Relocating to be mortgage free

Jill4

I'm considering selling my home in dublin to buy a cheaper house in the country and be mortgage free. I'm in my 40s and like the idea of a quieter life and being debt free. Has anybody else done this and can you offer any advise? Thanks

dev100

Jill4 wrote:

I'm considering selling my home in dublin to buy a cheaper house in the country and be mortgage free. I'm in my 40s and like the idea of a quieter life and being debt free. Has anybody else done this and can you offer any advise? Thanks

What about your work situation and family situation and what type of equity do you have in your Dublin home ?

Ms2011

We're doing what you're thinking of doing. Bought a doer upper 2 years ago for cash an hour outside Dublin, have been doing it up over the past 2 years & we're finally moving in on Saturday.
Sold our house in Dublin & cleared the mortgage leaving us mortgage free.

Ms2011

Ms2011 wrote: »

We're doing what you're thinking of doing. Bought a doer upper 2 years ago for cash an hour outside Dublin, have been doing it up over the past 2 years & we're finally moving in on Saturday.
Sold our house in Dublin & cleared the mortgage leaving us mortgage free.

Congratulations. Must be a great feeling

Ms2011

Jake1 wrote: »

Congratulations. Must be a great feeling

Thank you, I don't think it'll hit us until we spend our first night there

shakencat

We have been thinking of this for the last few months, nearly went sale agreed at christmas and we chickened out...

Im 29, just unsure of being outside of dublin with no family and friends..

I do know i can make friends, but obviously dublin girl in me is a bit afraid..


Where are you thinking of moving to?

TresGats

Hoping to this also, move from a semi-d in a Dublin estate to a cottage somewhere scenic. - Cork, Kerry, or Galway. I have family in Kilkenny & Laois, but I think I'd like to live near the sea. Love to hear how you get on, everyone. I'm just looking at properties atm online, property in my estate has literally gone up 40k in the past year, giving me more options. Good luck!

shakencat

TresGats wrote: »

Hoping to this also, move from a semi-d in a Dublin estate to a cottage somewhere scenic. - Cork, Kerry, or Galway. I have family in Kilkenny & Laois, but I think I'd like to live near the sea. Love to hear how you get on, everyone. I'm just looking at properties atm online, property in my estate has literally gone up 40k in the past year, giving me more options. Good luck!

We'll both be still working in Dublin, but not during rush hour, so for me its just deciding how far id like to go, so hard to know what to do!

Jill4

Im not too concerned about work as the industry i work in has desperate shortages of staff in dublin never mind outside dublin so im confident I'll walk into a job. Same for my husband. Have no children so dont have to take schools etc into consideration. Just wondering if in the long run ill regret leaving the city for the quiet life. I dont think ill miss the rat race but i wonder if it'll be a novelty for a while and then ill get bored!

Jill4

Sorry... thinking of buying in lonford/roscommon . Would have about 150k to purchase a property

Del2005

Jill4 wrote: »

Im not too concerned about work as the industry i work in has desperate shortages of staff in dublin never mind outside dublin so im confident I'll walk into a job. Same for my husband. Have no children so dont have to take schools etc into consideration. Just wondering if in the long run ill regret leaving the city for the quiet life. I dont think ill miss the rat race but i wonder if it'll be a novelty for a while and then ill get bored!

Rent a cottage where you are considering moving for a few weeks in January. Then see if you still want to live in the countryside.

Sausage dog

What do you like about living in Dublin? Can you list the advantages? Maybe a large town in another county will provide you with most of the same things you like about Dublin. Perhaps spent a night or two in different places over the next few weeks to get a feel for some towns & areas outside of Dublin. Look at them as potential areas to live in, not just for a night away. Talk to the locals etc.

myshirt

Do you like cutting grass and maintaining s garden?

Mightn't be an obvious one, but nevertheless one to think through.

jamesthepeach

I know a few people who have done this over the years. All but one couple are very happy with the move.
The one couple just don't like the countryside and miss Dublin desperately but have told me that what they have found once you move out to the country from Dublin, it's infinitely harder to move the other way as it's a significant trade upwards instead of down. And over time that difference between Dublin house prices and country prices will get bigger and bigger.

So by all means it's a nice experience for most people, just be sure it's for you, because it's most likely a one way trip once you release the equity in the Dublin house.

mariaalice

I know someone considering this at the moment but the other way round they are selling a large house in a sought after rural area to move in to an urban area, its to do with illness and future proofing their life, they will make a large amount on the transaction and will probably buy something in Spain as well. They are hesitant because they are so use to the country side.

There is a lot of maintenance on a large house and big gardens.

DoozerT6

Hoping to do this myself soon. Budget would be limited, but if it meant I was mortgage free and could afford to save a few extra quid a month, at some stage maybe I could trade up again, with what I've saved+the cost of the property I'd be selling.

LirW

We just did it. In our case it was more a question of we have a huge deposit but wouldn't meet lending criteria (one stay-at-home parent). Decided to go that route, since he can relocate job fairly easy and I'm planning to pick up my work at the home office again within the next year.
It feels absolutely amazing, there were a few compromises but in the end we own that place now.
It's not too big, just the right size (3bed and attic converted) and a smaller garden for a rural area.

Sleeper12

Jill4 wrote:

I'm considering selling my home in dublin to buy a cheaper house in the country and be mortgage free. I'm in my 40s and like the idea of a quieter life and being debt free. Has anybody else done this and can you offer any advise? Thanks

Friends of mine did this about 12 years ago. Moved to Mulingar. He lost the job a year later and has been able to get work since. He could have full time work if still living in Dublin. They love it down there in fairness

Jill4

Thank you all for your replies. We put our house on the market today. We've decided to go with it. Turns out the agent thinks we'll get substantially more than we expected which will leave us very comfortable.the market is heating up in Dublin and we're ready to take advantage Sometimes you just have to take risks otherwise you'll never know! The glass is always half full for me. Will keep you posted thanks

bennyineire

Sounds exiting, best of luck
Have you considered Offaly, lots of cheap options within 10 miles of Tullamore, motorways and railways close by and only 1 hour from Dublin

Mirror game

Lots of people have moved into my area(3hrs from Dublin) over the last few years not only from Dublin but also London and other European cities. Most were cash buyers and got a great deal on well finished houses.
If it's a .5 acre site. Roughly €900 a year will get get all garden work done.
Moving within a few miles of a large town is a lot easier than going to a very rural location better again if its a tourist/scenic spot.

mariaalice

Anyone thinking of it should consider a few things, if you have children mover to a rural area nears a town with a secondary school most but not all teenagers hate living in the countryside parents often end up as a constant taxi so if you are near enough to a town with a secondary school they will be able to meet up with their friends its a bonus. The cost of paying for accommodation college is a big issue as well.

On the other hand hand services are often cheaper every thing from child care to hairdressing to yoga classes. There wont be the massive waiting lists to get in to the scouts and the like schools will be smaller.

Emme

mariaalice wrote: »

On the other hand hand services are often cheaper every thing from child care to hairdressing to yoga classes. There wont be the massive waiting lists to get in to the scouts and the like schools will be smaller.

Yoga classes can be more expensive in the country. I moved from Dublin to a rural area and everything health/fitness related from the gym to yoga and pilates classes are more expensive. The gym is overcrowded with poor facilities and overcrowded yoga and pilates classes are held in a parish hall. The people organising them know there is no competition and they hike the prices accordingly.

People in the countryside can be very cliquey and unfriendly. I agree that being mortgage free is very attractive but think carefully about moving out of the city. Once you leave you cannot go back and if you don't like where you are you are stuck and have to put up with it.

mariaalice

Well it was just one persons experience they found everything cheaper, if the person is the type to think urban life is the bees knees and they are only moving to be mortgage free it is probably not a good idea, also where you move to has an influence as well some where like west Cork is going to have a different ambience that the midlands for example.

secman

I'm in the lucky position of living and working in Dublin Mon to Fri. Have a house in wexford 2.5 times the size of dublin house. Relatively small mortgage on Dublin house at this stage. But I'm still happy with the current set up. Having both really allows you to get best out of both and appreciate both. Friends of ours were in exact same position but sold dublin house 2 years ago. Wexford home is no longer a bolt hole retreat, they now go away long weekends and do miss dublin too. Another reason for me is , in Dublin I am 3 to 5 min away from a major hospital, wexford would be 35- 40 mins.
As someone else said very hard to reverse it. I would seriously consider renting out Dublin home and rent rurally before I would sell dublin home. I know a guy doing exactly this. Getting 1500 pm in Dublin and is paying 700 in wexford.

Good luck to all considering these options.

mariaalice

silly_move wrote: »

unless the mortgage was a struggle , i would not do it , unless you are of country " stock " or have relatives in a rural area , you are an alien to the locals , never underestimate the clannishness of rural ireland

That why it better to consider an area that has attracted a lot of outsiders already and or has a tourist element places like that tend to be more cosmopolitanism.

MSVforever

mariaalice wrote: »

That why it better to consider an area that has attracted a lot of outsiders already and or has a tourist element places like that tend to be more cosmopolitanism.

Which areas would be cosmopolitan apart from Dublin and Cork? Maybe Galway or Limerick?

Emme

MSVforever wrote: »

Which areas would be cosmopolitan apart from Dublin and Cork? Maybe Galway or Limerick?

Westport in Mayo and Youghal in Cork are quite cosmopolitan with a lot of foreign settlers.

mariaalice

MSVforever wrote: »

Which areas would be cosmopolitan apart from Dublin and Cork? Maybe Galway or Limerick?

It is amazing the views some people have of the Ireland outside of Dublin or other large urban areas.

LirW

MSVforever wrote: »

Which areas would be cosmopolitan apart from Dublin and Cork? Maybe Galway or Limerick?

Most parts of Wicklow are very cosmopolitan too.

Mirror game

bennyineire wrote: »

Have you considered Offaly, lots of cheap options within 10 miles of Tullamore, motorways and railways close by and only 1 hour from Dublin

The 1hr from Dublin is a big plus but I wouldn't go for here as the place itself is a gateway town and wouldn't have much to offer in itself.

Emme wrote: »

Westport in Mayo and Youghal in Cork are quite cosmopolitan with a lot of foreign settlers.

I like both of these they're both tourist towns, in other words a place people actually want to be in.
Even though prices in both places are cheap I'd go for Youghal as it's only 50km to cork on a good road. Only drawback is they both a bit on the small side 6k-7K.