buying a house...

eeloe

Myself and the other half are thinking of buying a house in the Dungarvan area...as some great bargains can be got!

What I'm looking for is an honest answer, should we buy now, or wait?

I don't want to hear the usual doom and gloom that the worlds going to end cause of this recession.

Joey the lips

Tell you what I believe and am always saying it. You ha have 2 situations

1. You buy a house now and risk it going down in price. Doubt it will go up at the moment, especially outside the pale. Mind you an ex council house is generally got at a goo price but usually needs work and you might not sell it for a good profit.

2. You wait and pay rent. If you rent private you are at the mercy of landlords/ladies. They are at the mercy of banks and the credit crunch. Generally rents have dropped and housing availabilty increases more in the summer as students go home. I reckon the polish etc being out of qwork in construction will also contribute to this

My own view is regardless of what happens rent is dead money. Although this is not the european view. A lease deal can be good but these generally do not apply to the residential market in ireland.

Lastly I would say buy the house with the fella and do all the thing you were afraid to do at home..... Like wash / Iron / Eat popcorn (Naked and together)


Enjoy!

Multivan

eeloe wrote: »

Myself and the other half are thinking of buying a house in the Dungarvan area...as some great bargains can be got!

What I'm looking for is an honest answer, should we buy now, or wait?

I don't want to hear the usual doom and gloom that the worlds going to end cause of this recession.

Im waiting to buy a house and i have a family to look after but we are waiing a bit as it IS going to get lower and lower why throw your money at it now!

If you have the money to say ah i dont care then do it but it will get lower,you just have to look at all these estates not getting finished.

I know of a house in Butlerstown that has been on the market now for at least 3 years its still on DAFT, they are looking for 420 for a bungalow:eek: i suppose its a nice location outside the city but the fact that it hasnt shifted in 3 years says it all really,

I wouldnt pay 250 for it as thats going to fall fall fall

Keep your money and see whats happening around the country first, as ive just heard the economy will decline by 4% and job loses will only increase so take that on board.

Also economists would say its people like us that are contributing to the doom and gloom by sitting on the fence and keeping our money in our pockets, but for bricks and mortar to pay the current prices get lost!

Multivan

Joey the lips wrote: »

Tell you what I believe and am always saying it. You ha have 2 situations

1. You buy a house now and risk it going down in price. Doubt it will go up at the moment, especially outside the pale. Mind you an ex council house is generally got at a goo price but usually needs work and you might not sell it for a good profit.

2. You wait and pay rent. If you rent private you are at the mercy of landlords/ladies. They are at the mercy of banks and the credit crunch. Generally rents have dropped and housing availabilty increases more in the summer as students go home. I reckon the polish etc being out of qwork in construction will also contribute to this

My own view is regardless of what happens rent is dead money. Although this is not the european view. A lease deal can be good but these generally do not apply to the residential market in ireland.

Lastly I would say buy the house with the fella and do all the thing you were afraid to do at home..... Like wash / Iron / Eat popcorn (Naked and together)


Enjoy!

Agree with you 110% about rent is dead money but with uncertainty if he gets snookered and cant pay the bills if he was renting he could just say to landlord im off i cant pay you think ill emigrate!or what ever he has that freedom, i was about to buy there and had a deposit down but i pulled out its just too unstable at the moment and having lived in Germany and France its just not worth it here.

Partizan

Do not buy a house now. I repeat, do not. The market has far from bottomed out and we are in the midst of a recession, probably sliding headlong into a depression. There is an oversupply out there in the market and with a glut of houses and credit drying up rapidly, developers will be desperate to flog off their stock. Many though are living in a state of denial and some are still touting in 2006 prices. If I were you, i would hold off until the end of the year. House prices will drop another 50-80%, they have to as the market must bottom out since it was artificially inflated.

If you are renting, stay renting. You are now in a position to negotiate with landlords. If your landlord is not willing to drop at present rental market prices, simply move on. Its a tenant's market out there now. You'd be a fool not to take advantage of it.

jhegarty

No one knows if we have hit bottom yet. Trying to time the market on the way down is just as silly as doing it on the way up.

acarbery

jhegarty wrote: »

No one knows if we have hit bottom yet. Trying to time the market on the way down is just as silly as doing it on the way up.

Agreed!

And I also believe the decision on whether to buy a house is all relative!

I myself bought just over a year ago, a bit before all the doom and gloom set in, and I have not yet even begun to feel like it wasn't the right time.

For me, at the time, it was the right time! I was tired of feeding rent into the hands of my landlord; my lease was coming to an end, the location was no longer up to standard. I bought a house so that I could pay my own mortgage rather than my landlords. I have no doubt that if I went to sell my house today; I've find it very difficult, and would have to sell at a vastly reduced price.

BUT: I'm not planning on selling. For some time. I bought a house to make my own for the forseeable future. To the OP I would say: if you're looking to buy a home rather than a house; if you can get a mortgage; if you can be sure that your income levels aren't under threat by the current economic climate (i.e. heaven forbid, lay offs, etc) and if you're not planning on moving/selling again within the next 5-10 years, then why not?

Sure won't we see a raft of furniture shops/tile shops etc having closing down sales to beat the band over the next while?

It's all relative.

longshanks

yeah i bought mine just over two years ago with a ridiculous mortgage. my hours have been halved in work now so its getting a bit mental, but **** it there'll always be something i'm supposed to worry about. i just cant be arsed worrying about this. i wanted a house, i bought a house. it seemed the right thing at the time.
anyway after the revolution things will be different

viva la deise

Vadrefjorde

For God's sakes under no circumstances buy a house now!
the market in Ireland is in freefall at the moment, the only thing keeping unrealistic prices on the market is people trying to sell their home in the mistaken belief they will be able to clear off their ridiculously high mortgage. Another 12 months will probably see a glut of reposessed housing hit the markets, mostly by ordinary people who fell for the buy to let and become a property magnate pyramid scheme. And there's a lot of those out there, particularly in the Dungarvan area..
Try not to guage whats going to happen by listening to the media, there are too many vested interests trying to get the bubble going again with nonsense of "nearly at the bottom" , "another 5% drop and it will level out".
Guage it by whats happened in Latvia, another economy on a par with our own, except it has happened there in fast forward. 18 months ago house prices there were as over-inflated as here, and at the insane prices too, even though the average income is about 400 Lats.
Now the country is littered with property, new, part built and abandoned, reposessed, just abandoned, take your pick.. House prices are down by 75%, more in rural areas.The exact same thing will happen here. Just on a slightly longer timeframe due to our government's and the vested interests inability to acknolwedge that the ponzi scheme is over.
Renting may be dead money for 12 months, but a difference of 50% or more house price in 12 months is a far greater reward in the long run.

robtri

Partizan wrote: »

House prices will drop another 50-80%, they have to as the market must bottom out since it was artificially inflated.

.

Care to share where you got those figures from.....

Prices will continue to slide for the next while, till the end of the year, as to far is another thing, butit depends on the house and how much rent you are paying,
My opinion is that is you are planning on staying in the house long term, now would be a good a time to buy.... at least you will be paying of your mortgage and not paying someone elses mortgage....

dogs

robtri wrote: »

... at least you will be paying of your mortgage and not paying someone elses mortgage....

What's wrong with letting someone else take the risk?

If you rent for a year at €800/month, you'll pay a total of €9,600.

If over the same year, house prices fall by more than €10,000 (even by conservative estimates from anyone outside the construction industry, that's going to happen), you'll have saved money.

If you really want to settle down somewhere, you're paying a premium that your kids aren't even going to benefit from.

robtri

dogs wrote: »

What's wrong with letting someone else take the risk?

If you rent for a year at €800/month, you'll pay a total of €9,600.

If over the same year, house prices fall by more than €10,000 (even by conservative estimates from anyone outside the construction industry, that's going to happen), you'll have saved money.

If you really want to settle down somewhere, you're paying a premium that your kids aren't even going to benefit from.

and likewise, if after 5 years your house is worth €30k more than you paid for it you are seriously in the money.... yes it is risk, but if you are planning to stay in same palce for a period of time over 5 years, then it is well worth it...

aughaway

there are a number of factors to consider in deciding whether to buy a house in this market. the first point to consider is whether you have a long term plan to live in the area you are considering buying. secondly, you and your partner should have an honest conversation about the strength of your relationship as buying in this market is going to be a long term commitment, any breakup of a relationship can be a costly affair in addition to the emotional aspects. thirdly there is no such thing these days as a secure job so i wouldn't that put you off though if you have any serious doubts about your future employment then you should bear this in mind. Who knows where the property market is going in the short term, the last few months have shown that there are no experts you can rely on. My own hunch is that in the medium to long term property will recover and if you find a property that you feel comfortable to be your home for the next few years then I would go for it.

dogs

robtri wrote: »

and likewise, if after 5 years your house is worth €30k more than you paid for it you are seriously in the money.... yes it is risk, but if you are planning to stay in same palce for a period of time over 5 years, then it is well worth it...

Do you really believe any house on the market today is going to increase in value more than €10,000 in the next 5 years? In the next 10?

You can live 40 minutes from San Francisco in a nice house with a pool for the the price of a 2 bedroom house in Farmleigh a year ago (you'd have a driveway too). I don't think those McInerny mansions are ever going to be worth a quarter million euro again.

Vadrefjorde

dogs wrote: »

Do you really believe any house on the market today is going to increase in value more than €10,000 in the next 5 years? In the next 10?

Estate agents like to believe it :pac:
Those who believe that there isn't a recession at all and that it's just the "negative talk in the media" believe it :pac:
People up to their eyeballs in debt with a for sale sign up want to believe it :pac:

eeloe

We're just going for a look at the house in a few minutes!

I like the house, she likes the house! It's exactly what we've been looking for...

3 miles outside of town, no neighbours close by, a big garden for the dogs...and a BIG drive way to fit all the cars:D

and for what it is....it's reasonably priced, even at the moment!

a 3/4 bedroom house in an estate here is around 250, and this is in or around the same price, but it's exactly what we want!

Partizan

robtri wrote: »

Care to share where you got those figures from.....

Prices will continue to slide for the next while, till the end of the year, as to far is another thing, butit depends on the house and how much rent you are paying,
My opinion is that is you are planning on staying in the house long term, now would be a good a time to buy.... at least you will be paying of your mortgage and not paying someone elses mortgage....

here you go bud.

http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17220

OP, I have given you a good link to the property pin website. Read the posts and you will get good sound advice.

robtri

Partizan wrote: »

here you go bud.

http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17220

OP, I have given you a good link to the property pin website. Read the posts and you will get good sound advice.

Seems like the rantings of an overzealous man....
Honestly, can you see €200k houses dropping in price and selling for a mere €40K.........

Partizan

robtri wrote: »

Seems like the rantings of an overzealous man....
Honestly, can you see €200k houses dropping in price and selling for a mere €40K.........

Yes I can. Think about it. The economy is due to contract by 4.1% this year (thats a Central Bank conservative estimate, add on another 2-3%), unemployment to rocket by average 25,000 a month to give us 450k + by the year's end, retail and construction having fallen off a cliff, government revenue substantially down meaning less taxes, drop in the standards of living as people have less purchasing power and lack of liquidity in the banking sector as well as an oversupply in the housing market.

Who is going to buy a badly built 3 bedroom shoebox for 250k in this climate. Their is alot of deniability out there and you my friend are in it.

Alan Ahearne, David McWilliams, Shane Ross, Constantin Gurdgiev, George Lee & co. were warning of what was going to happen for years, yeat they were dismissed as "the rantings of overzealous men", called "loolahs" and told to go off and "commit suicide". After all we had the "best economy in the world" and that it was all about "da fudamentals".

robtri

Partizan wrote: »

Who is going to buy a badly built 3 bedroom shoebox for 250k in this climate. Their is alot of deniability out there and you my friend are in it.

Firstly i am not your friend.... secondly I am not denying the housing market is falling rapidly,
All I am saying is that IMO housing prices will not drop by 80% from todays prices....
here's some news from RTE today..... showing price falls but nothing like 80%..
http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0130/houses.html
read it and make up your own mind as to where the house price is going to drop to....


As to these people saying for years the housing market is going to bottom out, well that was a no brainer, housing prices go up and down so eventually they would be right.....
It would be like me saying the housing market is going to improve, If I keep saying it for long enough at some stage I am going to be right...

Partizan

robtri wrote: »

Firstly i am not your friend.... secondly I am not denying the housing market is falling rapidly,
All I am saying is that IMO housing prices will not drop by 80% from todays prices....
here's some news from RTE today..... showing price falls but nothing like 80%..
http://www.rte.ie/business/2009/0130/houses.html
read it and make up your own mind as to where the house price is going to drop to....


As to these people saying for years the housing market is going to bottom out, well that was a no brainer, housing prices go up and down so eventually they would be right.....
It would be like me saying the housing market is going to improve, If I keep saying it for long enough at some stage I am going to be right...

taking it a bit personally huh! I live in Dublin and houes in my area have gone from an asking price of 325K down to 245K in the space of 18 months. Thats a big drop dont you think.

uncle betty

''rent is dead money'' is exactly the kind of economic illiteracy that has us in this sorry state of affairs.

Do NOT buy a house now. You'll get it in twelve months for at least 10% less. At least.

Joey the lips

Hi All

It seems help might be at hand on the housing situation. I have just seen on the news a second developer takeing advantage of the "Rent to buy scheme" Just in case any folks are not fam with this this is the jist. You see a new house you like but are not to sure to buy. The developer will let you rant it for a period. Say 2 - 3 years. If after 2 -3 years you still want to buy the developer will knock the amount of rent you paid off the value of the house. If you decide to move on cause 2 many dubs live next door to u only joking! then you just move on having paid rent.

I think this is a great idea that many developers might roll out to help them move stock.

What do you all think>

morrowa64

As an estate agent i would advise you to wait. House prices outside of Dublin have dropped as much as 20% in the last 12-15 months and with things looking as bad as they are economically then things are going to get way worse before they get better. Personally i am getting out of the real estate business as the only way i can see myself making any money this year is through rentals, but at the same time landlords are not prepared to lower their prices either even though the government are already cutting the amount of rent allowance being given to people out of work and renting. As I said, I think your best policy would be to wait and sit tight at least until September/October when i think you will find everything a bit cheaper

nkay1985

Hey OP,

Was listening to this on lunchtime live or somesuch show on Friday. There was an estate agent or economist on who was saying that it's going to be very hard to call the bottom of the market, and that you're going to see a lot of first time buyers drifting in over the next 6-8 months.

I'm buying a house at the moment. My reasoning: I was paying €800 a month in rent and about another €250 in bills. The house I'm buying is a 3-bed semi in Cnoic Caislean in Ballygunner. It's costing €199,950. I cannot see any 3-bed semis in such a desirable location going for cheaper than that.

The houses went on sale last November. The first phase sold out in a day and a half. The estate agent (after we'd already agreed to buy) told us that the developer effectively said that they were going to sell them at 2009 prices because they knew nobody would buy them otherwise.

So if there's a deal out there that you can't see getting any better, go for it. If not, hold off. Either way, there'll be plenty of houses available in 6-12 months' time.

Freddie59

robtri wrote: »

Seems like the rantings of an overzealous man....
Honestly, can you see €200k houses dropping in price and selling for a mere €40K.........

You're not an Estate Agent by any chance, are you?:) If someone had told you 12 months ago that AIB shares would drop from €25 to 30c would you have questioned that as well?;)

Partizan is right. Under NO circumstances buy a property now. It is EXTREMELY like that prices will tumble this year - and in 2010. They MAY level around 2011/2012 - but only MAY!

As Partizan says - consult the posts on www.thepropertypin.com. Here's an invaluable site as well. Shows all the drops on a weekly basis.

Waterford County:

http://www.treesdontgrowtothesky.com/reports/report.php?site=daft&date=2009-02-02&area=Co.xWaterford#summary

Waterford City:

http://www.treesdontgrowtothesky.com/reports/report.php?site=daft&date=2009-02-02&area=WaterfordxCityxCentre#summary

Yabbadimday

Partizan wrote: »

House prices will drop another 50-80%,

Are you off your game?

Yogabba

Why not?
They increased by 300% over a 10-year period so why can't they drop
50-80%?????

robtri

here's some info from a managing director of Sherry Fitz... one of the largest estate agents in Ireland....
make your own conclusions...

http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2009/01/11/story38718.asp