Affordable Housing - is it really worth it?

Madong

nothing to fear! but people read up clearly on the details of all schemes! the spirit of the act is to prevent speculation and assist the 1st time buyers!

Maco43

Hi,

i have been offered an appartmant and am also thinking of NOT taking it.
the appartmant is nice but i would have to pay back €1200 per month and then if i wanted to sell it id have the problem of the claw back - i think that all the properties are over priced and that the market will drop. People are not thinking before they go for these properties and dont fully understand that the money has to be paid back WITH INTEREST - better to RENT id say for a while longer.. MACO43

Brooklyn74

Maco43 wrote:

Hi,
People are not thinking before they go for these properties

That's pretty offensive. Just because some people don't come to the same conclusion you did doesn't mean we haven't thought about it.

warrenaldo

well if you have been reading this thread - its seems pretty obvious that people HAVE been thinking about it.

Maco43

I diddnt mean to be offensive, and people in this thread people are discussing it. What i mean is generally people can get into something without fully thinking it over. This thread is a great way to discuss issues like this and i have been reading a lot of really good stuff here.
What would worry me about AH is that you are stuck for a while if things go wrong. I have lived abroad for years and Renting is the norm. people here are to stuck on buying and getting themselves into debth.

warrenaldo

well i agree - thats why i started thethread - was a bit worried that things may go downhill. and it could be a bad investment. But in light of the info about the clawback. i think i will take my offer. Instead of speculating on big drops - which may/may not happen.

Maco43

Well who really knows what will happen - all the best anyway in what ever decision you make

Afuera

Maco43 wrote:

What would worry me about AH is that you are stuck for a while if things go wrong.

AH protects people getting stuck if things go wrong though. The fact that the clawback is waived or reduced to avoid the buyer getting into negative equity allows them to get out without loosing their shirt if they need to.

Maco43 wrote:

I have lived abroad for years and Renting is the norm. people here are to stuck on buying and getting themselves into debth.

There are historical and current reasons for this. Currently I'd say that one of the biggest things going against renting in Ireland is it's lack of security of tenancy. On a Part IV tenancy someone can be evicted (with minimal notice of 28 days) if the landlord decides it's time to redecorate, if they want to let a family member use the property or if they want to sell it. There is no compensation given in any of these cases.

Maco43

Check out what is being said here.. dont want to put a downer on it but one has to take all into account: Offers all over the place...

http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0524/oecd.html

http://www.thepropertypin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1890

macy10

Hey guys,
On list for Fingal County Council Affordable and was wondering if any of ye have been offered a place like recently or do you know of anyone getting places?????

Maco43

Yes Macy10 - i got an offer of a 2 bed app. €235.000 in latchford

Maco43

Yes Macy10 - i got an offer of a 2 bed app. €235.000 in latchford

Maco43

Yes Macy10 - i got an offer of a 2 bed app. €235.000 in latchford

Maco43

something mad goin on with my pc - posted 3 times :eek:

Dublin14

Hi there,

If I want to apply to South Dublin County Council and Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown County Council do I need to submit an application form to each with €50? Will my name be held on a list in each area with the (highly unlikely) possibility of being offered a place in each area...?

And, if I am offered a place and refuse am I taken off the list or put to the end.?

warrenaldo

oh ye the market looks bleak and i for one would certainly not be buying outright if i had a choice. the affordable is many peoples only chance. so its not to be sniffed at. And if not planning o selling anytime soon. then i would nto overly worry bout the potential loss.
But if you plan to leave the affordable home anytime in the near future. then you WILL be selling at a considerable loss. But hey - you will also be trading up. so the house you will be looking to buy will also have fallen in price.

eg:
Buy afford now for 200k. sell it in 5 years for 150k = loss of 50k. market drop was 25%
But now your moving into new property. It used to cost 400k. but now only cost 300k.

So all in all whether the market rises or falls - it will be hard to get a property. You could spend your whole life waiting for the right time - or make the plunge.

Maco43

true - people have to make up their mind to go for it or not.

321

Thanks for all the info contained in this post, like Warrenaldo I've been offered a 2 bed in Tallaght & am worried that 'market' price is too high. CherieAmour would you mind posting a link that says an apartment bought under affordable housing can never be rented. If in 5 yrs time I decided to rent out the apartment & pay tax on rent what prohibits me from doing it? I know its against the spirit of the scheme & it's not my intention to do this, but I am (probably) spending 250k on the apt & would like to know all restrictions.

Supercell

321 wrote:

Thanks for all the info contained in this post, like Warrenaldo I've been offered a 2 bed in Tallaght & am worried that 'market' price is too high. CherieAmour would you mind posting a link that says an apartment bought under affordable housing can never be rented. If in 5 yrs time I decided to rent out the apartment & pay tax on rent what prohibits me from doing it? I know its against the spirit of the scheme & it's not my intention to do this, but I am (probably) spending 250k on the apt & would like to know all restrictions.

I would think long and hard about investing 250K on 2 bed apartment in Tallaght to be honest. It may be a bargain by todays prices, but todays apartment bargains are next years suckers imho.

CherieAmour

321 wrote:

CherieAmour would you mind posting a link that says an apartment bought under affordable housing can never be rented. If in 5 yrs time I decided to rent out the apartment & pay tax on rent what prohibits me from doing it? I know its against the spirit of the scheme & it's not my intention to do this, but I am (probably) spending 250k on the apt & would like to know all restrictions.

It's in the same link that Madong put up.

9.—(1) In this section “purchaser” means a person to whom an affordable house is sold under this Part.

(2) Where an affordable house is made available for sale in accordance with this Part, the sale of the house to the purchaser shall, subject to subsection (3), be subject to any terms and conditions that the housing authority may specify, including terms and conditions relating to:

(a) notification of the housing authority by the purchaser of the proposed resale of the house;

(b) the occupation of the house by the purchaser.



...so it appears that by Law, you can't do it!

red_ice

warrenaldo wrote:

Will i be able to sell it?
If i sell it will it be for a LOT less?

Yea you will sell it, but you will lose money, i rekon you hit the nail on the head around the 50k mark... i would even give another 10k on top. Tallaght is not an up and coming area, dispite what people say. If you want to buy it for a long term place to stay, by all means go ahead, you will get your monies worth, but if its only a 4/5 year thing, your money will not be well spent. I would hold off untill I could afford to put more money into a place that I really wanted, and that will be a safe and secure investment.

If i were you I wouldnt even consider that if i was on crack.

Madong

red_ice wrote:

Yea you will sell it, but you will lose money, i rekon you hit the nail on the head around the 50k mark... i would even give another 10k on top. Tallaght is not an up and coming area, dispite what people say. If you want to buy it for a long term place to stay, by all means go ahead, you will get your monies worth, but if its only a 4/5 year thing, your money will not be well spent. I would hold off untill I could afford to put more money into a place that I really wanted, and that will be a safe and secure investment.

If i were you I wouldnt even consider that if i was on crack.

Affordable housing is not about speculation, its to get people into good accomodation in locations next to or near home that they can live in for a long periods of time and can afford, as apposed to treking from Calow or Navan on a daily basis!

Tallaght is a fantastic area:-

1. Town Centre + the redevelopment of the exisiting core.
2. Luas to City Centre.
3. ITT.
4. Loads of social facilities.
5. Will or has city status .
6. Stones throw from countryside and mtns!
7. Close to Citywest where there is loads of industry!

If thats not a good area, what is? :cool::cool:

Turbulent Bill

warrenaldo wrote:

oh ye the market looks bleak and i for one would certainly not be buying outright if i had a choice. the affordable is many peoples only chance. so its not to be sniffed at. And if not planning o selling anytime soon. then i would nto overly worry bout the potential loss.
But if you plan to leave the affordable home anytime in the near future. then you WILL be selling at a considerable loss. But hey - you will also be trading up. so the house you will be looking to buy will also have fallen in price.

eg:
Buy afford now for 200k. sell it in 5 years for 150k = loss of 50k. market drop was 25%
But now your moving into new property. It used to cost 400k. but now only cost 300k.

So all in all whether the market rises or falls - it will be hard to get a property. You could spend your whole life waiting for the right time - or make the plunge.

You're not considering the initial discount on the property. The market value will be greater than 200k (say 250k for argument's save), so a selling price of 150k would imply a drop in value of 40% in this case. A drop of this scale is certainly possible, but I'm not sure if it's likely.

mentalson

Madong wrote:

Tallaght is a fantastic area:-


3. ITT.

should that not be TIT?

texas star

clawback on ur initial investment....who filled u full of negativity...u have been offered an apartment for 180k....if u have doubts about that what r u doing on affordable housing list...the idea is that u can get a place for less than market value..if u want to venture into arbitrage to make money head for the stock market..otherwise appreciate ur offer or pass it on to some one that will:mad:

warrenaldo

im not talking about losing money - but i am making a massive investment. 180k is not chump change. its massive. so if i am carefull over how i spend the 180k i believe that is a fair enough thing to do.
Ive clearly set out that i want to move in 4/5 years. And i am considering the offer. And to answer your question about the "doubts" i have - I believe negative equity is a very real fear for me - so i have every reason to worry. Who in their right mind wants to get a place off the affordable only to find in 4/5 years they are in a worse position than when they started.

Your very naive if you believe i should just sit there happy and accept this situation without a lot of carefull consideration.

bobbysands81

There is NOT going to be a downturn in the market to the tune of 15-20% in Dublin.

Zambia

bobbysands81 wrote:

There is NOT going to be a downturn in the market to the tune of 15-20% in Dublin.

Maybe your right in "Parts" but parts of Dublin will be hit just as bad as the rest of the country

jdivision

warrenaldo wrote:

im not talking about losing money - but i am making a massive investment. 180k is not chump change. its massive. so if i am carefull over how i spend the 180k i believe that is a fair enough thing to do.
Ive clearly set out that i want to move in 4/5 years. And i am considering the offer. And to answer your question about the "doubts" i have - I believe negative equity is a very real fear for me - so i have every reason to worry. Who in their right mind wants to get a place off the affordable only to find in 4/5 years they are in a worse position than when they started.

Your very naive if you believe i should just sit there happy and accept this situation without a lot of carefull consideration.

Have you read the posts showing that you can't lose more than you paid for the apartment on the affordable housing list so in the worst possible scenario you're paying an interest only mortgage for four or five years. By that I mean that you're going to get the capital you invested back so the only real cost is the mortgage interest over those few years. To be honest at this stage you still have so many doubts I think you should pass.

warrenaldo

i dont have any doubts any more. decision has already been made. ive gone ahead with it. the doubts were prior to accepting it.