This whole topic intrigues me. I know some of you have bought houses over the past few years so a few questions if you will:
Is it worth getting on the property ladder even if that means you’re living in Meath, Louth, Kildare or somewhere despite working in Dublin City?
What was your main consideration in purchasing your house?
Would you have seen paying rent as ‘dead money’ and so sought to get somewhere that was actually your own?
Does the market and any potential changes in it that may impact your house’s value concern you?
Are mortgage repayments crippling in what’s becoming a more and more expensive country to live in?
Is the commute worth the hassle and has it affected your so called ‘quality of life’ that politicians kept going on about pre-election?
I myself am more than satisfied renting at the moment. I’m close to town, can stroll anywhere without having to rely on public transport or getting stuck in traffic jams and am also only a 10 minute walk from my office. Sometimes I get up at about 8.40, leave the house at 9.00 and get in 20 minutes before some other people who’ve been up 2 hours before me.
Paying 550 a month now and it is a pain in the ass but at the moment I couldn’t envisage the disruption of moving somewhere on the outskirts of the pale. Think I’ll sit back for another year or two and see is this crash, or even plateau, going to take place or not.
Of course there’s also the option of buying a 2/3 bed house at home in Wexford and renting that out. So the income from renting that would cover its mortgage repayments and even though I’d still be paying rent in Dublin I’d actually be on this fooking ladder everyone goes on about.
I don’t know if it’s worth it if you’re living miles away. I suppose it all depends on how much you hate paying rent (you don’t seem to)
My main consideration was location. Buying in a reasonable area near the DART and a load of bus lines - and buying nearer to town than my homeplace.
I lived at home before I bought so that wasn’t really a factor. I was giving a few quid over at home but it would have been harsh on the mother to call that “dead money”
Don’t really mind about house values except I am considering moving at the moment. However once you’ve bought if house prices go down and you want to move then the house you’re selling and the house you’re buying will both have gone down so it’s not that important. You do need to be prepared to live in the house for ages if things go bad though, which means you have to like it.
I cohabit which reduces the impact of the mortgage - I don’t find the payments crippling but I did buy a few years ago now
I have feck all of a commute and it’s a reliable service so I’m happy with it.
You are fairly ignorant of the property situation in Wexico Bandage, the days of buying a house and letting the rent cover the interest, let alone interest + principal are long gone.
The future is not ours to see blah de blah but…rent is dead money, as is interest on a house that’s falling in value. Its a bit of a crux really. I reckon negative equity is not far from the horizion of many punters up to their ears in debt.
My humble opinion on the property market is that reality is starting to come back. The greed we have witnessed in the last 5 years was exceptional (but wouldn’t we all have done the same?). Prices will slip a bit but I don’t forsee a crash as demand and supply are pretty much in equilibrium. From what I gather, banks are expecting interest rates to settle at around 5% give or take a quarter, which although alot higher than recent times are only a quarter or a third of dark 80’s.
Possibly the biggest problem the housing market faces now is from cunts like George Lee and his depressing band of cohorts. We’re all fucking doomed by their reckoning, we’ll die due to lack of oil or because we can’t pay the mortgage. Anyway, what he’s doing is shaking consumer confidence to the extent that people are now very reluctant to buy and that is the key. If people keep buying and selling there’ll not be a problem but right now people are not buying, becuase of fuckwits like George.
Stamp duty wouldn’t be an issue for Bandage though - he’d be fully exempt. That gives him a decent saving over investors and might make it worth his while.
Fully agree on the likes of George Lee Appendage. They’re supposed to be in public service broadcasting - in reality all they’re doing is scaremongering and with such a monopoly on the broadcast media it’s irresponsible programming by RT unless it’s immediately offset with the counter arguments.
Don’t agree on stamp duty there Rocko, stamp or not rental yields are down around 2 or 3 % which just doesn’t make sense. What he could do though would be to buy a place, live in it, get 2 gormless fools like Cesc and Jugs to pay him rent which would divide the mortgage by 3. I’m using those 2 because I don’t forsee a situation whereby they’ll ever have the gumption to buy their own place. Particularly Jugs. What a loser.
About 3 or 4 years ago David McWilliams advised everybody that everyone was looking to buy beside the DART line in Dublin but that was old hat. We should be buying beside a local Spar he said.
Thinking internationally is not a bad idea, some good opportunities in England alright Raven, personally I like the Germany. Low capital growth but a cracking rental return. And then there’s the site visits, far more interesting than viewing a house in Finglas or the like.
McWilliams is an utter idiot. But making outlandlish statements is how these fools get their airtime and sell their books etc. My Da basically believes everything he sees on those programs and is now in a desperate pickle due to an investment property and his business being completely and utterly dependent on oil. Many, many arguments over the merits of Lee and his mates have ensued.
I didn’t mean that stamp duty would help him if he was buying to let - you lose your stamp duty exemption then anyway. I mean if he was to buy as an owner occupier and then use the “rent a room scheme” to get tax free income he’d be in a much stronger purchasing position than an investor who is liable to both stamp duty and income tax on the rental income.
Not too interested in buying at the moment myself. Why cripple myself with mortgage repayments when I’m young and want to live the good life is my thinking behind it. Plus it leaves you fairly tied down too, in that you can’t just up sticks and go travelling on a whim (or take 6 months off working like Bandage). Wouldn’t fancy a long commute either as I’m cranky enough in the morning as it is. If I had to get up before 7 everyday and only got home at 7 or later I’d go nuts. That’s no standard of living at all. Then there’s the whole “oh no I can’t go for pints, there’s no train after 10” thing. Nope, I’m happy to throw away “dead money”. Sure I could be dead myself tomorrow. I’d rather have had the craic during my time than be worrying about when the next interest rate hike is going to happen. I’m sure I’ll settle down one day but it won’t be in the next 3 or 4 years anyway.
Why do people think that buying property means a longer commute? I’ve shortened my commute.
Also there are options to take mortgage holidays and the likes and the option of renting (even if it doesn’t generate an income above the mortgage repayments) means that it is possible to go abroad.
Don’t necessarily think it means a longer commute but that seems to be what Bandage was getting at.
Mortgage holidays and renting the place out seems like hassle and burden to me. That’s just me though - I like to keep everything as simple as possible.
Bought a house myself in Meath last year. Was living at home up until then. I personally would have seen renting as a bit of a waste of money in the long run and like the reassurance that I am constantly chipping away at a mortgage and wouldn’t like to have delayed taking the jump to get a house. The commute isn’t a big issue as I travel only to Fingal each day. Even if I was working in Dublin town though the actual time for journey would be almost identical to that when I was living in Portmarnock due to the superior train service here compaired to the Dublin Bus Service. The mortgage payments are tough but if Bandage and myself continue our excellent gambling exploits it will get easier and easier.
If I was to continue renting in Dublin then it’d make sense to buy in England, Germany or somewhere than Wexford?
You’re not worried that much about a crash in the property market?
You generally regard rent as wasted money and wanted to get somewhere to call your own?
Think I’m a bit like Clarkey in that I want to have a good time now and not be constrained by finances like I would be if I bought a house now. Happy to go along like that for the next 18 months minimum anyway.
Not sure the above is meant for me. A crash in the market wouldn’t have a big impact on me as although my place would fall in value so would every other place in the country so it is all relative. I wanted to get somewhere to call my own yes and I didn’t see the point in renting when I knew I would just buy my own house sooner or later. I had no great interest in travelling for a year so didn’t feel tied down at all really. I went on the Afforable housing list in Fingal and got offered a place after about seven months just as I had purchased this house. If you are considering buying within the next three or four years Bandage I would go on an affordable housing list as you can keep on refusing places as many times as you want and it could save you a fortune.