Old house in Blackrock VS new house in Stepaside

GavMan

OP, plenty can be got in and around blackrock for that kind of money.

For example: http://www.daft.ie/sales/42-clonkeen-road-blackrock-dublin/1000954/

Even if that needed work you have 45-50k to put into. Then you've a family home for life. I know those houses very well and they are massive sites. Big houses with large gardens.


http://www.daft.ie/sales/35-beechwood-park-dun-laoghaire-dublin/1035405/

Right nextdoor to Blackrock. Again, needs some decorating and some small bits of work but you have the budget to do so.


Forget Stepaside.

helimachoptor

The clonkeen one is sale agreed at 475 (however its been sale agreed for a number of months) apparently but it needs around 100K to make it comfortable.

Beechwood is nice, feels a little cramped but nothing a RSJ wouldnt sort

GavMan

helimachoptor wrote: »

The clonkeen one is sale agreed at 475 (however its been sale agreed for a number of months) apparently but it needs around 100K to make it comfortable.

Beechwood is nice, feels a little cramped but nothing a RSJ wouldnt sort

Could be held up in probate....

TBF to Beechwood, its quite cluttered with stuff. Cleared out and I think you would get a better feel for its size (1400 Sq ft). Layout could be better but that is something that could be easily changed over time.

MerlinSouthDub

I have lived in Blackrock in the past, currently work in Blackrock and live in Stepaside. So, I have some experience of both areas.

I much prefer living in Stepaside to Blackrock. Blackrock is a dreary old village, very little buzz or life around the place. Stepaside has a great laid back feel to it, lots of young families, and a great community spirit building up. It is so close to the countryside and mountains, so great for leisure activities.

There is crime in Stepaside, but just the usual house break-ins and no different to Blackrock.

Good luck with your house hunting, there are lots of things to weigh up, but you will be happy in either area.

crazy_kenny

Myself and my partner lived in Blackrock for 2 years close to the Garda station. We lived in a small 2 bed terraced house. It was cold, damp and was pretty noisy at times from traffic and pubs/nightclub. You just couldn't keep the heat in the house. The walls upstairs would be covered in mould.

I have also been in Stepaside a few times and didn't like it. Its just too built up with little else to do. Everything wrong with the Celtic tiger era can be found there.

I would rather live in Blackrock but I hope you have deep pockets for the renovation costs.

_Kaiser_

As someone who lives in Stepaside I posted this recently... full thread is here

From the point of the existing apartments (I'm renting one), as with most "new-ish" places the sound insulation is pretty poor. I can hear everything upstairs for example (no lie-in for me on a Sunday when their kids start running around the place at half 8! )

Parking is indeed on a first come first serve basis - supposedly for residents but I've yet to see any clamping or patrols (there was a van that looked abandoned for months - flat tires etc - before it finally disappeared one day). I can't say I've ever had a problem (just my own car though) beyond having to park the next row down.. a recent annoyance in my part of the estate is people who live across street parking on our side because their spots are a little steeper than the ones outside my place.. stuff like that.

I'd be amazed if they did anything about access roads. It's pretty bad in the mornings from about 7:45/8.. also it can be dodgy in icy/wintery weather as the entire thing is on a steep enough slope (there were cars abandoned all around the entrances during the "Snow Wednesday" we had last month)

As someone else said, the bus service isn't great and no direct access from it to Dundrum SC or Leopardstown SC.. much walking will be required unless you drive!

It is a fairly quiet area but I've heard talk of an increase in burglaries since the Garda station was closed - a neighbour also had his car robbed from outside the door a few months back as well - but that's a problem everywhere.

Would I buy if it were my own money? Probably not... sure it's quiet but it's a bit cut-off unless you drive or like walking everywhere, and traffic around the area gets pretty bad during rush hour what with it being so close to the Industrial Estate in Sandyford. It's a nice place yes, but nothing special IMO - but then I feel that way about most of the famed SCD area to be fair!

Might be of use?

Idbatterim

you can improve the house, you cant change the location, personally I would take blackrock, any day!

loyatemu

Is this your only choice - Blackrock or Stepaside? Blackrock is insanely expensive, one of the dearest areas of the city. I've no real opinion on Stepaside, but there are plenty of other places in the city I'd rather live. What about Dun Laoghaire, Killiney/Ballybrack, Bray etc - you have a decent amount of money to spend (albeit prices have crept back into "stupid" territory in the last year).

Graham

anncoates wrote: »

What's a damp, smelly, cramped house for life when you can live in a good postcode?

I'd go for the slightly worse house in the more desirable location. It's much easier to improve a house than it is to improve its location. A greater opportunity to add value too.

NewBuyer1

Thank you everyone for the most valued opinions.

ted1 wrote: »

32k is a crazy price if your not adding e tra space. Was that external insulation?

2k for a boiler, 5 k for a top end bathroom and 900 to insulate each bedroom.

External insulation Costs approx 20k and it'll take 40+ years to make back the saving.

I was thinking it's rather adequately priced : Floor insulation 4k, bathroom 5k, boiler 3k, plaster &decoration 2k, flooring 2k, carpets 2k, kitchen 7k, windows 2.5k, rewiring 4k.

GavMan wrote: »

OP, plenty can be got in and around blackrock for that kind of money.

For example: daft.ie/sales/42-clonkeen-road-blackrock-dublin/1000954/
Even if that needed work you have 45-50k to put into. Then you've a family home for life. I know those houses very well and they are massive sites. Big houses with large gardens.

daft.ie/sales/35-beechwood-park-dun-laoghaire-dublin/1035405/
Right nextdoor to Blackrock. Again, needs some decorating and some small bits of work but you have the budget to do so.
Forget Stepaside.

Thank you, these are decent houses and the gardens are certainly impressive, but we are not very familiar with the area.
As for the budget - we will have it in some time, but have only got 85k now which is just enough for deposit.

Millem

NewBuyer1 wrote: »

Thank you everyone for the most valued opinions.

I was thinking it's rather adequately priced : Floor insulation 4k, bathroom 5k, boiler 3k, plaster &decoration 2k, flooring 2k, carpets 2k, kitchen 7k, windows 2.5k, rewiring 4k.



Thank you, these are decent houses and the gardens are certainly impressive, but we are not very familiar with the area.
As for the budget - we will have it in some time, but have only got 85k now which is just enough for deposit.

Newbuyer1 are you getting mortgage on the new rules or old rules?
If it's the new rules I would wait till after the summer as people who only have 8%-10% deposit will be out of the market!
I think it really comes down to schools tbh if you want both children to go to the same school you need to buy in whatever parish the school is in. I am a teacher myself and school places are in very high demand in that area.

NewBuyer1

loyatemu wrote: »

Is this your only choice - Blackrock or Stepaside? Blackrock is insanely expensive, one of the dearest areas of the city. I've no real opinion on Stepaside, but there are plenty of other places in the city I'd rather live. What about Dun Laoghaire, Killiney/Ballybrack, Bray etc - you have a decent amount of money to spend (albeit prices have crept back into "stupid" territory in the last year).

Thanks, this might be rephrased as Blackrock (and a few neighbouring areas) vs New House which is relatively close.

There are some new developments in Bray, but I personally dislike the area.

NewBuyer1

Millem wrote: »

Newbuyer1 are you getting mortgage on the new rules or old rules?
If it's the new rules I would wait till after the summer as people who only have 8%-10% deposit will be out of the market!
I think it really comes down to schools tbh if you want both children to go to the same school you need to buy in whatever parish the school is in. I am a teacher myself and school places are in very high demand in that area.

Thanks, yes we just got approved. The loan is for 442k with deposit of 83k. I am nervous to wait as the prices might rise by the end of summer.

In The Conversation

I can't post URLs as am a new user, but you could do a search on 87 Mount Albany in Blsckrock. This might fit your budget.

Millem

NewBuyer1 wrote: »

Thanks, yes we just got approved. The loan is for 442k with deposit of 83k. I am nervous to wait as the prices might rise by the end of summer.

Tbh if I had that deposit I would wait! We only have 8% so were in a mad rush before it runs out in July!!! I found that all the houses we looked at went for over their asking prices

zagmund

NewBuyer1 wrote: »

I am very certain about this,
dlrcoco.ie/aboutus/councildepartments/planning/faqs/

At risk of repeating myself, I really think you should get a second opinion on that one. I would bet you a large amount of money that the 2m limit you are so sure about only relates to development which is exempt from requiring planning permission. Once you have planning permission that 2m doesn't enter the equation.

z

strandroad

NewBuyer1 wrote: »

Thank you, these are decent houses and the gardens are certainly impressive, but we are not very familiar with the area.

You really are doing yourself no favours eliminating whole areas like that
I would wait until July for the ten percenters rush to pass, and do far more area research by then!