Moving out of Dublin

khaldrogo

awec wrote:

This is a bizarre thread. The OP wants to live within an hour of Dublin, but this place must not have too many Dubs living there.

Wants a house for 200k, cheap by any standards in the greater Dublin region, but cannot have certain type of people living around it.


Good luck in your search, it’ll take a while.

Thanks for the helpful input, no sure how the thread could have progressed without it.

I expect better from a mod.

An hour out of Dublin down the N4/N6 and I'm in Athlone, Mullingar, Roscommon etc.....not exactly the greater Dublin area.

ElKavo

We did something similar in 2005, I thought, sure I can do the 1 - 1:30 commute twice a day. I was lucky enough in that I start at 10 and finish at 6 so I tended to miss a lot of traffic like this. I did that for almost 7 years. It really started to grate on me in the last 2 yeas or so, All it takes is a crash, bad weather, roadworks etc to see your "reasonable" commute time easily double!! Fridays although I finish at 4:30 would see me with a typical 3 hr journey home. I typically left the house at 6:10 am to go to the gym. I would be very lucky if I got home at 7:30, typically 8. If I got to tuck the kids in it was a good day.

We moved closer to Dublin in the end, we have rented for nearly 5 years now, our rent is nearly triple what our mortgage is (we still have that house as its in neg eq). I still have a realistic hour commute now where we live now and even that sucks. Our plan now is to leave Dublin properly behind I.E. live and work in a different part of the country.

Dublin is a write off IMO, it used to be a case that you could have a family and a home on 1 income, it is becoming more and more near impossible on a single income and even for homes with a second income. Once you get into a double income house you have to factor in child care costs, you cant have these show up on your bank statement though or you will have more difficulty in getting that 300+ K mortgage.

My advise would be to think really hard about what you are signing up for. The thought of a 1.5 hr commute might be bearable but the reality is typically far from it.

mariaalice

If they have put a lot of thought into it and are realistic it might work a lot of people want a more rural less Dublin lifestyle for their children, however, they would need to go a lot further than an hour from Dublin to get out to the orbit of Dublin and its attendant lifestyle.

The cost of the commute is another issue, I would hazard a guess that it would cost at least 80-100 euro in petrol a week or more as the op won't be going to Gorey because it's a mini Dublin.

The first thing to do is sell their house bank their money and rent in the area they want for a while then if it does not work they can always go back.

Toyotafanboi

I commuted from the north side of Gorey to Lucan for 18 months or so and it's an acquired taste. If you start work in Lucan between 8 and 9am you'd want to be in the car no later than 6.30am. 75-90 minutes travel time on a good day in the winter, a messy rainy day will ads 15 minutes more and an accident will take you over 2 hours no problem and you can be sure of an accident of some sort most weeks. Similar on the way home. In the summer (May-August) it's a doddle, low traffic, bright mornings, you'll do it in 50-55 minutes nice and handy and it makes it very easy to forget what a slog it is during the rest of the year.

I moved jobs and only go as far as Cherrywood now and that's an hour in the winter, maybe 1 hour 15 minutes on an exceptionally bad day and around 40 minutes this time of year. It's much much more doable. The traffic is still hellish in the winter once you get to Newtownmountkennedy but at least you don't have to take the M50.

mloc123

khaldrogo wrote: »

Thanks for the helpful input, no sure how the thread could have progressed without it.

I expect better from a mod.

An hour out of Dublin down the N4/N6 and I'm in Athlone, Mullingar, Roscommon etc.....not exactly the greater Dublin area.

An hour from Dublin (city) during normal commuting times will get you to Maynooth... not Athlone or Mullingar

Claw Hammer

khaldrogo wrote: »

I lived in athlone for college many years ago. Would certainly not want to live in the area I lived in. Not sure what parts of it would be considered good.

The area opposite of the college is very bad. There are good areas along the LONGFORD Road and the road parallel to it.

appledrop

I don't think your being realistic at all about travel times. I had to go to Athlone from Dublin back in May when schools were still on + it took me neatly 2 hours on outwar d journey + similar on way home. That's the reality when in the traffic. No point looking up aa route planner with no account of traffic.

Claw Hammer

appledrop wrote: »

I don't think your being realistic at all about travel times. I had to go to Athlone from Dublin back in May when schools were still on + it took me neatly 2 hours on outwar d journey + similar on way home. That's the reality when in the traffic. No point looking up aa route planner with no account of traffic.

A lot of this commuting is about exactly where your starting point is. A person might be able to complete the distance of 100 km to the M 50 in under an hour but could easily spend another hour negotiating their way to their ultimate destination. It can easily take an hour or more to get from Google land to the Liffey Valley shopping centre.

mariaalice

Those that are doing it and replying should really add the cost of the commute to their replies, for example, the 200k round trip daily from Gorey to Dublin how much would that cost a week.

awec

khaldrogo wrote: »

Thanks for the helpful input, no sure how the thread could have progressed without it.

I expect better from a mod.

An hour out of Dublin down the N4/N6 and I'm in Athlone, Mullingar, Roscommon etc.....not exactly the greater Dublin area.

Oh, well if you’re basing your journey times on how long it takes on a Sunday afternoon the the entire eastern half of Ireland is open to you.

theyoungchap

khaldrogo wrote: »

I saw a nice property in the Riverchapel estate but heard from a friend that lives in the general area that its where all the Dubs moved to and we don't want that.
Any advise or stories?

Whatever you do in your life, do not buy in Riverchapel.........the place has been ruined by HSE housing and not a particularly nice element from Dublin.

Being honest, I would definitely rent a house somewhere you are thinking of buying, commute it for maybe 9 months (school year), see how you feel after it. I know plenty of people who bought houses on a place being "an hour from Dublin" and now face 2-hour commutes. Have you flexi time in work and where do you work OP? (Area, not specifically).

Depending on where you are located, you could consider using the train but the train from Gorey moves at the pace of a glacier afaik.

But why not try it anyway. I would do it, try it, even rent out your house in Lucan which would cover your rent in Gorey/Carlow/wherever, do it for the school year, then if you are happy to do it for 30+ years, or get a job locally, sell up in Lucan.

Good luck!

appledrop

You also need to consider schools for your children. People think it's only schools in Dublin that have a lack of places but it can actually be worse in counties near Dublin as some schools still small but can't cater for influx of people moving there.

mortimer33

khaldrogo wrote: »

We are pretty much decided on moving out of Dublin to give the kids a better life and try and let my wife give up work at least until they are in secondary.

Dublin is a vibrant city and offers kids wonderful opportunities. From my point of view I don't think the quality of life is better in small town Ireland.

If the main concern about quality of life is being able to look after your own kids then would it be possible for your wife to work part-time and stay in Dublin? Kids will be in school for half the day anyway...

Ms2011

mariaalice wrote: »

Those that are doing it and replying should really add the cost of the commute to their replies, for example, the 200k round trip daily from Gorey to Dublin how much would that cost a week.

Carlow & back 5 days a week = €50

Claw Hammer

Ms2011 wrote: »

Carlow & back 5 days a week = €50

Is that €50 just for the fuel? There will be the depreciation of the vehicle, tyres and the servicing to take into account as well.

Ms2011

Claw Hammer wrote: »

Is that €50 just for the fuel? There will be the depreciation of the vehicle, tyres and the servicing to take into account as well.

The car is 10 years old so the majority of it's depreciation would be done now regardless.
It's serviced once a year for the NCT which would happen no matter where we lived.

ThunbergsAreGo

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Why would you choose to buy in an area that you know nothing about? At the very least rent beforehand.

Thats actually very good advice, especially with the commute

wirelessdude01

An hour from Athlone will get you to Maynooth, then you begin to hit traffic. A brief listen to AA traffic and you will realise that crashes from here on in are a frequent occurrence.

khaldrogo

Captain Flaps wrote:

Side note, I've just bought in the D14/16 area and I'm certainly not expecting gangland problems or Feral kids.

I never said that area had those problems????

However, having lived in that area for 25 yrs I can tell you it certainly has its issues. If we wanted to stay in Dublin and wanted to take on massive debt that area is where we want to live.

khaldrogo

wexie wrote:

We're about 10 miles outside Gorey and I think it's quite a nice little town, has everything you could want with regards shopping etc. several schools

Thanks for that. What is the area called if you don't mind?

khaldrogo

Can you pm me the area you are in please?

Ms2011 wrote:

OP my family moved last August from Dublin to a rural village in Carlow. We bought our detached house with an acre of land for cash well under 200k. My husband works shift in Ballymount, it takes him exactly an hour to get to & from work, he doesn't love it but he's happy with the payoff of living where we live. There are definitely pro & cons but we love it here & wouldn't go back to Dublin if someone gave us a house.

khaldrogo

ElKavo wrote:

My advise would be to think really hard about what you are signing up for. The thought of a 1.5 hr commute might be bearable but the reality is typically far from it.

With my job there is definite scope for moving within the company down the line to he closer to where I would be living but that wouldn't be for at least a few years.

khaldrogo

mariaalice wrote:

The cost of the commute is another issue, I would hazard a guess that it would cost at least 80-100 euro in petrol a week or more as the op won't be going to Gorey because it's a mini Dublin.

Company vehicle, company fuel.

mariaalice wrote:

The first thing to do is sell their house bank their money and rent in the area they want for a while then if it does not work they can always go back.

This may be what we end up doing

Captain Flaps

khaldrogo wrote: »

I never said that area had those problems????

However, having lived in that area for 25 yrs I can tell you it certainly has its issues. If we wanted to stay in Dublin and wanted to take on massive debt that area is where we want to live.

Genuinely lived there for 25 years myself, have lived all over dublin but always said if we had the means we'd end up there, so we have. Genuinely wasn't having a go at you because I spend a lot of time hiking etc so I totally appreciate wanting to move out of the city, you just seemed like you were being a bit smug about it. When I was growing up my mates who loved in commuter towns were miserable about it, my partner is from Naas and she said the bus home from college each week was her least favourite journey even though she loved seeing her family.

mariaalice

mortimer33 wrote: »

Dublin is a vibrant city and offers kids wonderful opportunities. From my point of view I don't think the quality of life is better in small town Ireland.

If the main concern about quality of life is being able to look after your own kids then would it be possible for your wife to work part-time and stay in Dublin? Kids will be in school for half the day anyway...

See I don't agree with that, have a sister that lives in a small village although it's not too far from Limerick, they play rugby, GAA, handball, soccer they are involved in Scór, they are involved in choirs and putting on plays the list is endless.

What do you think is in Dublin that you cant find anywhere else? They cycle and walk to their friends. The secret is to be not too far from the village/Towns and pick somewhere with a secondary school.

khaldrogo

mloc123 wrote:

An hour from Dublin (city) during normal commuting times will get you to Maynooth... not Athlone or Mullingar

That may well be but an hr from the m50 would get me to athlone and my work is 5 mins from the m50.

wexie

khaldrogo wrote: »

Thanks for that. What is the area called if you don't mind?

We're a little bit outside of Ballycanew which is just south of Gorey.

This is just the other side of Gorey as well :

https://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/ballyshaun-camolin-wexford/4231691

khaldrogo

awec wrote:

Oh, well if you’re basing your journey times on how long it takes on a Sunday afternoon the the entire eastern half of Ireland is open to you.

As I said, I am using the option on MyHome that tells you how long the journey time is in rush hr traffic......without actually doing the drive myself from all the locations I'm looking at that's all I can do.

Purple Mountain

If you say you don't have people calling in for coffee or they live a 40 minutes away anyhow, why not just up sticks altogether and go to Galway or Cork?
If you're working for a reputable company now in Dublin surely you will get a job in another smaller city?
With the M8 and M4 you will always be within a few hours of Dublin to go back every few weeks to see family.
A nice suburb in either city will have considerable lower house prices than Dublin but still have access to third level so you're not paying out accommodation or commute for your kids in a few years.

mariaalice

Purple Mountain wrote: »

If you say you don't have people calling in for coffee or they live a 40 minutes away anyhow, why not just up sticks altogether and go to Galway or Cork?
If you're working for a reputable company now in Dublin surely you will get a job in another smaller city?
With the M8 and M4 you will always be within a few hours of Dublin to go back every few weeks to see family.
A nice suburb in either city will have considerable lower house prices than Dublin but still have access to third level so you're not paying out accommodation or commute for your kids in a few years.

I always think Limerick is underrated in that regard.