New house on North or old house on South?

blackbelted

I am wondering which one is better in long term. Buying a brand new house from North side (i.e Hansfield, Ongar, new developments in Swords) or buying a BER E rating old house from South (could be Ballycullen, around Rahtfarham, etc) I cannot afford buy from Dublin 4, 6 etc. my budget is ~300-350k.

the_syco

How much work would you need to do on either? The old, you'll have an idea what you need to do, but with the new, when was it built? During the boom, tail end of the boom, or after the crash, and is the developer still in business, and if not in business, how are the rest of their houses?

blackbelted

they are all very new , built since last year. no clue about developers, but must be still in business. the old ones probably will need extra 50K work on it + time.

witchgirl26

A few things to think about:

Are you planning on moving again or is this your "forever home" (as much as you can tell now)?
Which area do you prefer?
Which is nearer friends, family etc? You may have a lovely house but if it's a trek to see people it may become isolating.
As has been said - is there much work to be put into the older house & the price difference between the two. If you're not looking at selling any time in the foreseeable future, you might be happy to put the money in as a sunk cost in the older house but not so much if you think you'll move in the next few years & not recoup that.
Do you want to do work on a house or do you want it in turn-key mode?

These are just things I've thought of from looking at it myself. I moved from where I grew up across the city & it doesn't seem that far but it was a little isolating at first. Conscious effort has to be made to go over to people and for them to come over to me. It's why I make the point about family & friends.

riclad

Think where do you want to live for the next 10 -20 years,
old house may be bigger ,or have a big garden , at the back .
Buying a new house ,gardens are all the same size .
Old house,s vary in size , room size ,or size of garden .height of ceilings.
my friend was going to buy old house 800sq ft ,in 2004 ,city centre .
but the back garden was 30ft long .
he did,nt buy it cos there was alot of work to be done .
ie buying old means you have a wide range of choice ,
maybe closer to shops or luas etc
many old house,s have walled gardens , gives you more privacy than just wooden fence .

Victor

Where will you be commuting to? Where are your social links?

If you will need to spend money on an old house, then spend less on the purchase price.