Buying Dilemma

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Hi there,

I am in my late 20s and have gone sale agreed on a 2 bed house which is quite modern and needs little. It is not far from the dart and in a settled safe area. The price I went sale agreed on is close to the cost a 3 bed nearby but I can't stretch that far due to my budget.

I am aware of the last crash that people got stuck in places for years due to negative equity and as we seem to be close to the top of the market. In terms of life plans (as much as you can make them), I could potentially have 1/2 kids. Now if I have two kids, then a 2 bed becomes small very quickly and I would need an extra room in 10 years time.

This is now making my think if I should buy an apartment in a good area to meet my needs now instead as if I had 1/2 kids in a 2 bed home Vs apartment, there is little difference.

Any advice welcome!

DelBoy Trotter

Buy something now that you are happy to be in for the rest of your life. Everything else is a risk in my opinion.

If you go ahead with buying the two bed house, could you extend in the future?

bri007

The house may be better if your thinking of kids in the future, back garden etc where an apartment wouldn’t have that. And poster above said same about possibilities to extend as well where apartment you can’t.

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Hi there,

I am in my late 20s and have gone sale agreed on a 2 bed house which is quite modern and needs little. It is not far from the dart and in a settled safe area. The price I went sale agreed on is close to the cost a 3 bed nearby but I can't stretch that far due to my budget.

I am aware of the last crash that people got stuck in places for years due to negative equity and as we seem to be close to the top of the market. In terms of life plans (as much as you can make them), I could potentially have 1/2 kids. Now if I have two kids, then a 2 bed becomes small very quickly and I would need an extra room in 10 years time.

This is now making my think if I should buy an apartment in a good area to meet my needs now instead as if I had 1/2 kids in a 2 bed home Vs apartment, there is little difference.

Any advice welcome!

MSVforever

I would also check out if the attic in the 2 bed house is easy enough to convert. It could be a cheaper option than an extension.

Dolbhad

I would pick a 2 bed house over 2 bed apartment anytime. As previous posters said, you may have option to extend outwards or with the attic and may have a garden. Also I think a house would be easier to sell in future if you were to sell for something bigger as house would appeal to FTB or those down sizing. In addition, I don’t like being tied into management companies and fees.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Dolbhad wrote: »

I would pick a 2 bed house over 2 bed apartment anytime. As previous posters said, you may have option to extend outwards or with the attic and may have a garden. Also I think a house would be easier to sell in future if you were to sell for something bigger as house would appeal to FTB or those down sizing. In addition, I don’t like being tied into management companies and fees.

Thanks! Are most attics convertible? This is an end of terrace A house attached to another.

hmmm

Nothing wrong with apartments, but I agree with the 10 year horizon. If you're a DINK, or looking to downsize for retirement, apartments are perfect IMO, but I'd take a 2 bed house over an apartment if I thought kids might be on the horizon and you were worried.

However I was around here a long time ago and I remember a potential house price crash was clear as day to a small group of us. Almost everyone at the time was saying the reverse. I don't see it this time around, there isn't the same overhang of speculation and debt as there was back then.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=51468630#post51468630

jlm29

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Thanks! Are most attics convertible? This is an end of terrace A house attached to another.

Not necessarily, it depends on the height of the roof, among other things. If you could go and look at the other houses in the terrace, you might see if some of those attics have been converted

Skybirdjb

We bought our house 10 years ago when I was early 20's always thought it would be a stepping stone home and we would build our dream home .
But then the crash came and are only just about out of negative eq
so we will not get to build and we will stay where we are so just make sure your happy with what you buy now as you don't know what life will throw you ! Good luck with it all

Sir Galahad

House ownership is a long term plan so don't be concerned about price fluctuations / values. Once you can afford the repayments that's all that counts. And if you are even thinking of kids then don't buy an apartment. I'm at the other end of the process, my kids have grown up so having had two houses we moved a year ago into a 1,000 sq ft apartment. We absolutely love it but I'm glad we had the houses when the kids were small.

Dolbhad

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Thanks! Are most attics convertible? This is an end of terrace A house attached to another.

I think it depends on the beams of the house (or their height) as some attics can’t be converted. It would be best to chat to an engineer and figure out. Ideally you would want to avoid having to do works that require planning permission (so it would just be habitable space). But if you wanted to make it living space (making it an official 3rd bedroom) and putting in velux windows planning would be needed. It’s important to have the planning in order for when you sell on. Even if planning isn’t require, get cert of exemption of engineer for when your selling it out in the future.

Dolbhad

hmmm wrote: »

Nothing wrong with apartments, but I agree with the 10 year horizon. If you're a DINK, or looking to downsize for retirement, apartments are perfect IMO, but I'd take a 2 bed house over an apartment if I thought kids might be on the horizon and you were worried.

That was a blast from the Past to look at. Thanks for the link!

Edgware

I would stick with the house. You may need to expand later or move later on but you have front and rear access, some private space to the rear. There will always be demand for well located smaller houses if you need to sell. Property prices have stabilised a certain amount

PhoenixParker

A 2 bed house vs a 2 bed apartment, I would go for the 2 bed house.

If on the otherhand you can get say a decent size 3 bed apartment in a better area for the same price then I'd seriously consider the apartment.

It all comes down to the specifics of the house and location vs the specifics of the apartment and location.

The_Conductor

I'd also suggest that you need to properly appreciate the difference between a freehold and a leasehold- and the merits and downsides to both. You can do a myriad of things with a freehold property (such as paint it for example)- that are verboten with a leasehold property. Its something that you need to appreciate.

spaceHopper

I think prices will fall but not crash, but you never know. However you have to live somewhere, if prices fall will they fall by more than the rent you would have paid between now and then? Very unlikely!

A two bed house which as one neighbour v an apparent that has many and it only takes one bad one to make life hell. Others move out and the place gets a name so worse move in. Stick with the house added to that the location sounds good.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Thanks all! Is there any rule of thumb to check if an attic can be converted?

Woshy

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Thanks all! Is there any rule of thumb to check if an attic can be converted?

We've just started the process of getting our attic converted. Some of the attic conversion companies will look at the house on google maps and will then give you some advice on what they think the can do/what they have done to similar properties in the area. I found that quite useful. I wanted to know whether it was just a no outright and they were able to tell me that.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Woshy wrote: »

We've just started the process of getting our attic converted. Some of the attic conversion companies will look at the house on google maps and will then give you some advice on what they think the can do/what they have done to similar properties in the area. I found that quite useful. I wanted to know whether it was just a no outright and they were able to tell me that.

Thanks! Could you pm me any of those companies if possible?

Woshy

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Thanks! Could you pm me any of those companies if possible?

Sure, I'll do it now!

voluntary

PhoenixParker wrote: »

A 2 bed house vs a 2 bed apartment, I would go for the 2 bed house.

If on the otherhand you can get say a decent size 3 bed apartment in a better area for the same price then I'd seriously consider the apartment.

My view is that in high crime locations you'd be safer living at least one or two levels above the ground floor. Apartments are a safer option than houses in this regard.

Then comes the maintenance. If you're a type who doesn't really like to get bothered then while living in an apartment somebody else will take care of all sort of stuff for you. Owning a house basically means the hassle is on you to fix and maintain.

It's a personal preference really. I lived in both and can see advantages of these and those.

Ray Palmer

If you are thinking of an attic conversion the easiest check is the other neighbour's. If houses have converted attics you have a good chance.
The thing is that won't tell you if they meet regulations as most conversions do not qualify as habitable rooms. There needs to be a proper stairs with a firewall and fire door not sure if it is 2 doors now one top one bottom.
While people often ignore the regulations you are risking the life of the person sleeping in the attic.

Sleepy

Google Maps would be a quick and easy way to check if your potential neighbours had already converted their attics. The velux windows would be easy to spot

It wouldn't guarantee that it could be done - you'd still need an engineer to advise but it'd give you an indication without leaving your desk.

ashes2014

I would also buy a house instead of an apartment. A garden is definitely worth having if you are thinking about kids in the future.

Apartments normally have annual maintenance charges also.

Jack_92

voluntary wrote: »

My view is that in high crime locations you'd be safer living at least one or two levels above the ground floor. Apartments are a safer option than houses in this regard.

Then comes the maintenance. If you're a type who doesn't really like to get bothered then while living in an apartment somebody else will take care of all sort of stuff for you. Owning a house basically means the hassle is on you to fix and maintain.

It's a personal preference really. I lived in both and can see advantages of these and those.

I agree, also if you prefer to stay close to the center then you will more likely to find an affordable apartment rather than an affordable house. With today's market many second house houses require a lot of renovation, whereas most of the apartments are in a turn key condition. There isn't many contractors that are willing to do small jobs simply because they have bigger contracts and even if they do, their valuations are way overpriced.

voluntary wrote: »

This is now making my think if I should buy an apartment in a good area to meet my needs now instead as if I had 1/2 kids in a 2 bed home Vs apartment, there is little difference.

I'm in the same situation and I had the same dilemma a couple of months ago and ended up going for an apartment eventually. There are many apartments that are quite good insulated and spacious, quite central and a safe place to live. You might have kids, you might not. 'When' is another question. I have a couple of friends that decided to purchase a house and now they spend more than an hour on the bus to get to work. While being in mid twenties personally I rather meet my friends after work and go for a drink, go cinema, visit galleries instead and enjoy my life. I guess it's down to personal preferences. Being in late 20ties and being able to purchase any property, whether an apartment or a house in Ireland, is a great success imo especially in the current situation.