1-bedroom apartment - still a bad idea?

Ayuntamiento

Well my landlord seems to be doing exceptionally well from the 1 bed apt he bought as I've been paying the mortgage on his investment for the last 5yrs! If the 1 bed is in the right location then it's a good idea. So essentially you'd want to be within 2.5 miles of Dublin city centre, preferably near hospitals so you can cash in on the transitory doctor market.
A 1 bed is so much more desirable than living in a house-share with strangers so you'll always have tenants.

Ayuntamiento

@REM76 why are you commenting on this thread if you have nothing constructive to add? The OP didn't ask whether he should choose to stay in Dublin or move to Australia so your point is irrelevant. Personally I've lived in both Perth and Dublin. I'm happier back in Ireland than I was over there. You're not superior because you've emigrated. You're just exercising your right to choice like all of us who choose to remain.

REM76

Ayuntamiento wrote: »

@REM76 why are you commenting on this thread if you have nothing constructive to add? The OP didn't ask whether he should choose to stay in Dublin or move to Australia so your point is irrelevant. Personally I've lived in both Perth and Dublin. I'm happier back in Ireland than I was over there. You're not superior because you've emigrated. You're just exercising your right to choice like all of us who choose to remain.

I am just giving some much-needed perspective on spending a quarter of a million euro on a tiny flat. This isn't Knightsbridge, it's ****ty Dublin.

REM76

Ayuntamiento wrote: »

A 1 bed is so much more desirable than living in a house-share with strangers so you'll always have tenants.

Your advice is remarkable, and so bias-free. I wish I'd have read this when I was about to sign for that loan.

It's no wonder you haven't given out to me for offering an alternative, why would you, when your vision is so perfect?

REM76

jive wrote: »

There's more to life than the size of your house and proximity to the coastline, though.

"There's more to life than books you know, but not much more" - Morrissey

Parchment

REM76 wrote: »

That old chestnut, the "support network".

Great, but my children grow up with mum at home in a beautiful house beside the beach in a beautiful city.

Although, that terraced house in Drimagh is sure appealing.

You sound slightly bitter.

Whats wrong with wanting to be near family?

REM76

Parchment wrote: »

You sound slightly bitter.

Whats wrong with wanting to be near family?

There's nothing wrong with it, but when you've got families shelling out a quarter of a million euro on a tiny flat, something has gone wrong.

At some stage you've got to take control of that and say, f%ck this I'm getting out of here and move somewhere better for your family.

If you don't, then you can moan and whinge for years about how **** your life is. But it is your fault.

The OP is 28 and willing to borrow almost 200,000 on a tiny flat in crabapple Dublin. Not New York, not Knightsbridge, not Madrid, ****ty old council estate Dublin. If it was my daughter/son, I would say don't be stupid, yet there are dozens here cheering them on.

Ireland has lost the fooking plot, yet again.

28? Emigrate. Live in Montreal, Auckland, Edinburgh, Madrid...**** Dublin, **** flushing thousands down the toilet. **** being taxed to **** for 1969s trains and buses where you STILL need to pay the driver. **** IT ALL.

dissed doc

REM76 wrote: »

So glad I emigrated.

Bought 5 bed in WA for $380k (EUR263), 45 mins spotless air-conditioned train to CBD.

Earning x3 times salary as I was in Dublin.

People in Ireland are mental.

Well where is "CBD" in Dublin? Near Connolly/IFSC? Or Heuston?

In that case, you can certainly get a big house in Portlaoise, or Greystones like yopu have in WA (Western Australia?)

REM76

dissed doc wrote: »

Well where is "CBD" in Dublin? Near Connolly/IFSC? Or Heuston?

In that case, you can certainly get a big house in Portlaoise, or Greystones like yopu have in WA (Western Australia?)

CBD in Dublin is Dublin 1/2

There is NO WAY you can buy a 5-bed house 45 minutes from Dublin City Centre for EUR5ook

I remember when you applied for a mortgage it was 1.5 incomes, in other words one full income and half another.

That wasn't good enough for the Dubs, they wanted two incomes.

And so, house prices went up by two incomes.

So an average bog standard council house in Balinteer now worth 350k.

Walter2016

REM76 wrote: »

I am just giving some much-needed perspective on spending a quarter of a million euro on a tiny flat. This isn't Knightsbridge, it's ****ty Dublin.

Good one bed in knightsbridge will set you back about 1.5m. A basic studio will cost 500k and that's sterling. Similar prices in new York.

Kildare town is 40 min from O'Connell st by train and luas. Nice 5bed properties (2500sq ft) for under 400k available.


With the number of well paid tech people in Dublin, one beds will always be in rental demand.

A decent yield is 6% including costs in today's market, - that's 1500 rent + add property tax and service charges. if its in the right area, that's easily achievable, so such property will always be a good buy if price is right.

Currently a 5 year fixed mortgage can be had for 3.1%. 260k mortgage on 20 years is 1449 a month.

Av 5 years fixed in oz is 4.5% - and would cost extra 9k over 5years.

REM76

Walter2016 wrote: »

Good one bed in knightsbridge will set you back about 1.5m. A basic studio will cost 500k and that's sterling. Similar prices in new York.

Kildare town is 40 min from O'Connell st by train and luas. Nice 5bed properties (2500sq ft) for under 400k available.


With the number of well paid tech people in Dublin, one beds will always be in rental demand.

A decent yield is 6% including costs in today's market, - that's 1500 rent + add property tax and service charges. if its in the right area, that's easily achievable, so such property will always be a good buy if price is right.

Currently a 5 year fixed mortgage can be had for 3.1%. 260k mortgage on 20 years is 1449 a month.

So your point is, you can screw your tenants over for minimum two years.

Walter2016

REM76 wrote: »

So your point is, you can screw your tenants over for minimum two years.

No, my point was you seem to be bitter and trying to convince yourself you are brilliant in oz.

Then thinking that a one bed goes for 300k in knightsbridge or new York makes your post just very very silly.

dissed doc

REM76 wrote: »

CBD in Dublin is Dublin 1/2

There is NO WAY you can buy a 5-bed house 45 minutes from Dublin City Centre for EUR5ook

I remember when you applied for a mortgage it was 1.5 incomes, in other words one full income and half another.

That wasn't good enough for the Dubs, they wanted two incomes.

And so, house prices went up by two incomes.

So an average bog standard council house in Balinteer now worth 350k.

There are a huge amount of properties 45 minutes from Dublin for EUR350k - big 4 and 5 bed detached houses.

Wicklow 350k: a 5 bed mini-mansion! http://www.daft.ie/wicklow/houses-for-sale/baltinglass/tankardstown-baltinglass-wicklow-1028489/

Have a look on daft for Kildare, Laois or Wicklow, under 350k and 5 beds. There is a huge range.

How much does a big place cost in the centre of Western Australia? Once you are willing to move 45 minutes commute from Dublin, there are a lot of options.

Senna

REM76 wrote: »

So glad I emigrated.

Bought 5 bed in WA for $380k (EUR263), 45 mins spotless air-conditioned train to CBD.

Earning x3 times salary as I was in Dublin.

People in Ireland are mental.

Of course, Australias isn't going through a property bubble, the market won't drop, all these jobs paying huge amount will last for ever.......

Mezcita

REM76 wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with it, but when you've got families shelling out a quarter of a million euro on a tiny flat, something has gone wrong.

At some stage you've got to take control of that and say, f%ck this I'm getting out of here and move somewhere better for your family.

If you don't, then you can moan and whinge for years about how **** your life is. But it is your fault.

The OP is 28 and willing to borrow almost 200,000 on a tiny flat in crabapple Dublin. Not New York, not Knightsbridge, not Madrid, ****ty old council estate Dublin. If it was my daughter/son, I would say don't be stupid, yet there are dozens here cheering them on.

Ireland has lost the fooking plot, yet again.

28? Emigrate. Live in Montreal, Auckland, Edinburgh, Madrid...**** Dublin, **** flushing thousands down the toilet. **** being taxed to **** for 1969s trains and buses where you STILL need to pay the driver. **** IT ALL.

Brilliant. Dublin is sh.ite. Ireland is sh.ite. Yadda yadda. God knows how many times I've read that on here over the years.

If you're willing to up sticks and move half way across the planet because you don't have the ties to home that a lot of people do then good for you. But the whole "you're mugs for living there" attitude is just sneering nonsense. I'm saying that having lived in London, New York and Sydney over the years. Each of these places have their pros and cons. But the idea that the OP is mad for thinking about buying in Dublin just smacks of bitterness because you appear to dislike Ireland as a place to live.

Michael D Not Higgins

Mod: can we cool the vitriol and get back on topic. Thanks.

Nika Bolokov

I bought one 6 months ago OP and its the best thing I ever did. I also had the same concerns you did.

For less than the price of a room in Dublin I have about 600 sq ft I can call my own and an outside patio. Im a few mins walk from a Luas stop and in a nice part of the city.

If rents went back to 2011 levels and I had to rent it Id still get a decent yield given what I paid.

Its my home and Im happy here and Im not subject to the vagaries of a messy Dublin rental market that will take years to fix or weird housemates. Saving like a pro and living like a monk If I had to would leave me with a mortgage in the tens of thousands after a few short years which even if the arse falls out of everything wouldnt be to bad given I will always have to have a roof over my head.

I think Irish mentality is still somewhat rural if thats the right word, everyone wants a semi d, but the sprawl and infrastructural mess that it has created is not sustainable and you probably wont feel like so much of an oddball in a few years for wishing to live near your social and professional centre over a daily round trip of 100km+ which everyone seems to say takes only 45 mins each way............ when attitudes change.

Just my two cents.

riclad

I think theres loads of people who are happy to buy a 1 bed apartment
if its in an area close to a bustop or luas, and is a reasonable price.
And if its not too far from where they work .
not everyone wants a 3 bed house with the large mortgage that would
go with that .

appfry

I know several people who bought 1 bed apartments at various different times.
All the advice to them was the usual reasons to not buy a 1 bed apartment or even not to buy any apartment.
Roll on a few years and they are all sitting pretty with mortgages almost paid off, some renting the apartments out, some have sold them, but not a one regretted it. Some regretted it a few years ago, but now they are glad they made the jump and stuck it out.
You only know from looking back how it worked out. Predictions are a mugs game.

Problem with buying property and taking advice on it as opposed to doing your own valuable research is that everyone has an opinion. And all the people who think they are experts are really only armchair "experts" in their own minds.
Just look at the threads on here from 2011 and 2012 laughing at people who were buying then, or deriding those who even passingly mentioned that rents might increase. Those same laughing people are now the ones so obviously hurt and sore about their decisions and blaming all sorts on why they can now not afford to buy or even to rent in Dublin.

According to a lot of articles I have read, one bed apartments have the best yield and Investors are mad for these. They are actually one of the few property classes that represent value still in Dublin.
It will suit some and not others, but some people a 1 bed apartment will be perfect for. Others will never be able to make it work.

People should do what is right for themselves, after thinking long and hard about it, and ignore the random internet know alls.
Do your own research. Trust yourself and your own research, not the self proclaimed "internet expert". Just go back and read property threads from 4 or 5 years ago. And remember, nobody knows what the future holds, nobody.

Elliott S

REM76 wrote: »

Bought 5 bed in WA for $380k (EUR263), 45 mins spotless air-conditioned train to CBD.

Erm, yeah, there's about five days in the year when air-conditioning might be needed on a Dublin commuter train, if even. Trains are air-conditioned in Oz because they need to be.

riclad

IF you have 150k plus loan approval you can simply buy a 2 bed apartment ,maybe people buy 1 beds cos its near work, in a posh area , they cant afford a 2bed in a certain area.
or maybe its a large one bed apartment ,
Or they are just in a hurry to buy anything and they wont even pay an extra 30k for a 2 bed unit.
or people just dont compute a 2 bed is usually better investment than a 1 bed ,
in the long term,

newacc2015

Irish people just hate apartments. We have some of the lowest amount of apartments per capita in the developed world, as we only tend to build/live in houses. Most people seem to think there is no difference between living in a 1960s bedsit and modern luxury apartment. Regardless of whether you live in a one bedroom apartment or a 3 bed 2000 sq foot penthouse with a swimming pool on the roof in the IFSC, most Irish people will still look down on your not owning a house as most people have never experienced what living in an apartment is like.

I asked my bank manager about if I brought a 2 bedroom apartment, would the bank take into account income from the second room. She said absolutely not as its not a given. So having an additional source of revenue for justifying a 2 bed over a 1 bed wont cut it with the bank

I think the most important thing to consider owning an apartment in 2016 is that if you want to sell it to move into a house or a 2 bedroom later, you dont have to pay the insane stamp duty like in the past.

VonLuck

Sorry for dragging up an old thread, but given the current market, the idea of purchasing a 1 bed apartment is becoming more appealing, or more like the only option for me.

I had been looking for the right 2 bed apartment for the past couple of years, but nothing really caught my eye that I could afford. Thinking about it now, I really would only need a single bed as I don't intend on starting a family any time soon. I'd be happy to live on my own and really the 2nd bedroom was for flexibility of renting it out or increasing the resaleability.

If things go south, either job wise or emigration, I could rent out the property at a fraction of current rental figures and still cover the mortgage.

So with the current increasing prices of properties, is it wise or otherwise to look into one bed apartments?

TimeToShine

Walter2016 wrote: »

Good one bed in knightsbridge will set you back about 1.5m. A basic studio will cost 500k and that's sterling. Similar prices in new York.

Kildare town is 40 min from O'Connell st by train and luas. Nice 5bed properties (2500sq ft) for under 400k available.


With the number of well paid tech people in Dublin, one beds will always be in rental demand.

A decent yield is 6% including costs in today's market, - that's 1500 rent + add property tax and service charges. if its in the right area, that's easily achievable, so such property will always be a good buy if price is right.

Currently a 5 year fixed mortgage can be had for 3.1%. 260k mortgage on 20 years is 1449 a month.

Av 5 years fixed in oz is 4.5% - and would cost extra 9k over 5years.

You'd get the same in Queens and would be about a 40 minute commute from Manhattan. Or in Richmond/San Leandro and be within 40 minute commute from San Francisco. All of these places will net you multiples of the salary you'd earn in Dublin.

Don't get me wrong I don't disagree with you but there is no denying that the property market in Dublin is objectively just crazy.

edit: didn't realise this was an old thread!

Samuel T. Cogley

VonLuck wrote: »

Sorry for dragging up an old thread, but given the current market, the idea of purchasing a 1 bed apartment is becoming more appealing, or more like the only option for me.

I had been looking for the right 2 bed apartment for the past couple of years, but nothing really caught my eye that I could afford. Thinking about it now, I really would only need a single bed as I don't intend on starting a family any time soon. I'd be happy to live on my own and really the 2nd bedroom was for flexibility of renting it out or increasing the resaleability.

If things go south, either job wise or emigration, I could rent out the property at a fraction of current rental figures and still cover the mortgage.

So with the current increasing prices of properties, is it wise or otherwise to look into one bed apartments?

Right now, as in TODAY there are some reasonable deals out there if you can get a well managed complex, close to or in the city with a yield of >10%. You'll have to be very canny with your research. Bear in mind you'll probably need a 25% deposit. Don't expect a mad return on them, once the bubble hits 1 beds again you know it's going to pop. Do your maths on the basis of cheaper than renting - will it be with fees and the term you need it for etc. ?

The_Conductor

With respect of Kildare town being 40 minutes from O'Connell Street Bridge- its not far off for a morning- however, the evening train is a nightmare. You could be trying for the evening train for several months before you actually get a seat- and you could be waiting for several trains- or leaving work improbably early or late- to make sure you get the train. Its fine the other way- as its the terminus for the commuter train- its just going home where you have a fight on your hands. I seriously would recommend it as a permanent commuting option- I've a few colleagues who do shorter working days- just to cope with the stress of the commute. The flipside of the coin- is from Kildare to Dublin- is spot-on.

Fian

For me a one bed is preferable, buying to let rather than to live in.

The rent available is close the the total rent available on a two bed, the yields are better. Plus less tenants = less hassle and no issues with two sets of tenants falling out with each other - well except for couples breaking up I suppose.