Views on 2-bed house

Newbee09

Hi all, just wondering what are people's thoughts on 2 bed houses? Im a first time buyer, buying with my partner and have my eye on a lovely 2 bed house. It has one bathroom, plenty of living space, nice kitchen, large back garden....seems to tick all the boxes. But people keep querying the 2 bed thing. For the moment and for at least another 4 years, it will be just the two of us there. We are not planning on selling up anytime soon after moving in unless things go horribly wrong for us! (touch wood!) The house is by no means small, in fact it has more sq metres than most standard 3 bed semi d houses. There is potential to extend in the future. But everyone's reaction keeps making me question whether or not to consider buying the property.
Would appreciate anyones thoughts on this!
Thanks!

Idbatterim

could a 3rd bedroom be adding within the existing house without needing to extend? are the 3 bed alternatives much more expensive?

Newbee09

Well there is a small "den" i suppose you could call it upstairs, more like a storage room, not big enough to be called a box room as such if you know what i mean! There is a sun room, in addition to the living room so i suppose if needed there could be an option to use a living space for a bedroom!

Idbatterim

you just wouldnt want to be stuck in the wrong house, if circumstances change and then find your in negative equity, that you dont have savings etc to clear... are you currently renting?

Newbee09

Yeah i know what you mean, it's always going to be a gamble. Yes we are currently renting.

Idbatterim

where is the property located and what is the asking price?

dory

It depends on where you see the two of you child-wise in the next 5-10 years. Chances are you won't be able to sell up and move on because you may be in a spot of negative equity. So how many children do you plan for and would you all be able to live in that house?

Dades

I wouldn't buy a two bed unless you could definitely turn it into a three bed without too much hassle. I think you would regret it.

Is there an attic you can convert? Or a side garage you can build on top of?

I've looked a loads of dormer bungalows but most of them suffer from the same problem - you simply can't make the upstairs bigger.

Bogman Billy

Newbee09 wrote: »

Hi all, just wondering what are people's thoughts on 2 bed houses? Im a first time buyer, buying with my partner and have my eye on a lovely 2 bed house. It has one bathroom, plenty of living space, nice kitchen, large back garden....seems to tick all the boxes. But people keep querying the 2 bed thing. For the moment and for at least another 4 years, it will be just the two of us there. We are not planning on selling up anytime soon after moving in unless things go horribly wrong for us! (touch wood!) The house is by no means small, in fact it has more sq metres than most standard 3 bed semi d houses. There is potential to extend in the future. But everyone's reaction keeps making me question whether or not to consider buying the property.
Would appreciate anyones thoughts on this!
Thanks!

A two bed is plenty unless you plan on having more than say 3-4 kids. People went mad building and buying mansions in this country and only a couple of kids in the house, crazy sfuff. I wouldn't mind but it was far from mansions many of these people were rared but it seems like a kind of social status building or buying a 3000+ sq ft house.

I wouldn't like to calculate the extra cost of building, heating and paying the extra mortgage on the bloody thing over the course of say, 20 years.

f9710145

Bogman Billy wrote: »

A two bed is plenty unless you plan on having more than say 3-4 kids.

A 2 bed is a bit small for a couple with 3-4 kids! Unless your teen boys/girls don't mind sharing. There are plenty of mid sizes out there, doesn't have to be 2 bed or 3000 sq ft.

Newbee09

Thanks for all the input guys. Children are not on the agenda for the moment anyways but obviously it factors into our decision! We do really like the house, so its a case of tryin not to let our hearts win over our heads! As i said it is quite a large house for a 2 bed - 120 sq metre and the living space is good. Just out of curiousity, what would you expect to pay on a 2 bed??

fricatus

Newbee09 wrote: »

Just out of curiousity, what would you expect to pay on a 2 bed??

Try calculating the house price from the rental yield (Google it if you're not familiar with the idea).

Example:
€750 pm rent
x12 = €9,000 per year
€9,000 / 0.08 (assuming 8% yield, but try figures between 6 and 9)
= €112,500

Many economic commentators believe the price of houses is heading for that sort of level, so beware that if you pay more than that, you run a significant risk of negative equity in a falling market (about 1% a month at present - see CSO house price index which is out every month - and probably this week for June).

Newbee09

There are believe it or not some 3 bed houses in the area going for less. however they are in actual fact smaller and in need of work whereas this is in perfect condition with nothing at all needing to be done to it...

amdublin

Are you planning children?

Newbee09

not currently no, but all going well yes in the future!

Dades

120 sq meters and only two bedrooms?

Sounds to me like a 80sq meter house with a 40 sq meter sunroom. Beware of this type of calculation. Depending on the "sunroom" (all glass? enough radiators?) you could really be buying quite a small house with a room that you can only really use half the year, or for keeping a clothes horse in.

Again, without an attic option, or the potential to make two average size bedrooms out the "den" and the second bedroom, I think you're painting yourself into a corner in terms of longevity in the house. Are either of those an option??

Newbee09

The sun room isnt your typcial sun room, more like an additional living space with few windows, not completely surrounded and with doors to the back garden . The "den" could be used as a bedroom for a young child anyways, and the attic whilst could be converted, im not sure its quite big enough to be extended as a bedroom as such.

Ray Palmer

Two bed house should be fine for a fairly long time unless you plan on having kids very soon. I'd check out if you can convert the attic as that is generally a good way to go.
People often plan very far into the future when they don't have to. a kid doesn't need a separate room until a bout 8 would be my view. You have a small space that can take a baby and if the living space is large the children won't need their own room as much. It sounds like you have a about 10 years in the house you are looking at without any bother. That is a long time to save for a larger house or an extension.

Be weary of the sun room in your calculations as said

Newbee09

Thanks for that. You make good points and that was my thinking anyways. Sharing a room with my sister was good enough for me and did me no harm!! :-) I suppose its when everyone else starts raising their eyebrows at us we start to question our decision. We are in a good position to buy now in that we have the savings for deposit and furnishings. I am in a permanent job, my OH is not as stable but we have been going fine so far! Just a big step and we want to make sure we do the right thing!

Dades

Sounds like there is some scope for family expansion!

Of course now we're looking at this property through your rose-tinted glasses.

(Though we're all guilty of that at some point!)

Newbee09

very true dades - but i can assure you its defo not a shack!! :-) I think we are both comfortable about the space issue and the bedrooms, now its a matter of money and how much its worth in the current market! I know its difficult to say without saying the house but what is too much to pay for a 2 bed in the wicklow area!?

the_syco

Check can you gain access to the attic, and if you can, are you able to stand in it?

Also, walk around the estate, and see if there are any attics converted, with a window on the side of it. I say this, as most estates have the same sort of attic, and thus if one can be converted, so too can the rest usually.

Plan for two children even if you only want one :P

Lyn256

Just to add my tuppence worth-if you're planning a long term future with your partner and kids-I'd only go with the 2 bed if there is room to expand.

Sold my 3 bed last year coz we felt we needed more space. I have a 18 month old and 3 year old and their stuff was everywhere. (You wouldn't believe how much stuff kids have nowadays) and in comparison to my friends-my kids don;t have as much.

If you have any friends with kids-go take a look at their stuff-between toy kitchens, dolls houses, dolls buggys, garage, blackboard, cars, lego and three toy boxes full-there's bits everywhere. (For last Christmas and birthdays this year-I requested no toys)

Just be aware-6/7 years time-you can;t sell and you're up to your eyes in kids stuff driving you mad . . . you might think very differently.

antiskeptic

Lyn256 wrote: »

Just to add my tuppence worth-if you're planning a long term future with your partner and kids-I'd only go with the 2 bed if there is room to expand.

Sold my 3 bed last year coz we felt we needed more space.

There's a touch of too much fixation on the number of bedrooms about this thread. The OP's two bed is 120 sq mt - which is touch on 1300 sq ft.

3 bedroom houses at under 1000 sq ft litter the landscape - indeed, at 1300 sq ft your beginning to enter 4 bed territory. Space to move must be seen as a prime priority whatever about the way someone's chopped up that space with some plasterboard walls

Newbee09

Yes, i think for us the living space is important as oppsed to having more bedrooms than we currently need. Have been looking at 3 and 4 bed houses that are smaller than this one we are looking at!

antiskeptic

Newbee09 wrote: »

Yes, i think for us the living space is important as oppsed to having more bedrooms than we currently need. Have been looking at 3 and 4 bed houses that are smaller than this one we are looking at!

Although overall floor area (indeed, I'd be looking at the overall volume of the house since the sense of space is magnified if you've decent height in your ceilings) is prime, there's no harm in considering how flexible this space is.

Generally speaking, upstairs internal walls aren't structural so it's not (too) hard to divide up the space to suit your book. Perhaps you could divide the 2nd bedroom/den up so as to make two acceptably sized bedrooms just by shifting a wall a ways sideways.

If the place has decent potential to be made suit possible future family plans then all you invest in it now (flooring/kitchens/garden planting/etc) will have more time to pay itself back. You can make more of a home of it now, knowing you're going to get a decent number of years from it

The days of pouring money into houses knowing it will only add more sales value to the house are gone so investing in it beyond the purchase price needs to be considered carefully.

Newbee09

Thanks for all the advise! Its great to get impartial views from people! Any other views welcome...we have to make our decision ASAP! :-)

antiskeptic

Newbee09 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advise! Its great to get impartial views from people! Any other views welcome...we have to make our decision ASAP! :-)

Why not post a link. (or PM it to me if you reckon the whole country would love to get their hands on it in this booming market ) The potential of a house to be made suit various purposes is a subject within the remit of many here gathered. We're all curious now...

ShadowHearth

Honestly. I would prefer a proper 2 bedroom house then ****y 2 small bed with boxy. How can you call boxy bedroom a bedroom?! I newer seem such bedrooms until I moved to Ireland. My first words when I sow a boxy were: wtf is that?! Why they just didn't do ather rooms bigger as this can fit only a bed!!

I live I'm rented property with 5 bedrooms. It's freaking overkill. I feel like in hotel. There's only 2 of us here.

It's better have smaller house that is really Cousy, then a mantion in which you feel like a guest.

If you plan only 1-2 kids, then 2 bed house is okay.

I grew up in apartment with 1 room and 1 kitchen. 4 of us... Can't see problem for couple in 2 bed house.

Dades

ShadowHearth wrote: »

If you plan only 1-2 kids, then 2 bed house is okay.

Even kids want their space at a certain age.

ShadowHearth wrote: »

I grew up in apartment with 1 room and 1 kitchen. 4 of us... Can't see problem for couple in 2 bed house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1by0-nkKOTs