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Moving to Galway soon. Advice on house to buy

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  • 06-02-2008 9:57pm
    #1
    nfoody
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9 ✭


    Hi

    I'm going to be Decentralised to Galway in the next two months. My Fiancee and I have started to look online at houses for sale in the Headford area and also Shrule. We are first time buysers and are looking for a house in a rural setting. It will be about September before we are ready to purchase but are there any issues that anyone would know of for not buying in those areas?
    I have noticed that there seems to be some huge variations in prices around the headford area. Is this just because some people aren't able to lower their price or do not relaise that the market is slowing down a bit. Or is it just the area.

    All suggestions welcome.

    Thanks


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    #2
    galwayrush
    Registered Users Posts: 12,815 ✭✭✭✭galwayrush


    Location has a lot to do with the prices, 1-2 extra miles away from amenities or a scenic area can often mean a massive drop off in House prices.


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    #3
    KMSL
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4 ✭KMSL


    Do not move to headford. House prices are not to bad, but the car journey from Headford to Galway City is a nightmare. Try Gort, Loughrea, Athenry or Tuam. In Tuam there are Energy Efficent Homes been built by Coffey Construction and you could get a good deal.


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    #4
    the_syco
    Registered Users Posts: 37,301 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    Mate bought a house in Tuam somewhere. Paid the price of a 3 bed in Kildare (the type where you'd hit the back wall if you peed out the door), and got a 4 bed, with a conservatory and a large back garden.

    My point: shop around. His place is about 20 minutes outside Tuam village. Some places are nice and massive.


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    #5
    AckwelFoley
    Registered Users Posts: 12,556 ✭✭✭✭AckwelFoley


    The morning traffic into and out of in the eveing is terrible.. Id try to get closer to the city..

    .. but then house prices in there are crzy.. The houses down by McSwiggans @ the carpark are tiny terrace houses and go for something like 500k!?


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    #6
    leex
    Registered Users Posts: 1,227 ✭✭✭leex


    I travel on Headford-Galway road and work with people in other parts of the county - Athenry, Oranmore etc etc. The Headford - Galway traffic is no worse than the rest TBH. If you're working in the city centre it doesn't matter what part of the county you're coming from it will be the same. Using backroads when approaching Galway it is possible to reach any of the Ind Estates near the Race course in 30 mins. People living in Salthill/Knocknacarra/West side of city have as long of a travel time. PM me if you have more questions.


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    #7
    Amimad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 113 ✭✭Amimad


    I'm from Dublin & have lived in Galway for almost 11 years now.
    We recently moved form Athenry to Lavally, Tuam.
    We got a lovely dormer in a rural setting just 5 miles from Tuam town & much better value than the surrounding areas of Athenry.
    We're approx 45 mins from Galway, Athlone or Ballinasloe.
    Why not try drawing a circle (a certain no of miles away form the city)on a map & do your searching inside it!
    Make sure to do the drive to & form the city.
    Good luck with the search


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    #8
    galwayallday
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5 ✭galwayallday


    I am going to give you the best piece of advice possible.

    Do not buy in East Galway.

    Look what you can rent for e800 in Tuam. A mortgage on the same house would be over 2000 a month at least.
    Some smart investor is paying the majority of your mortgage for you isn't that nice of them.
    www.daft.ie/230839

    Nice 4/5 bed detached houses in Shrule for a massive 750 a month.

    www.daft.ie/28890
    www.daft.ie/27237


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    #9
    dublin2galway
    Registered Users Posts: 93 ✭✭dublin2galway


    Hey there,

    Doing the exact same myself (Well - moving from dublin to galway). My girlfriend and I have been looking for about 5 months now and are looking between claregalway and tuam, as well as headford, and ardrahan on the other side. Corofin has some nice places. Tuam looks good if it's not too far out (claregalway traffic meant to be mad).

    Been posting updates on it at - http://movegalway.blogspot.com/

    which may be helpful. Not much yet, but as we go through each stage will put notes on areas etc.

    Best of luck with the move!


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    #10
    Drift
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,395 ✭✭✭Drift


    Hey OP, do you know where exactly you'll be working in Galway? You should probably pick the particular country town/village you decide to live in based on your commute to work. I'm from Headford myself and the commute is annoying but I can use backroads some of the way to save myself time. Also from what I've heard the commute is no better on the Monivea or Tuam roads.

    With regards to differing house prices in Headford I've found that distance from the town is a key factor. A big house just half a mile outside town will be the most expensive and the price will drop the further you go from town, that is until you get near the lake where the "view" has a huge effect on price. The houses in town will also be cheaper but that is because they are much smaller semi-d houses on smaller sites. However, many people value the walking distance to the shop above the half acre of grass to mow - it's each to their own in that case.

    Feel free to pm me if you have any questions about Headford.


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    #11
    nfoody
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9 ✭nfoody


    Thanks for all the advice. My office will either be in Eyre square or Flood Street. Will be renting a place from April until late in the year when we should have a fair idea of where to buy. Our budget will be up to €280000 for a detached house, 3 to 4 bedrooms. North side of Galway will suit us best because we are both from Mayo originally so it will be easier to drop in our families and friends. I already spend 2 hours a day commuting to and from work by train, so as long as we can shave a bit of time off that commute we will be doing well. Would rather be stuck in a car with my Fiancée than listening to some D4 (in training) bimbo/himbo tell their mate and the entire train about how much they drank/spent/puked etc the night before.


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    #12
    dublin2galway
    Registered Users Posts: 93 ✭✭dublin2galway


    How's the house hunt going? We just went sale agreed today. Hoping nothing goes wrong now!
    While looking we saw some lovely places up near headford, which could suit you well if you're going to be up and down to Mayo.


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    #13
    cookiequeen
    Closed Accounts Posts: 114 ✭✭cookiequeen


    gotta tell you to pick somewhere on the railway line traffic is so bad into the city where ever you start from and cos the co co are so slow at doing things here the traffic is only going to get worse.


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    #14
    dublin2galway
    Registered Users Posts: 93 ✭✭dublin2galway


    dublin2galway wrote: »
    How's the house hunt going? We just went sale agreed today. Hoping nothing goes wrong now!
    While looking we saw some lovely places up near headford, which could suit you well if you're going to be up and down to Mayo.

    Spoke too soon. Second time in a row - it fell through with a planning hitch. Be sure to have an engineer check the planning permission on whatever you are buying. This is the second house we have gone sale agreed on only to find they had not got proper permission. Pain in the bum, not to mention the emotions.
    If you want a good engineer to do a report for you PM me and I'll give you the details for the guy we used. He did a good job for us at a good price.


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