Right location or right house?

rionn

Hi I am looking for peoples opinions on which they would go for.. We have been on the market looking for a house for over a year but never seem to find what we are looking for, mainly because of our budget we are cash buyers and cant get a mortgage as part of our income is from FIS.

At the minute there are 2 houses in our area that could fit our needs but we wouldn't be in love with any of them.

1 of them would be great for our children seems like a lovely area with children for my kids to play with and is nice an safe but the house/rooms are to small.

The second house the rooms are bigger and would suit our needs regarding room size etc but there is no children in the area and there is a small river close by which would worry me.

Can anyone share which they would go for as we don't know which direction to take.

Thanks so much in advance!!

djimi

You can always improve a house; you will never be able to improve the area.

rionn

I don't think there is any way of improving this house its such a small garden I couldn't extend and rooms are tiny. Also it is number 13 would this bother you, it is worrying me a bit!!

djimi

You said that youre not in love with either, so why are you even considering either?

rionn

Were paying 90 rent a week at the min, with our saving we good buy 1 of these houses outright. Were thinking if we bought house now and lived in it for 6-8 years we could use the rent money to save and hopef upgrade in 6-8 years time

djimi

Seems a bit daft to me to blow all of your savings on a house that you are not particularly sold on to be honest.

From the figures mentioned Im guessing its a town like Carrick on Shannon or somewhere like that? If so, I wouldnt be in any rush; there will be no shortage of properties in that price range for the foreseeable future.

rionn

Im looking in Inishowen Donegal.. Yea that was another worry of ours but with all the talk of house prices on the move up we were starting to think that wwe should make a move now.

We do appreciate your opinion its nice to hear others views as it will be a life changing decision and we don't want to be making it lightly!

runawaybishop

rionn wrote: »

Im looking in Inishowen Donegal.. Yea that was another worry of ours but with all the talk of house prices on the move up we were starting to think that wwe should make a move now.

We do appreciate your opinion its nice to hear others views as it will be a life changing decision and we don't want to be making it lightly!

Don't move into a house you aren't happy with - there are plenty around and you have plenty of time. You don't know where you'll be in 5/6 years time financially and you definitely do not want to be somewhere with a house you dislike.

djimi

House prices are on the rise in certain high demand areas like Dublin, but if the rent in your area is less then €400 a month and you can afford to buy for cash then Id be very surprised if the demand is there to push prices up any time soon. My advice would be to keep saving and keep a lookout for a property that you are truely happy with, and dont be panicked into buying just for the sake of buying something.

D3PO

am I the only one that things is disgusting that somebody could buy a house for cash and be on FIS !!!!

That's a joke.

rionn

My partner just lost his job and my hours have been cut this is why we receive 40 week from FIS.. The cash we have is from savings while working which is been dipped into often hence the reason we thinking of buying a house that is not suitable:rolleyes:

D3PO

rionn wrote: »

My partner just lost his job and my hours have been cut this is why we receive 40 week from FIS.. The cash we have is from savings while working which is been dipped into often hence the reason we thinking of buying a house that is not suitable:rolleyes:

Not having a pop at you OP just the system.

The FIS system is to make sure families have enough to live on, a family with enough savings to buy a house for cash really should not be able to get this.

Now that's not a rule of FIS so your entitled to it and more power to you, but its just another example of how half arsed this country is run.

StillWaters

D3PO wrote: »

am I the only one that things is disgusting that somebody could buy a house for cash and be on FIS !!!!

That's a joke.

Savings are not means tested for FIS. FIS is a payment to encourage people into (often low paid) work, and not be reliant on job seekers and rent allowance. It's a very effective payment out of a poverty trap.

D3PO

StillWaters wrote: »

Savings are not means tested for FIS. FIS is a payment to encourage people into (often low paid) work, and not be reliant on job seekers and rent allowance. It's a very effective payment out of a poverty trap.

Im aware of this Im just saying its a joke that the government would not means test something like this when were going through such a period of austerity.

hfallada

rionn wrote: »

Im looking in Inishowen Donegal.. Yea that was another worry of ours but with all the talk of house prices on the move up we were starting to think that wwe should make a move now.

We do appreciate your opinion its nice to hear others views as it will be a life changing decision and we don't want to be making it lightly!

In a place like Donegal I wouldnt expect a rise in prices for a long time, maybe more of a decline as all the money is pouring into Dublin due a large increase in demand. Have you considered a cheap site and building a house?

rionn

Thanks we only have 70000 and that has to include solicitor fee's for buying and some left over for painting etc. Do you think we should wait it out? It is so hard to know what to do Thanks!!

johndaman66

In many ways I am in a pretty similar situation to the OP. I am looking to buy an existing house ideally in close proximity to my parents house, anything within a 10-15 mile maximum distance from my parents house but on the side from my parents house where I commute to and from work....wouldn't be going 10-15 mile in the other direction if you know what I mean as it would just make my commute too long.

I'm also in a similar situation to the OP in that it is my intention to buy for cash or at worst take out a small loan to finance the purchase...less than €50k, possibly nearer €30k...that all depends on the particular house. Not my intention to be condescending towards you OP but would have considerably more savings than you to finance the purchase.

Fact of the matter is there are no houses presenting themselves that are ticking the boxes for me. They are either old run down shacks and/or too small that I would realistically be unable to start having a family in or large mcmansions that are way out of my budget and quite frankly too large to justify me buying at the moment. There aren't a hell of a lot of them but the few modern mid size family bungalows that do present themselves are still what I'd consider overpriced...local town is an unemployment blackspot. Despite this I would live near the town as want to live near parents, yet I'd be able to commute from there. That said its difficult to justify the prices attached to the more presentable properties given the circumstances.

I'd like to buy but am happy to rent for the moment and certainly won't make any rash decisions and buy a house I'm not completely sold on, be it the location or the particular house itself. I really don't see house prices going north anytime soon, certainly in rural Ireland

OP, €90 per week is not a hell of a lot of rent. I am basing this on the assumption that you are a couple with at least one child as I recall you saying. That works out at less than €5,000 per annum. Assuming the property you are renting is half reasonable I don't consider that a hell of a lot of money to put a roof over at least 3 peoples heads. €70k is not a massive amount of money to finance a house purchase, bearing in mind you will most likely be needing to set up to €10k aside for solicitor fees, stamp duty, structural survey and the most basic of furniture to get you going etc, etc. If you bought for €70k you might be hard pushed to sell the same house for €65k in a years time the way things are...I cant imagine the Inishowen Peninsula to be exactly booming at the moment. You mention your partner lost his job recently. If he were to get employment in a location 50 or even 70 miles away and he becomes breadwinner how would this shift the goalposts?...would the house ye bought restrict the geographical area where he'd be seeking employment in the first place and hence restrict his chances of getting a job greatly......all these things, should you really be considering buying a house your not completely sold on?

_Kaiser_

I'd have to agree with D3PO on this .. it's not your fault OP, but the fact that this is even an option while you're receiving a welfare payment despite having 70k in the bank is farcical, but hey - that's the "system" we have :rolleyes:

Anyway... by the sounds of it you're not really gone on either house and are trying to justify it, so I'd sit tight and keep your money for now until you DO find something you like and/or your partner starts working again which will also help your options.

As a side note...

rionn wrote: »

Also it is number 13 would this bother you, it is worrying me a bit!!

You're joking right?

johndaman66

hfallada wrote: »

Have you considered a cheap site and building a house?

Due to fact that I'm finding it difficult to find a decent suitable modern house at the right price in the right location I have considered a self build and done some considerable research into it on the propertypin and a couple of other sites. I'm in a position where I could get a site gifted to me and even at that I would still steer well clear of a self build. Ignoring the value of the site which is arguably an opportunity cost a decent self build with a middle of the road level of finish would cost at least €75 per sq foot, probably nearer to €100 per sq foot all in and that would be by no means an extraordinary finish...if you want to go completely whacky on the design you could probably add as much as you like to that figure.

Notwithstanding that I would be getting the site gifted to me I would pay a premium for a self build and ideally get a design pretty close to my desires assuming my local county council do not place too many restrictions on it. Would I pay the premium being demanded for a self build over buying an existing house....no, as I consider it too much of a premium the way things are at the moment and house prices in general.

You would also be needing to devote a considerable amount of time and energy into the build in terms of organising the build and co-ordinating the various steps and tradesmen etc. Grand if you have the time to set aside and I would like to take on such a project if I was afforded the time, knowing full well I'd make plenty of mistakes along the way too. But for someone like myself anyway who works business hours it just wouldn't be permissible. Inevitable cost over-runs if taking on such a project for the first time and tradesmen that potentially do not co-operate and you may have to end up hounding also....well no a self build wouldn't be on my agenda anyhow

Victor

D3PO wrote: »

Im aware of this Im just saying its a joke that the government would not means test something like this when were going through such a period of austerity.

On-topic please.

You have no idea where these saving came from. For all you know it could be a compensation payment for someone who now can't work.

Moderator

D3PO

Victor wrote: »

On-topic please.

You have no idea where these saving came from. For all you know it could be a compensation payment for someone who now can't work.

Moderator

if you read my next post you will see I clarified I wasn't having a go at the OP just the system :rolleyes: