and Windows possibly. See how money is. We’re happy out now though. Just have to put in the effort and time to get your house to a standard you’re happy with.
    Unfortunately buying an old house especially rented is going to come with lots of hidden issues. Suck it up and make it your own I say. We love the area and the neighbours are absolutely amazing would do anything for you and I think this is so important. We got so lucky with our neighbours and the location because you can usually always fix a broken house but you can’t fix your neighbours or estate. I feel for anyone who gets neighbours from hell as seen in posts above.
    The problems with the house don’t even bother me now because I feel we can get through the issues and tbh the place is fine now so happy out.


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    #108
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 14,344 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    gogo wrote: »
    anyone want to buy a lovely house with beautiful curved walls, pm me ;)


    Reminded of this, straight away


    https://youtu.be/APpRKZiAkKI?t=74


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    #109
    Fawk Nin
    Registered Users Posts: 247 ✭✭Fawk Nin


    Deleted User wrote: »
    my upstairs neighbour was dealing....he was shot dead eventually in the flat and wasn't found for weeks....and yes it was as awful as you might imagine to live underneath that.

    I hate when this happens.


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    #110
    Yellow_Fern
    Registered Users Posts: 2,570 ✭✭✭Yellow_Fern


    Bigmac1euro wrote: »
    Entering month number 10 in new house.
    The initial feeling died straight away and it was quite deflating. The morning after moving in I set the alarm off and the previous tenant who had rented the house we bought came knocking on the door and gave us the alarm code (he was friends with my now neighbour) told us we bought a really bad house which had previous damage and leaks. He really hated his landlord who sold me the house.
    Previous owner left no rubbish behind but I have learnt overtime the house had not been looked after at all. Noise levels are bad so will look at insulating between floors. Plumbing seems to be awful so in October we’re going to get the en-suite and main bathroom done. En-suite is currently unusable as tiles and plasterboard is damaged so going to get the whole en-suite done.

    Main bathroom hadn’t got an electric shower and the water was barely spitting as the pressure was messed up. Basically couldn’t clean ourselves for the first week. But got an electric shower installed which resolved this.
    Our boiler didn’t work so we had no heating. Plumber couldn’t fix it so called his friend who specialised in our particular boiler. He fixed it for 50 euro. Turns out the boiler was quite new barely out of warranty and just got jammed. Apparently last tenant used electric heaters and didn’t get heating fixed. (The last tenant was clearly an idiot).
    I wouldn't recommend an electric shower if you really want to a really nice place. It is really inferior to a proper large gas or heat pump cylinder system


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    #111
    C14N
    Registered Users Posts: 2,641 ✭✭✭C14N


    Yellow_Fern wrote: »
    I wouldn't recommend an electric shower if you really want to a really nice place. It is really inferior to a proper large gas or heat pump cylinder system

    I would say the same. When I'm viewing I sometimes see an electric shower and it's usually a turn-off for me personally, although not a dealbreaker or anything. Every one I've ever used has had weak pressure and been expensive to run. Always think when I see it that it'll be one of the first things I'll want to change if I end up getting the house.


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    #112
    TheSheriff
    Registered Users Posts: 1,108 ✭✭✭TheSheriff


    Yellow_Fern wrote: »
    I wouldn't recommend an electric shower if you really want to a really nice place. It is really inferior to a proper large gas or heat pump cylinder system

    ++1 recently had our bathroom redone and had an electric shower ripped out and replaced with a gas heated, pump fed shower.

    My god, the difference is amazing...... (coming from someone who grew up with an electric shower)


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    #113
    Bigmac1euro
    Registered Users Posts: 1,454 ✭✭✭Bigmac1euro


    We’ve a pump fed shower in the en-suite but can’t be used due to damaged wall.
    The main bathroom for whatever reason got barely any pressure. The plumber!said it was working off gravity and just wasn’t powerful. We needed a shower right away so I’m happy with the decision to have an electric shower installed. The pressure is really good now it’s actually too strong on certain settings and haven’t really noticed much difference in electric bill. It’s not far off my old apartment elec bill which had a pump fed shower too. Which also was failing for the 2nd time when we were moving out. Noisy thing too.
    Also the pump broke in this house for en-suite causing a leak but got it fixed. Also noisy.
    I haven’t had great experiences with pump fed showers tbh. Most likely just been unlucky. Each to their own I suppose.


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    #114
    old_house
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭old_house


    Not related to the house (or disappointments) as such, but after buying our "forever home" two years ago we quickly realized how much our perception of the surroundings has changed.
    We had been renting a house in a really nice area for a decade and a half, and while being happy there we somehow didn't want to get too emotional about it. We saw quite a few neighbours come and go, and none of them were pleased to move away. We too were aware that we would lose this place sooner or later and that really kept our feelings of belonging at bay.
    Through sheer luck we got the opportunity to acquire what will hopefully become our dream home, and it's very close to where we are now. It's absolutely amazing how the certainty of being able to stay here for the future takes away all the emotional constraints of "engaging" with your surroundings. I had no issue with renting and still think it has a place in housing, but once you feel you should settle into an area it makes a huge difference to know you can't be turfed out when your lease ends.

    The downside is that I can image that process working both ways. So, if you are currently renting in an area that you already hate, buying a house there might make you feel a lot worse and all the problems you managed to ignore as a tenant will become far more striking when you "commit" to living in an area. For us the emotional side of buying was really unexpected and impossible to prepare for.


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    #115
    JustAThought
    Registered Users Posts: 5,323 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    old_house wrote: »
    Not related to the house (or disappointments) as such, but after buying our "forever home" two years ago we quickly realized how much our perception of the surroundings has changed.
    We had been renting a house in a really nice area for a decade and a half, and while being happy there we somehow didn't want to get too emotional about it. We saw quite a few neighbours come and go, and none of them were pleased to move away. We too were aware that we would lose this place sooner or later and that really kept our feelings of belonging at bay.
    Through sheer luck we got the opportunity to acquire what will hopefully become our dream home, and it's very close to where we are now. It's absolutely amazing how the certainty of being able to stay here for the future takes away all the emotional constraints of "engaging" with your surroundings. I had no issue with renting and still think it has a place in housing, but once you feel you should settle into an area it makes a huge difference to know you can't be turfed out when your lease ends.

    The downside is that I can image that process working both ways. So, if you are currently renting in an area that you already hate, buying a house there might make you feel a lot worse and all the problems you managed to ignore as a tenant will become far more striking when you "commit" to living in an area. For us the emotional side of buying was really unexpected and impossible to prepare for.

    Maybe we like the misery.


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    #116
    geronimo123
    Registered Users Posts: 12 ✭geronimo123


    The one piece of advice I would give to anyone buying a semi-d next door to a rental is to tread very carefully. You can be unlucky and get a greedy owner who doesn't give a damn about their rental property. The Auctioneer supposed to manage the property couldn't care less once the rent gets paid. Typical of the crap that's just tolerated in this country, so take your time making a big decision on a property, we didn't in 2006 and regretted it later!



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