Buying apt for more disposable income?

Kai123

Hello,

I've around 12k saved, and savings have had a major bump in the last few months due to a payrise. I am saving 1k a month.

I currently pay €600 (bills included) in a shared apartment. I've been looking to move out and desperate to live on my own. I've been looking at places to rent around my local area (D15), but cheaper 2 bedrooms are going for 1200, and single bedrooms are like gold-dust but normally go for 1k.

I'm very close to having a deposit on a cheaper place to live. If I buy I'd be paying around €550 on the mortgage, leaving my 1k free for living.

Is it worth buying a place, a small place to have more disposable income? I could rent somewhere nicer but my savings will take a massive hit.

Buying seems like a great idea financially but I'm not familiar with people buying just to avoid higher rent. It might be a stupid idea, or would this be something that is more situational to my own circumstances?

Sorry if this is phrased really badly, I've just finished a very long night shift.

Kai.

athtrasna

Managment fees, insurance, standing charges on utilities, LPT etc will eat into that disposable income. Plus you will need at least 10% deposit and apartments aren't exactly going cheap at the moment (unless there's an issue with it), it may be a while before you're near purchase ready (remember legal fees, surveys etc add several thousand to purchase cost)

seamus

Kai123 wrote: »

Is it worth buying a place, a small place to have more disposable income? I could rent somewhere nicer but my savings will take a massive hit.

So. Have a think about these two statements together.

If you buy, you'll have to buy in a slightly less desirable area.

And you've bought, which means you can't leave easily. Indeed, if prices take a nosedive (even in that area solely), you're pinned in. If you were renting you could leave or negotiate a lower rent.

Buying seems like a great idea financially but I'm not familiar with people buying just to avoid higher rent. It might be a stupid idea, or would this be something that is more situational to my own circumstances?

This is extremely common. A lot of people buy because mortgage repayments are less than rent. It's not necessarily that straightforward - if you buy you have more overheads in maintenance and insurance. It's not a simple mortgage -v- rent comparison.

Buy;

1. If you actually want to own a place
2. If you actually want to live in the place that you own for at least ten years
3. If it makes financial sense

Don't buy any old property in any old place because it makes more sense than renting. It's a long commitment. It would be like marrying some random person off the street because you didn't fancy going on dates anymore. You could very quickly find out that you've made a terrible choice, but now you're stuck with it.

StanleyOllie

There is a lot more to pay than just mortgage. Mortgage protection, LPT, imsurance, management fees. All bills... heating, tv, internet, electricity, tv licence. I know you dont need all the above but most have those bills and more. Just dont take on more than you can afford. Budget it all out.

Kai123

Lets say a €550 mortgage + all additional costs come to around 1k a month (if spreading one-off costs over the year).

I guess I'd be treating the apartment as an investment. With that money sinking into a place to live, the security would be really nice. i'd genuinely prefer to rent but I'm trying to think long term. I don't want to share a place for years to save.

I know I mentioned it as an investment, but it would still be a home. I'd have no plans on moving out or upgrading. I'm deeply conflicted about how to handle my future. If I knew rent would be coming down in the future then maybe I could live a year without saving.

Thanks for the input anyway. I'll be saving around €300 a month after I move. Having my own place will be its own reward, and I can re-evaluate in a years time.

Lux23

Maybe you just need to find better roommates and just continue saving until you can afford to buy a home for the long-term?

Lux23

Lux23 wrote: »

Maybe you just need to find better roommates and just continue saving until you can afford to buy a home for the long-term?

No matter how good your housemates are you get sick of sharing (or are sick of it from day one like I am/was). I don't see anything wrong with buying with it not being intended as you long term home, better than paying massive rent and sharing imo. I'm currently hoping to buy in the next while and I could see myself living there for no more than 2 or 3 years if even. Also with prices rising all the time you will be in a better position to trade up having something to sell on or you could rent it out and start a side business as a LL (as would be my intention).

awec

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

No matter how good your housemates are you get sick of sharing (or are sick of it from day one like I am/was). I don't see anything wrong with buying with it not being intended as you long term home, better than paying massive rent and sharing imo. I'm currently hoping to buy in the next while and I could see myself living there for no more than 2 or 3 years if even. Also with prices rising all the time you will be in a better position to trade up having something to sell on or you could rent it out and start a side business as a LL (as would be my intention).

I've fallen asleep and woken up 10 years ago. :pac::pac:

SarahMollie

awec wrote: »

I've fallen asleep and woken up 10 years ago. :pac::pac:

LOL:D

I'm not sure there is a scenario out there where Nox would consider renting to be preferable to buying.

Personally I think 2/3 years is a very short period of time to hold a property, especially if you live in it yourself. You end up spending loads on fees, stamp duty, decoration, furniture thats to your liking.... all of that can wipe out any "savings" versus renting, when its over such a short period of time.

Being an amateur LL is not my idea of a good time. Also, I've made my place so nice, that I don't want randoms renting it and spilling things all over my lovely sofa! Maybe once my stuff is 5 years old+ and I'm getting sick of it anyway, but not when its only 2 years old.

Also not sure I'd want to be relying on capital gains too much. While I don't see prices going down, I'm not sure they'll race ahead much further.

Also buying a house is a lot of work! Not something I'm keen to do over and over again! Hopefully only once more

PhoenixParker

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

No matter how good your housemates are you get sick of sharing (or are sick of it from day one like I am/was). I don't see anything wrong with buying with it not being intended as you long term home, better than paying massive rent and sharing imo. I'm currently hoping to buy in the next while and I could see myself living there for no more than 2 or 3 years if even. Also with prices rising all the time you will be in a better position to trade up having something to sell on or you could rent it out and start a side business as a LL (as would be my intention).

Reason's not to buy for a 2 - 3 year time horizon:

Let's start with the notion of "sure I can just rent it out"

The idea of "renting it out" once you don't want to live there is really not all it's cracked up to be. There's tax to be paid on rent you take in and while you can deduct expenses from that, you're still looking at 30 - 40% of the rent disappearing as tax before you pay it towards your mortgage. Even the best tenants can be a hassle because when something goes wrong, it doesn't matter that you're on holiday in Thailand, that leak needs to be fixed quickly. There's also a large amount of risk associated with non-paying and destructive tenants. The risk is fine if you can insure yourself and afford to cover the mortgage for years yourself, but if that's not your position, then beware.

The other harsh reality is that if you want to buy somewhere else to live, you're going to need to sell property 1 to free up enough income to meet the 3.5 rule incurring costs like:

• Solicitors Fees to Sell
• Estate Agent Fees to Sell
• Moving Fees

which are in addition to the costs of buying in the first place:

• Stamp Duty
• Solicitors Fees to Buy
• Other Costs of Buying and Selling (search fees etc.)
• Decorating & Furnishing Costs

That's easily E7K by itself but the total will depend on the cost of the property you're purchasing.

All of those costs will eat into any gain associated with a rising market. (If indeed it is a rising market)

Additionally selling to buy another property at the moment (and for the last 8 years) has involved selling first, then renting somewhere for several months while you find somewhere to buy. That doesn't seem likely to change any time soon, which adds hugely to the costs and hassle associated with moving home for a property owner vs someone renting.

For that, even if young, free and single, I'd suggest a two bed flat of a decent size which you could conceivably and comfortably share with someone else. It should have adequate storage (or the ability to add it in), some out door space or good access to nearby outdoor space and access to a variety of potential workplaces if there's any chance you'll move job.

In short, to the OP, while I wouldn't rule out buying once your savings reach a suitable level (likely to be at least 18 months at E1K a month), I would do so with caution and using an "I'd be happy to live here for at least 5 years" as a minimum time horizon.

awec

awec wrote: »

I've fallen asleep and woken up 10 years ago. :pac::pac:

No you haven't, things are very different this time. Prices are rising and there is very little to suggest this is going to stop in the short term and nothing to suggest there will be significant if any reduction in prices in the medium to long term. Incase you haven't noticed there is a massive housing shortage and almost not building happening and also credit is not being handed out like it was in the boom. Things are very different this time around.

SarahMollie wrote: »

LOL:D

I'm not sure there is a scenario out there where Nox would consider renting to be preferable to buying.

Your are right there, I have no desire whatsoever to pay rent, even the 1/3 of a house I'm paying which is also under market rent annoys me. Very much.

SarahMollie wrote: »

Personally I think 2/3 years is a very short period of time to hold a property, especially if you live in it yourself. You end up spending loads on fees, stamp duty, decoration, furniture thats to your liking.... all of that can wipe out any "savings" versus renting, when its over such a short period of time.

Being an amateur LL is not my idea of a good time. Also, I've made my place so nice, that I don't want randoms renting it and spilling things all over my lovely sofa! Maybe once my stuff is 5 years old+ and I'm getting sick of it anyway, but not when its only 2 years old.

While I don't personally see 2/3 year being too short to flip a house I would more than likely be looking at the renting route as I very much like the idea of having a place (or even two down the line) rented out. Being from a farming background being a LL would be a walk in the park from a "hard work" perspective. As for furnishing etc anything that wouldn't be easily transferable to another property would be bought with short term in mind so no major money would be spend furnishing that wouldn't be moved and be a saving on the next place (can be replaced with cheap stuff then if renting it).

SarahMollie wrote: »

Also buying a house is a lot of work! Not something I'm keen to do over and over again! Hopefully only once more

Again its a process I actually don't mind being involved in and to be honest seeing a few people try to rent new places the last while its damn near as much work moving rental house as buying.

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Reason's not to buy for a 2 - 3 year time horizon:

Let's start with the notion of "sure I can just rent it out"

The idea of "renting it out" once you don't want to live there is really not all it's cracked up to be. There's tax to be paid on rent you take in and while you can deduct expenses from that, you're still looking at 30 - 40% of the rent disappearing as tax before you pay it towards your mortgage. Even the best tenants can be a hassle because when something goes wrong, it doesn't matter that you're on holiday in Thailand, that leak needs to be fixed quickly. There's also a large amount of risk associated with non-paying and destructive tenants. The risk is fine if you can insure yourself and afford to cover the mortgage for years yourself, but if that's not your position, then beware.

Yes there is tax but if you buy right where renting is easy and a good rent can be achieved it's doable to cover the mortgage particularly at today's crazy rents.

The work of LL is very much over state too imo. I'm living in houseshares over 7 years and I would say on average the LL has been contacted once per year in the places and all it involved was him giving my number to a plumber etc who then contacted me to arrange the fix.

The risk of no rent/over holding can be significantly mitigated also by renting rooms separately.

PhoenixParker wrote: »

The other harsh reality is that if you want to buy somewhere else to live, you're going to need to sell property 1 to free up enough income to meet the 3.5 rule incurring costs like:

This is not always the case particularly if you were to buy now alone and the next place was a dual income application. Also my next place could be a self build on our own land or a house in a rural location (for a very big and new or newish house) so multipliers would not be as big an issue due to lower cost and of course savings would be much easier with a low monthly repayment compared to massive monthly rent.

PhoenixParker wrote: »

• Solicitors Fees to Sell
• Estate Agent Fees to Sell
• Moving Fees

which are in addition to the costs of buying in the first place:

• Stamp Duty
• Solicitors Fees to Buy
• Other Costs of Buying and Selling (search fees etc.)
• Decorating & Furnishing Costs

That's easily E7K by itself but the total will depend on the cost of the property you're purchasing.

Would be only half the above if you don't sell the first and that few k wouldn't be long disappearing from the 600 euro or so extra you are paying every month in rent. Also you are funding a place you own and every month your repayment a portion goes towards you owning a bit more of it so even you only broke even on what you paid in rent vs all costs of ownership buying is still much more preferable as a decent portion of what you have paid is actually gone towards equity in the house/apartment (and you are most likely going to be quids in buying with current crazy rents).

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Additionally selling to buy another property at the moment (and for the last 8 years) has involved selling first, then renting somewhere for several months while you find somewhere to buy. That doesn't seem likely to change any time soon, which adds hugely to the costs and hassle associated with moving home for a property owner vs someone renting.

This is not the case, the vast majority of people who see one house and buy another do it in a chain where they sell the house they are in and buy the new place at the same time.

awec

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

No you haven't, things are very different this time. Prices are rising and there is very little to suggest this is going to stop in the short term and nothing to suggest there will be significant if any reduction in prices in the medium to long term. Incase you haven't noticed there is a massive housing shortage and almost not building happening and also credit is not being handed out like it was in the boom. Things are very different this time around.

There is no real suggestion that these things will happen before they happen. Prices will not continue to rise constantly, I am genuinely amazed to see this sort of thinking today when it hasn't even been 10 years since this thinking saw thousands of people ending up financially screwed.

Anyone buying a property with the view to living there for three years is actually just insane. Going through all that time, effort and cost for such a short period of time. Mental.

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

Would be only half the above if you don't sell the first and that few k wouldn't be long disappearing from the 600 euro or so extra you are paying every month in rent.

nox can you give us a link to the sort of property where you think the cost of the rent is 600 euro higher than the cost of a mortgage and other home related costs that renters don't have to pay?

Benevolent Misanthrope

awec wrote: »

I've fallen asleep and woken up 10 years ago. :pac::pac:

Bear in mind that today's 25 year olds would have been 15 year old kids when the last bubble was going on.

awec

awec wrote: »

There is no real suggestion that these things will happen before they happen. Prices will not continue to rise constantly, I am genuinely amazed to see this sort of thinking today when it hasn't even been 10 years since this thinking saw thousands of people ending up financially screwed.

They will rise further though and even if they don't increase much more they wont fall either. Look how much they have increased since the end of last year even. Would you have made the same statement to someone before christmas who is not paying maybe 15k or so more for their property. In my mind there is no doubt prices will rise gradually over the coming months and into the next year or two.

Also people got financially ruined due to 100% mortgages and borrowing 6x their salary that ain't happening now. People have much more equity in their houses and have much more reasonable and stress tested repayments.

awec wrote: »

Anyone buying a property with the view to living there for three years is actually just insane. Going through all that time, effort and cost for such a short period of time. Mental.

It's not mental at all I see it as a far wiser move than spending eye watering amounts of money on rent and having absolutely nothing to show for it. Do you realise how much effort it is to rent now? I've seen people go through it and its not much easier than buying and even then I don't have any problem with going through the time and effort of buying in fact I look forward to getting the process started.

I don't consider 3 years that short a time, truth be told I might be even much less time than that living there were I to buy but I'm not bothered its a much better use of cash than renting and also a much better use of savings than leaving them in the back making nothing in interest. The place can be ideally rented or sold when I was to move.

awec wrote: »

nox can you give us a link to the sort of property where you think the cost of the rent is 600 euro higher than the cost of a mortgage and other home related costs that renters don't have to pay?

There are many many examples but here is one I chose as its easy to find data on renting vs buying and the figure for management fees is given (I have also been in the complex and I know they are very nice and well built apartments)

http://www.daft.ie/cork/apartments-for-sale/cork-city-centre/23-trinity-court-georges-quay-cork-city-centre-cork-1227660/

Cost to buy (if it goes around asking) 170k. Doing my figures on this gives roughly a mortgage repayment of 570 per month, management fee 136 per month, life assurance 13 euro per month, house insurance I have no idea but Im sure its no more than 20 euro a month so all in 740 ish per month.

http://www.rent.ie/houses-to-let/Trinity-Court-Georges-Quay--White-Street-Cork-City-Centre-Co-Cork/1614491/

Here is an apartment in the same complex let for 1350 in January. Now you will find them going for a little less say 1250 or 1300 but most don't have parking at the lower price and the apartment for sale as a spot included.

Benevolent Misanthrope wrote: »

Bear in mind that today's 25 year olds would have been 15 year old kids when the last bubble was going on.

I'm a good few years older then 25.

Benevolent Misanthrope

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

I'm a good few years older then 25.

What's your excuse so?

I think the market (especially in Dublin) could take a big plunge in the next 2 or 3 years, and I say that as somebody who has just bought. I'm ok with that as I'm basically buying with cash a house that will do me for the rest of my life, but if I was leveraged I would be scared sh!tless.

Benevolent Misanthrope

Benevolent Misanthrope wrote: »

What's your excuse so?

I think the market (especially in Dublin) could take a big plunge in the next 2 or 3 years,

What's your reasoning for expecting a plunge, to be honest I can't see any reason for a plunge happening again anything like what happened before a levelling off and fluctuation around that is the most I could see.

I don't think prices will ever get as low as they did about 3 years ago, in reality they undershot what they were worth by a decent margin.

In anycase Dublin is of no interest to me as I'll not be buying or renting there.

Benevolent Misanthrope

I'll very briefly answer point by point, apologies if I come across as patronising as this is my second time around for warning people about a property bubble in Ireland.

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

What's your reasoning for expecting a plunge, to be honest I can't see any reason for a plunge happening again anything like what happened before a levelling off and fluctuation around that is the most I could see.

There are loads of reasons why we might see a second plunge (or crash). Brexit. Another Greek situation in Greece or elsewhere sending bond yields soaring. A Chinese collapse. War. Migrant crisis. Oil price collapse. Oil price boom. Tax reform in the US. There are literally dozens of possibilities.

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

I don't think prices will ever get as low as they did about 3 years ago, in reality they undershot what they were worth by a decent margin.

Why would they not undershoot again?

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

In anycase Dublin is of no interest to me as I'll not be buying or renting there.

Where Dublin goes, the rest of Ireland goes.

Mr. Incognito

Average wage in Ireland 30K

Average house price in Dublin 300K

Property is still vastly overvalued.

None of the regulatory, financial culture, gazumping, changes to prevent another bubble are in place.

Ill not be buying any time soon and i say that as a 34 year old solicitor who can afford to.

There will be another bubble and another crash worse than before when china goes to the wall and a lot of the tech jobs leave.

James Bond Junior

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

Cost to buy (if it goes around asking) 170k. Doing my figures on this gives roughly a mortgage repayment of 570 per month, management fee 136 per month, life assurance 13 euro per month, house insurance I have no idea but Im sure its no more than 20 euro a month so all in 740 ish per month.

Let me know where you can get a mortgage of 153000 that repays 570 a month will you? Allow 500 euro per 100k is a good rule of thumb.

Life assurance is probably double your figure in reality. House insurance minimum 350 but most probably higher than 400 a year.

Hollister11

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Average wage in Ireland 30K

Average house price in Dublin 300K

Property is still vastly overvalued.

None of the regulatory, financial culture, gazumping, changes to prevent another bubble are in place.

Ill not be buying any time soon and i say that as a 34 year old solicitor who can afford to.

There will be another bubble and another crash worse than before when china goes to the wall and a lot of the tech jobs leave.

Don't say that

James Bond Junior

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Let me know where you can get a mortgage of 153000 that repays 570 a month will you? Allow 500 euro per 100k is a good rule of thumb.

Life assurance is probably double your figure in reality. House insurance minimum 350 but most probably higher than 400 a year.

Who said the mortgage would be 153000 and I've a proper quote for mortgage protection life cover for 13 euro a month, the quote is unrelated to any property so it's applicable to use the figure here. I asked for the bare minimum cover that that bank would require and that's the quote I got.

Just did a quick quote there for house insurance on a property similar to the one I linked, 160 euro for the year was the quote.

These are just rough figures, the property I liked is just an example not one I'm actually looking at as I'm not actually looking as yet.

Hollister11 wrote: »

Don't say that

Don't listen to it, tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theory nonsense. China has little to effect on our economy.

James Bond Junior

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

Who said the mortgage would be 153000 and I've a proper quote for mortgage protection life cover for 13 euro a month, the quote is unrelated to any property so it's applicable to use the figure here. I asked for the bare minimum cover that that bank would require and that's the quote I got.

Just did a quick quote there for house instance on a property similar to the one I linked, 160 euro for the year was the quote.

These are just rough figures, the property I liked is just an example not one I'm actually looking at.



Don't listen to it, tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theory nonsense. China has little to effect on our economy.

Well I assumed, wrongly clearly, that you were going on a 90% ltv seeing as you have 12k saved. 17k needed before fees, stamp duty and other assorted costs for the linked property. Don't underestimate the unseen costs of property ownership. The night latch on my door broke in my hand last night so I had to go out a replace it with a better quality one which cost €50 just like that. If I wasn't diy minded if have needed a locksmith and that would have easily turned into €150 after a call out fee etc. I need a plumber to have a look a few bits next week and anticipate that to be minimum another €100. Worst case scenario it will turn into €500 plus. My drain was blocked recently. It needed jetting at a cost of €150. You would be shocked at what you spend your money on that just doesn't arise when renting or that you don't give a second thought to and there is ALWAYS something be it a necessity or a piece of furniture or a bbq. There is a price to living one doesn't think about when renting; those things that make your house your home like the nice mirror or fancy picture frame.

James Bond Junior

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Well I assumed, wrongly clearly, that you were going on a 90% ltv seeing as you have 12k saved. .

That was the op giving them details not me. I didn't go into any actual figures for myself bar the mortgage protection number. The rest were just very rough numbers picked to illustrate the point I was making about rent vs mortgage.

athtrasna

Just FYI house insurance is not a cost for apartments as it's covered by management fees. So while contents insurance is a cost, buildings insurance isn't

Benevolent Misanthrope

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

Don't listen to it, tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theory nonsense. China has little to effect on our economy.

So if the economy in a quarter of the world goes through a collapse, the rest of us will just sail through without a bother? Much like the sub-prime crisis in the US, right?

:rolleyes:

Ok OP, if you want to be blind to the potential risks, off you go. It's clear your mind is made up, the only mystery is why you bothered asking, unless it's just to hear people telling you it's a great idea. But for a laugh, you might want to read what people were saying about property here and on other sites only ten years ago.

Ri_Nollaig

The long and short of it OP is unless someone has a crystal ball, they have no way of really knowing the long term economic outlook.
Maybe the Chinese economy will crash; may not. Maybe the huge number of tech jobs that employee thousands in this country will move on, maybe not.
Maybe Trump will cause a 3rd World War, maybe Britain will leave the EU, maybe Ireland will win the Euros [...OK thats silly talk]

10 years ago people were predicting the crash, they were right but likewise 15 years ago there were predicting the crash too and it continued on for another 5. lol

But either way, you do need to imagine possible outcomes like this and you would be very foolish to assume that the housing prices will definitely continue to go up. Buying a house is not something done on impulse and you really need to be very sure. So I would only buy in a place you are happy to live in for minimum of 10 years and in all honesty you do NOT want to become a landlord.

Landlords are a profession by right and really only work when they have multiple properties and are able to use economics of scale on the various upkeep, having handymen on call etc. Not to mention being able to take the potential loses that might result in a bad tenant causing damage and not paying rent for an extended period of time.

seamus

If the world economy saw another collapse on the same scale as 2008-2010 tbh I think the last thing we'll end up worrying about is paying mortgages. That was something on a once-in-a-lifetime scale, if it were to happen again a large chunk of the institutions that have just got back on their feet would be completely screwed and we'd be looking at a decade of war and civil unrest, even in the western world. Ultimately there's still a house of cards propping up credit institutions. The ECB and IMF are owed large sums of money from bailed out banks and countries. Another economic collapse and we'd see those loans default. Then what? Who bails out the bailers?

It's understandable that people are fearful after being so badly burned, but worrying about another huge collapse is massively overegging the potential of what's going on IMHO. If all of the worst-case scenarios were to come true then we'd be screwed. But that's always been the case, even when economies were strong.

Property prices in Ireland won't be rising beyond inflation in the medium term - the credit and investors just aren't there to inflate another bubble - and there's a potential for a small dip as building ramps up and supply begins to catch up with demand.

There is one piece of positivity about the Irish property market - we've finally reached the point where a new property is more valuable than an old one. During the 90's and 00's, pre-1990 houses were generally considered sturdier and better built than new houses, and counter-intuitively you'd pay more for a fixer-upper than a brand new house in move-in condition. This trend has been been reversed now.

Idbatterim

Average wage in Ireland 30K

Average house price in Dublin 300K

Property is still vastly overvalued.

None of the regulatory, financial culture, gazumping, changes to prevent another bubble are in place.

Ill not be buying any time soon and i say that as a 34 year old solicitor who can afford to.

There will be another bubble and another crash worse than before when china goes to the wall and a lot of the tech jobs leave.

and you think the vested interest snakes are going to do something about it for us? I think you mistake our role in society, its simply to be an ATM, nice cash machine for the get everything free brigade...

There may well be another crash at some point, will you be better off waiting for or hoping for it? Then hoping there is a severe enough drop that it was worth the wait, then ensuring you are actually in a position to buy if things do collapse?

I dont know where you are located, but if outside of Dublin, I dont know how anyone can really complain about prices. Here is the equivalent to london v rest of uk, simply a totally different ball game....

Also the central bank have layid down strict limits on deposit and the income multiple that can be borrowed, I dont really agree that things are the same as they were...

handlemaster

Benevolent Misanthrope wrote: »

Valentina Tall Vengeance wrote: »

I'm a good few years older then 25.

What's your excuse so?

I think the market (especially in Dublin) could take a big plunge in the next 2 or 3 years, and I say that as somebody who has just bought. I'm ok with that as I'm basically buying with cash a house that will do me for the rest of my life, but if I was leveraged I would be scared sh!tless.

Why do you think there could be a big plunge ? What are you basing this on ? Nothing to suggest that at the moment

handlemaster

OP if its right for you go for it. Lots on here would have you believe the world will end if you make a decision and thats to either buy or continuing to rent. No one can tell you whats best for you. If I were you I would buy move in and move on>

But there is nothing wrong with renting it does give you a better future choices as regards flexibility

Benevolent Misanthrope

handlemaster wrote: »

Why do you think there could be a big plunge ? What are you basing this on ? Nothing to suggest that at the moment

Oddly enough, that's what the general public thought 10 years ago. By the time the evidence for such a plunge is visible, it will already have happened.