New apartments

,mnb

With Zoe about to be liquidated unless the High Court allows examinership tomorrow, with NAMA about to be passed in the Dail, are we going to see a flood of appartments on the market soon at knockdown rates. The new appartments I see advertised now are way over priced bearing in mind the market for second hand houses looks down about 50% from peak realistically, particularly at the middle to higher end. Will there be a fire sale. How will the sale be managed do you think. I know NAMA wont dump stuff on the market too quickly but how long will NAMA wait when they do own that loan. It would make sense for them to sell at a discount and quickly to meet some of the demand which is still there.

Oliver1985

There are a good few threads already in the first two pages about this forum, your prob like myself Ive been saving now for 8 months got 7,500 saved up most the appartments im looking at our 200k im hoping to pounce about 150k-170k when they go that low which i hope they will!!!:eek:

stepbar

Why are you waiting for them to go that low? Just make an offer and be serious about it. If the property is still on the market in 3 months time, politely remind the estate agent of your offer.

Oliver1985

I dont have the 8% saved up ! Like i said i only have about 7.5k at the moment :eek:

stepbar

Oliver1985 wrote: »

I dont have the 8% saved up ! Like i said i only have about 7.5k at the moment :eek:

Well at the rate you're saving you'll have 10k in 3 months which will allow you to make an offer of 125k (depending on your wages of course). A further 2k would bring you up to 150k (I'm sure someone could lend you 2k).

Oliver1985

Well thats what I hope I earn 40k a year on a 6 year scale to 46k!

gurramok

And don't forget management fees, on apts. 2 beds range from a rare 1000 to a common 1,500 to a slightly less common 2000+ in most complexes.
Its a detriment to buying an apt among many factors like size/privacy/parking/transport/safety hence they fall faster in price so take these factors into consideration when you begin to buy.

Victor

gurramok wrote: »

Its a detriment to buying an apt among many factors like size/privacy/parking/transport/safety

Whut?

Most of those factors are location dependent and are independent of whether its a house or apartment.

gurramok

Victor wrote: »

Whut?

Most of those factors are location dependent and are independent of whether its a house or apartment.

Why pay sky high fees on a property that is smaller than a house?

BendiBus

gurramok wrote: »

Why pay sky high fees on a property that is smaller than a house?

Apartments can be bigger than houses you know! Older terraced houses can be tiny. The maintenance of them can be much higher than the maintenance fee for an apartment (remember the maintenance fee includes buildings insurance). They can come with NO parking. They can be in unsafe areas, poorly served by public transport and where your neighbours overlook your back yard (which is smaller than an apartment balcony).

markpb

gurramok wrote: »

Its a detriment to buying an apt among many factors like size/privacy/parking/transport/safety hence they fall faster in price so take these factors into consideration when you begin to buy.

I won't deny that service charges can affect the price of an apartment but the rest is misguided. There are small houses and big apartments so saying all apartments are small is rubbish. My apartment isn't overlooked at all, even my balcony (on the ground floor) is sheltered so there's no problem with privacy. It has the same transport links as any other house in the area and because of the density has a better chance of getting improved transport links than a housing estate. You can buy an apartment in the city centre but you won't get a house there (without spending millions). And I'm not sure why you think apartments are less safe - care to explain?

On the other hand, I have 12 acres of grounds (in Dublin) to call my garden. I have CCTV at the front of the estate so if my apartment is broken into, there is some hope of catching the thieves. I have apartments either side and above so I spend barely anything on heating.
We have hundreds of parking spaces, most of them in relatively secure underground carparks. I don't have to worry about insurance, landscaping, graffiti removal or maintenance because our management company look after it. If my neighbours are extremely noisy at night, I have a security company to look after that.

Of course there are downsides to apartments but your blinkered view sees only that houses are better than apartments.

gurramok

Most apts built here are small, a minority are indeed big, thats why i said it as a generalisation.

With noise, its an issue with the crappy ones sprung up. You can hear your neighbour taking a p1ss upstairs and the flush of the toilet. Then throw in parties, the noise is louder in an apt complex and affecting more people than having just a few neighbours as houses on the the street.
Throw in that most apts are rented with people who don't care about them as they don't own them, the anti-social laws are crap in this country if you want it stopped.

You say you have a security company that look after things, thats good. Right now, across the road in another complex, a couple of apts do have nightly parties thats been going on for months, thats a nightmare to be living there.

Less safe as in a fire hazard and flood contamination. I wouldn't fancy anything a few storeys up with less risk of an escape and flooding can happen with regards to the neighbour above you leaving the tap on!

Also, not all car parks are safe. Alot of gated complexes have been broken into in the city, they are a crime hotspot. I'm not even sure if my car is safe outside in one right now! And oh yeh, some underground car parks have been flooded in a lot of complexes, thats another turnoff.

Most apts have storage heaters, you cannot defend them, they are a huge cost!

A plus though in the bin sheds, no need to have a wheely bin at your door, just throw your rubbish in them.

Oliver1985

gurramok wrote: »

Most apts built here are small, a minority are indeed big, thats why i said it as a generalisation.

With noise, its an issue with the crappy ones sprung up. You can hear your neighbour taking a p1ss upstairs and the flush of the toilet. Then throw in parties, the noise is louder in an apt complex and affecting more people than having just a few neighbours as houses on the the street.
Throw in that most apts are rented with people who don't care about them as they don't own them, the anti-social laws are crap in this country if you want it stopped.

You say you have a security company that look after things, thats good. Right now, across the road in another complex, a couple of apts do have nightly parties thats been going on for months, thats a nightmare to be living there.

Less safe as in a fire hazard and flood contamination. I wouldn't fancy anything a few storeys up with less risk of an escape and flooding can happen with regards to the neighbour above you leaving the tap on!

Also, not all car parks are safe. Alot of gated complexes have been broken into in the city, they are a crime hotspot. I'm not even sure if my car is safe outside in one right now! And oh yeh, some underground car parks have been flooded in a lot of complexes, thats another turnoff.

Most apts have storage heaters, you cannot defend them, they are a huge cost!

A plus though in the bin sheds, no need to have a wheely bin at your door, just throw your rubbish in them.

The flooding and fire is the thing that freaks me out!! What happens then your structure insurance kicks in and your out on the street?

Paulw

I live in an apt. It's larger than most of my friend's houses. It's a managed development, and I'm a director, so have active control of all costs. Our development is solid built - not wooden, so you can hear almost nothing from next door. My apt was built in 2004/2005.

I love all the generalisations here.

In many cases, apartments are as good, if not better built than many homes. In many semi-detached homes have poor quality sounding too.

Bottom line - if you want to buy an apartment, go view some. Check out where you are going to buy. The same would apply for any house too.