2 Bed House or Apartment

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Hi there,

I'm torn between two options.

1. Small two bed house with potentially no room to extend. In walk in condition. No investment needed.

2. Two Bed apartment, in great condition. About 40k cheaper.

Plan is to rent out one room and live in the other with my partner until we eventually have kids. Both properties are about the same square foot so the house isn't bigger. Same ber rating too.

Any advice? I'm torn between the two options.

Caranica

House all the way. For privacy, for sanity.

worded

I’ve lived in houses and Apts

With a house you habe fewer neighbours

Alts may be rented more often so more chances of messy loud neighbours

House - consider saying hello to the neighbours either side and asking if it’s a good area etc just to suss them out

The house is probably / poss more sound proofed. Potentially you could have noises from apt all around ... no thanks

holliehobbie

House no contest.

Cash_Q

+1 house. Apartment living means you have to endure more shared space, e.g. outdoor areas, landings and hallways, parking. Maintenance fees e.g. for lighting, gardening are sometimes not paid by all residents so standards slip, which can be very frustrating if you've paid yourself. Other apartments could be very noisy, this may intrude on your peace and quiet.

Plenty of apartment complexes are lovely, but given the option, house all the way.

PhoenixParker

What is the respective square footage of the two properties?
How much of that is lost to stairs and hallways?
How do the locations compare?
Distance to transport?
Length of commute?
Nearby parks/shops/sports facilities?

When was each built?
Respective BER ratings?

skooterblue2

worded wrote: »

I’ve lived in houses and Apts

With a house you habe fewer neighbours

Alts may be rented more often so more chances of messy loud neighbours

House - consider saying hello to the neighbours either side and asking if it’s a good area etc just to suss them out

The house is probably / poss more sound proofed. Potentially you could have noises from apt all around ... no thanks

Oh I have lived in both too. Apartments are yes a cheaper option and are great as long as you are all on the same vibe.... All it takes is one crowd of muppets to move in and well .....

In my time I lived in a lovely apartment block. Then another crowd moved in and they liked to party hard. A while back I heard he died and was found a few days later. He did body building steroids and other drugs and had shouting battles with the wife. Then a crowd of a different religion moved in and for about 6 weeks during the summer they were up all night moving furniture around.

Then you have:
"Who takes out the bins out front?".
"Who hoovers the common areas?"
Sure as hell the management agency arent going to do it often as need be.

Mad_maxx

Wouldn't rule out the apartment so quickly, which is the better location?

theteal

Much of a garden?
Hows location for you?

With current info, I'd lean towards the house. If the market turned to poop, which would you be better off in for a longer term?

charlotte.york

Top floor aparts can be very quiet. Do you know if there are concrete floors?

In theory aparts should be warmer but sometimes, the front door of your apart is given only an interior door which allows awful draughts.

EmptyTree

All things being equal I'd go for the house, somehow I never really feel like you fully own the apartment.

Addle

Manage your own property.
If it's a choice, choose a house.

skooterblue2

EmptyTree wrote: »

All things being equal I'd go for the house, somehow I never really feel like you fully own the apartment.

Common areas and landings wreck my head!!!.

skooterblue2

charlotte.york wrote: »

Top floor aparts can be very quiet. Do you know if there are concrete floors?

In theory aparts should be warmer but sometimes, the front door of your apart is given only an interior door which allows awful draughts.

Only when you have a fourth floor you have to have an elevator. Then there are the energy and maintenance costs with an elevator. You dont want to be carrying shopping up when you are 60 with a bad back or knees to the Third floor.

skooterblue2

Cash_Q wrote: »

+1 house. Apartment living means you have to endure more shared space, e.g. outdoor areas, landings and hallways, parking. Maintenance fees e.g. for lighting, gardening are sometimes not paid by all residents so standards slip, which can be very frustrating if you've paid yourself. Other apartments could be very noisy, this may intrude on your peace and quiet.

Plenty of apartment complexes are lovely, but given the option, house all the way.

I have seen nice apartment blocks in Dodgy areas with gated communities with decent people inside. Its awkward for people passing through as most people are decent but its the the 1% that screws the pooch for the rest of us. Its the dead beats that hang around out side drinking nagens of vodka and then breaking the bottles off the steps. Once a block gets a reputation for antisocial behaviour, the whole thing just flourishes. Seen it in the inner city on the North side of Cork near Shandon street.

skooterblue2

PhoenixParker wrote: »

What is the respective square footage of the two properties?
How much of that is lost to stairs and hallways?
How do the locations compare?
Distance to transport?
Length of commute?
Nearby parks/shops/sports facilities?

When was each built?
Respective BER ratings?

Also find out who built the places.
When my father was buying his house, He had a friend who was in the bank. He got advice that the builder was well above board. On the other hand people think Priory hall was a once off. Thomas McFeelihy was involved in prior development that went south in Malahide. Somehow the government had covered by the Good Friday agreement. How Priory Hall happened a second time is a mystery to me.

devlinio

For 40K cheaper I'd buy the Apartment, and invest the balance.

gebbel

Re the apartment, what floor is it on? Are there lifts? Is it a gated complex? If the answer to the last 2 questions is yes, then expect much higher management fees. Is there a sinking fund for future maintenance and refurbishments? If not then forget it straight away. Is the complex managed by a managing agent (can be good but again you’ll pay more management fees) or is it self managing with volunteer directors? If so I’d be looking to meet with these guys to ascertain the state of the development. What level are the service charge arrears, if any? More importantly, what is the arrears recovery policy and it is being enforced in the case of non payers? Are the house rules clearly communicated to all residents, understood and being enforced? What is the ratio of owner occupiers to tenants? The more owner occupier the better as generally they’ll take more pride in their property and live by the rules. Does the development look well maintained? Grass cut? Bins removed? You won’t want to see this for example:

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/rubbish-piles-up-at-housing-estate-with-no-bin-collection-for-weeks-37698031.html

I’d also want to chat with a few neighbours and get a feel for the quality of life experience. Never buy any apartment without asking these questions.

So to sum up, buy the house!!

worded

Does the house have management company as well as the apt? A lot to be said for no management fee

Any garden with the house? A bonus in sunmer

When it’s time to sell ...

Which will have more capital appreciation?
Which will sell quicker and is more desirable?

Franz Von Peppercorn

The sentiments here explain Ireland’s built environment.

worded

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

The sentiments here explain Ireland’s built environment.

As a home buyer you may only have one chance to buy right ....

Apartment build quality in a lot of cases has been poor and then the management companies and fees to deal with.

Too many nightmare apartment stories out there, so many variables that can go wrong.

hmmm

I'd buy whichever was in the nicer area, you can get crap neighbours in any type of housing. Location is everything for me. Apartments in the city centre can be a bit hit and miss as you're more likely to get noisy renters, the ones further out tend to be more settled in my experience. We're in a lovely apartment block with neighbours who mostly own their own places, it's quiet and warm with lots of light, and really couldn't be happier.

If buying an apartment, I'd check the accounts and the numbers who are fully up to date on their management fees. I'd also try and get a feel for sound-proofing - I suggest the way to do that is to take a walk around the area and see if you can ask some of the residents.

Franz Von Peppercorn

worded wrote: »

As a home buyer you may only have one chance to buy right ....

Apartment build quality in a lot of cases has been poor and then the management companies and fees to deal with.

Too many nightmare apartment stories out there, so many variables that can go wrong.

The one chance to buy seems to deny the existence of the once vaunted ladder. People can and do move up even now.

You are right about specific Celtic Tiger appartment seems however, but not all of them. The problems with anti social behaviour are not common at all.

Apartment owners, precisely because they have management committees are pretty good at dealing with that. Provided there’s a will.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Apartment is about 2/3 mins further away from transport links than the house. House is a bolt on to another house e.g. 26a. Built in 2005.

Not sure if I would get planning permission for the extension on the house which is the big risk. Both are similar size.

Fear is that if I bought the apartment and market fell by 30pc then I wouldn't be able to ever save 20pc deposit for a house but the house I'm looking at is 2 bed, so if I didn't get the extension it would be the same size as the apartment. And if had 2 kids would be very tight with only two bedrooms...

skooterblue2

Pheonix10 wrote: »

House is a bolt on to another house e.g. 26a. Built in 2005.

Get an Engineers report, could be cheap at a grand. A lot of dodgy things going on around that time.

1hnr79jr65

Pyrite for foundations for houses built during that time could be an issue, i would second an engineers report. This also goes for the apartment, i would also investigate if the block the apartment is in has ever been subject to remedial works to correct poor construction. Check who built both properties and see if either even involved in any dodgy building practices, could save you money buys and you can do this before getting engineers report.

Sleeper12

Caranica wrote:

House all the way. For privacy, for sanity.

Agreed. House will be worth more & increase in value more than the apartment too.

skooterblue2

Sour Lemonz wrote: »

Pyrite for foundations for houses built during that time could be an issue, i would second an engineers report. This also goes for the apartment, i would also investigate if the block the apartment is in has ever been subject to remedial works to correct poor construction. Check who built both properties and see if either even involved in any dodgy building practices, could save you money buys and you can do this before getting engineers report.

I have seen a house for sale over in Balbriggan, I swear with the pyrite, the bathroom floor buckled and there was cracks in the wall. It was 4 bedrooms and listed at 100k. No bank would give you a mortgage for it. A complete Knock and rebuild if that was possible, but it did have a massive garden

Amirani

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Agreed. House will be worth more & increase in value more than the apartment too.

That's not necessarily the case.

Sleeper12

Amirani wrote:

That's not necessarily the case.

When supply catches up with demand we will revert back to most apartments not keeping up with houses in value. Most apartments built are too small to hold value. One bed apartments will really struggle. These were the first to crash in price 10 years ago and they crash the most.

Unless op is looking at a large two bed apartment then the house is much better value for money. The storage space in the attic adds thousands alone. Traditionally a small family will go for the two bed house over the two bed apartments.

dbas

I lived in apartments for around 8 years in Smithfield before the prices went mental. Don't think i'll live in an apartment again unless it was a high end place with a 'higher class' of resident. People on my budget end up with some scum living amongst you in large blocks.
Fire alarm was set off deliberately every now and again at all hours, and I'd worry for the fire safety standard of construction of a lot of these blocks thrown up during the boom. No way they were built to code.

House all the way to be honest. As big as you can afford to make the most of your first time buyers deposit rules