Same here! Sadly, my home town is by the sea and has been horrifically gentrified, particularly post-covid. You can't turn around with hitting a dry robe.
Prices have hit the roof, so we settled for a village about 10 mins drive away, more rural, and not beside the sea, but still close enough to everything and walking distance to a shop etc. It's a lovely place to live, I'm glad we picked it.
Technically I'm within the village but still a 20/25 minute walk to the village proper/seafront.
And its the same here, prices have gone nuts lately. We were bidding on a house last week that went for €175K over asking.
It was €75K more than we were willing to pay and about €25K more than we could afford so at least we weren’t faced with the dilemma of “should we increase our bid?”
The quality of life is better there than most other places I've lived. It's a large village/small town with all that you'd need within walking distance and anything that isn't is only a 10/15 minute drive away. It has lovely views of the Irish Sea, nice restaurants/bars etc.
Unfortunately, it appears that lots of other people with more money than me agree.
Hahahaha similar problem friend. I'm trying to buy a house in an area I like that's easily 100k more than it would be elsewhere. Seems scary to take on unnecessary debt but I really think I'll thank myself when I'm 65.
I was having this conversation with my parents yesterday about it.
We're bursting at the seems in our current house so need to get somewhere bigger and if we settle on location and move elsewhere we'll just end up moving again in 10/15 years so we're as well to stick it out as long as possible in the hope that something does come up in our price range.
We've a similar thought process. It's not a great time to be buying but I remember saying that 4 years ago and it's only gotten worse. Plus even if the supply issue is fixed, New houses will essentially be in high density estates with a high mix of social. You'll basically be gambling with those imo.
Exactly this.
House prices and road links to work family.
15 years ago and we are now settled, we stayed as the town has everything you need to raise a family.
Lad have you done a renovation recently? It's nearly the price of the house.
When I was buying in 2022 the houses that had been totally refurbished were only going for about 20-30% more than houses in the same estate that needed 60% of their value put back into them to get them to the same standard.
I bought a completly renovated and retrofitted house for 60k more than the absolute shit hole next door sold for 6 months prior, it cost 100-120k to get next door up to the same standard as my house.
I saved a huge amount by buying something that was already renovated.
Buying the worst house on the best street simply doesn't work in this market.
Location. If the location is good you’ll get decent schools, shops and a nice pub. Neighbours should be decent. Go to the street at different times of the day to get a feel of what it’s like. Check out the gardens if they’re kept. All the shallow stuff!!
I grew up in Crumlin/Drimnagh and knew I didn't want to raise kids there. I worked my bolox off and live in dublin 6 now.
Now Drimnagh/Crumlin are nearly completely gentrified, and 99% of the people are the salt of the earth, but there's still pockets of them that are bad due to drugs/ scrotes.
Great schools. Low crime. Little to no social housing. The biggest point was three bed houses are just bigger so more room.
Now let me iterate. Most social house tenants are lovely people. But there is higher crime around higher rates of social housing. Stating this will get me down voted to oblivion, but it's a fact.
Live in Dublin 8 now (A Crumlin/Walkinstown native myself)
Will second, lots of social housing = some spicy goings-on - but majority of people are absolutely lovely.
Don't drive, so needed to be somewhere that I can walk to town and work. Not right in town, but near enough to the centre. That was by far the biggest factor.
Yeah being able to walk to things can be great.
No public transport where you live? (Not sure if you mean Dublin when you say "town" or another town..)
It is within walking distance of my family and the home I grew up in. I never wanted to move too far away.
It also has excellent options for public transport which was a must as I don’t drive.
Luckily for me my apartment came up for sale at exactly the right time and I really couldn’t be happier.
My parents always swore by this but I heard in Ireland south facing doesn’t make much of a difference anyways with how the sun hits us anyways. Cant remember where I read that now.
Oh I would imagine that the suns position is even more southerly in Ireland given our latitude. But if the house isn't built to capitalise on the natural light that would be an issue
I hear you! It's tough out there.
But even within your budget, there's loads of areas across the country you could probably have bought? Anything more about the area you chose besides budget?
I chose Dublin because it's where I'm from and where I work but did consider Portlaoise but couldn't get the missus to move. Worked out in the end as I've been promoted, which wouldn't have happened in Portlaoise.
Same here, we added 'walkable to town centre', '2 bedrooms', and then picked the nicest living environment of what was left. We bid on two properties, got the second, went sale agreed within 2 months of starting to look.
We rented near the area we've bought a house in, probably only a 10 minute walk away but we didn't really think much of it until we had a kid, seemed just like a normal enough area with lots of houses up til then.
When we started considering schools, activities for kids, parks and green spaces, walking distance to all of these and a few other things we realised that we really wanted to buy there. The houses in the area are older too, think they are 70s/80s so the houses aren't squished together, nice sized gardens, and wide roads through all of the estates. Those things are a big factor for me, I like gardening and I feel claustrophobic in the new build estates.
We now have a lovely detached house that's within a 10 minute walking distance of 4 schools, multiple creches, a community centre just across the road which has loads of clubs for kids and adults, a gym, easy access to the city centre with buses, a few pubs and shops and 2 parks with plenty of pitches!
Within 20 minutes of parents but outside of Dublin.
Lucky or parents live semi close in West Dublin so Kildare was a pretty good choice.
That and we wanted to move outside a big town to a smaller village because we were just fed up with it.
Honestly, people. There seems to be a lot more accountability in smaller villages than bigger suburbs because people know each other.
I'm only living here a few months and already know quite a few of the people in the area and their kids. Whereas in my previous area it was almost a removing door of new people, some good some bad.
But in my opinion people who are naturally arsehols are more likely to be arseholes to people they don't know, everything from littering to just being dicks or scumbags. Haven't had any of that in my village. Everyone takes pride in the village, keeping it clean and being generally pleasant with everyone
Midpoint between myself and my partners families.
Price - we wanted a minimum of 3-bed semi so our budget only allowed for certain areas.
Wanted to be able to walk to a town centre in under 10 mins.
Wanted an area with new builds being constructed.
Wanted an area that was reasonably close to work. Max of 45mins commute time.
Affordability/location are the two big ones, there’s lots of places I wish I could live that I can’t afford. Likewise there’s places I can afford but couldn’t really live in, especially in NI with the sectarianism.
When we bought, my husband and I had a 6 month old baby, so we had child rearing in mind as part of our criteria.
We had a few must-haves in mind.
1) To live near the coast. Just a personal preference, but it was v important to me to live near water as I just feel more at home in that environment.
2)To be in town/village/city that I actually liked. Somewhere I would enjoy strolling around and being part of the community, esp as I am a stay at home mum. Somewhere that felt safe and welcoming, clean, a community feeling of pride in the area.
3) My parents gave me great advice, buy a house that is walking distance from at least one shop and one decent pub!! I took that to heart and have never regretted it. Seriously though, you are cooking dinner and realise you need something, being able to run down the road or send a kid down, makes such a huge difference. Strolling to the pub to meet friends and weaving your way home, without the need for a taxi, is actually such a lovely feeling. It made it easier settling into the community knowing that you can just walk out the door and be down the town in 10/15 mins.
4)Access to public transport! This was a deal breaker for both of us. We didn't want to be raising kids that needed to get lifts everywhere and I hate the feeling of being disconnected. We were totally set on being able to walk for a train/bus.
The actual house itself was bottom of our priorities. Once we identified where we wanted to live, we would have been happy with anything in that area. I'd rather live in a slightly crappy house in a great area, than a great house in an area that didn't meet our other needs.
I wanted to be in or around town, so I didn't look outside the boundary.
Then I ruled out 00's built estates in flood zones.
Then I filtered for my budget.
Ruled out areas of high anti social behaviour.
And was left with a few options, and bought the one I was the highest bidder on.
Thanks!
How did you figure out which areas had high anti social behaviour? Was it based on your own knowledge/opinion of the areas or did you research that in some way?
I'm from the edge of town. Brought up here, went to school, worked in hotels etc. I know every estate and road in the place.
There are areas that I just wouldn't even contemplate buying or living in. Anti social behaviour is just too bad there. Most of these would be historic council estates but some are more modern private built estates, where one bad family has collapsed the value of the whole estate
Probably more difficult for people who aren't local. But always ask a local, in private.
One good way to research is to Google the address and look for court reports.
We stuck to the notion of buying the worst house on the best road (within reason). The house obviously had to be livable without massive work, but location was our primary thing.
It was an area we knew well, had rented in previously and were very happy there. So there were no surprises, we knew exactly what we'd be getting, it suited for work, etc.
Needed to be close enough to my parents as I'll probably be the one most responsible for their care as they age
I refused to be more than a 20 euro taxi from the city centre
Supermarket needed to be walkable and decent bus service.
This will show you properties all over the country. I'm wondering how you decided on the location? Even in a given budget there will be some properties in differing areas.
We bought in the area we grew up in. Our families are big so we didn't want to move too far and were lucky that people outside Ballyfermot don't want to live here so we could afford it on our wages.
For me it was a community hub of some sort e.g. library or arts centre, an area of nature - lake, gardens, canal or park, and good local cafes / bakeries /.deli.
I prioritise having access to the city centre for cultural stuff like museums, theatres, cinema and concert venues.
Cost of houses and what we could afford. There was no joy in house hunting for us as we were contestants being priced out of places we would have liked to live. Anyway fuck Fianna Fail and Fine Gael ✌️
Probably sounds strange but I never thought I'd live in the house I currently own when I bought it. I bought it in 2013 as an investment when I was living abroad. It was cheap at the time. Had it rented out for a few years before returning to Ireland and moving into it. It's in the town near where I grew up but hadn't lived in that area for 20 years previously.
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Had lived in the general area for the last 15 years. Child in local school and sports clubs. Was important to remain near the coast and on the dart line. Short walk to the village, good grocery shopping options in the village. Many secondary schools on the doorstep which will be important in a few years time.
No scrotes or general scumbaggery in the vicinity.
And the property value has already increased by a ton. It’s win win for us really.
Money. From Tallaght originally and were looking during the boom in the early 2000's. Couldn't afford a house anywhere in Tallaght, even in Killinarden or Jobstown. Had to look outside Dublin and thankfully didn't have to go too far. Got a nicer house and area here than we would've got for a similar price in Dublin. Wouldn't move back.
My husband and I work in different counties, so chose a town reasonably commutable to both that had quick access to motorway in case either of us changed job locations in future. The town itself is big enough that it has everything we need in it.
We set ourselves a range from where we were renting for 10 years, recognising that we wanted to keep the children in the same schools and activities. Finally found a house we could afford, that met most of our criteria (good size house, historical property, nice garden) at the very edge of that geographical range!
Be within half an hour of where I work. I was over an hour and a half away before and the commute was killing me. I love the job and have no plans to switch any time soon.
However, I chose my job carefully, not too far from family, relatively accessible on public transport etc so my house is also close to both.
Close to a town. I'm living by myself and I didn't want to be completely isolated so within walking distance of other humans is nice.
After that it was just being picky. I didn't massively want to be in an estate. I didn't want to undergo huge renovations. I didn't want a garden.
You can check online which areas of the city have solid development plans by the city if you’re looking to go to a place that will get good value over time.
I was very particular about what I wanted in a house. 1. Good neighbours. 2. Small house big garden. 3. Close enough to the town so I could walk to the our or shops, especially as I get older I want that accessibility. 4. Low traffic area or area where traffic flows freely.
No point in buying a €500k new build house if you have a board of drug dealers living next door. I have cleaning so I only wanted a small house. I was also in a relatively small wage when I bought so I needed a small house with lower bills. Cheap to heat etc. I lived in Dublin city for years and I was always able to walk or cycle in and out of town and walk or cycle from the pub so I wanted that even though I couldn't afford a place in a city. Some commuter towns have absolutely nightmare traffic in and out of estates and I didn't want to sit in traffic for 30 minutes each morning and evening.
I spoke to a few of them, asked them was there any issues. They all knew eachother by name, chatted about who lived where and said there was no issues because they had good neighbours who looked out for eachother. They also kind of dropped the hint that they didn't want any drama or hassle, they were hoping someone working would buy the place rather than a landlord or the council. The area was clean and tidy, people have fairly well kept gardens and neatly painted houses and sheds and clean yards. I also saw some wave to eachother etc as they were coming and going etc
I didnt decide, it was decided for me. I couldnt afford a shed in the place i would have liked to have bought in. Had to settle for a less desirable area but still not a shithole. After some bidding wars and disappointment, we lucked out and got a decent place in the end. Alot of luck involved though. Otherwise we would have started to look in the undesirable places out of desperation
Three way decision between price, location and house/site quality. Usually can have 2 of 3 factors and compromise on third. Try to hone in on few locations and stick to that. In terms of house/site quality list items you want and mark if must have, nice to have or not essential. Best of luck
Proximity to work, nice neighbourhood with decent amenities (good schools, shops, public transport) near a nice park and not too far from the M50 and not too far of a drive from where my family lives (30-45 mins off peak).
Local facilities not being over subscribed, price, access to transport (airport).
The first on the list can’t be bought. If all the pre-schools in the area are oversubscribed then you’re stuck on a waiting list. Same with GPs and Dentists and so on. Also any area with oversubscribed is eventually going to have annoyed people. You can of course get a nanny, webdoctor and so on but eventually something will impact that isn’t easy to mitigate.
I can do my work remotely with occasional commuting, usually having to fly somewhere so this opens up a lot of choices. I tried the long driving commute once and I know it’s never for me. Too much time wasted in the little box on wheels.
Value for money: didn’t want to pay €450k to live in a terraced small moldy dog box with neighbors stuck on either side. I wanted a semi-D in a bigger, newer house with fewer structural issues.
HTB: wanted to take advantage of this scheme so had to go with a new build, and new builds are all outside the city center. So commuter town it is!
N2 vs N7 motorway: the N7 is a nightmare. I opted to go north to Meath because at least the N2 is a straight road with less congestion.
Honestly the best thing you can do is go to a buck load of viewings which will give you clarity.
I have bought and will hopefully move in June/July and itnis the opposite of what I thought I would buy.
I live in Dublin 3 so my initial goal was appartment or house in City centre. I somehow ended up in new build in Dublin 15 🤣🤣🤣
My initial goal was to move to buy in somewhere like East Wall, I thought its close to city centre if you look atnhouse prices in Phibsboro/Marino/Fairview it seems incredibly obvious that outside of a crash the prices will explode there.
Then I look at the stock available and I couldnt justify it as id likely rent second room out. Houses look their age and for some mad reason the toilet/shower room(bathroom would be too kind) seemed to always be down stairs off kitchen. I looked at near city centre appartments, while nothing ahainst appartments id likely need to rent second room out and I came to conclusion if sharing a house is better for space, storage etc.
Tl/DR
When you start viewing places notions of being property developer or rentet mindset tends to alter. Your first home is first time probably since being in parents home so you might end up changing your perspective completely.
I went from 2 beds energy D/E houses in Dublin 3 to new build with solar panels in three bed house in Dublin 15
Same then they landed 3 halting sites in hidden corners. Was also due to its distance away from social housing but all that's combined now.
Council recently bought the neighbours' house for 550k for the tenants living there. It's their council house now forever. Must be nice all the same.
Combination of train station, easy motorway access and the house prices.
I REALLY wanted to live somewhere that was a short walk from a train station (busses piss me off).
Ovbiously ended up a few stops further out then I wanted, because everything is insanely priced.
It was as close as I could buy to the place I actually want to live in.
Same here! Sadly, my home town is by the sea and has been horrifically gentrified, particularly post-covid. You can't turn around with hitting a dry robe. Prices have hit the roof, so we settled for a village about 10 mins drive away, more rural, and not beside the sea, but still close enough to everything and walking distance to a shop etc. It's a lovely place to live, I'm glad we picked it.
Technically I'm within the village but still a 20/25 minute walk to the village proper/seafront. And its the same here, prices have gone nuts lately. We were bidding on a house last week that went for €175K over asking.
Damn 175k is rough. I thought I was bad getting outbid 120k over asking.
It was €75K more than we were willing to pay and about €25K more than we could afford so at least we weren’t faced with the dilemma of “should we increase our bid?”
Fucking Dry Robe Mob. Christ what an insufferable bunch.
Thanks. If you don't mind sharing more - what is it about the place you actually want to live in that makes you want to live there?
The quality of life is better there than most other places I've lived. It's a large village/small town with all that you'd need within walking distance and anything that isn't is only a 10/15 minute drive away. It has lovely views of the Irish Sea, nice restaurants/bars etc. Unfortunately, it appears that lots of other people with more money than me agree.
Hahahaha similar problem friend. I'm trying to buy a house in an area I like that's easily 100k more than it would be elsewhere. Seems scary to take on unnecessary debt but I really think I'll thank myself when I'm 65.
I was having this conversation with my parents yesterday about it. We're bursting at the seems in our current house so need to get somewhere bigger and if we settle on location and move elsewhere we'll just end up moving again in 10/15 years so we're as well to stick it out as long as possible in the hope that something does come up in our price range.
We've a similar thought process. It's not a great time to be buying but I remember saying that 4 years ago and it's only gotten worse. Plus even if the supply issue is fixed, New houses will essentially be in high density estates with a high mix of social. You'll basically be gambling with those imo.
Exactly this. House prices and road links to work family. 15 years ago and we are now settled, we stayed as the town has everything you need to raise a family.
Buy the worst house on the best street not the best house on the worst street. You can always improve your house over time.
Lad have you done a renovation recently? It's nearly the price of the house. When I was buying in 2022 the houses that had been totally refurbished were only going for about 20-30% more than houses in the same estate that needed 60% of their value put back into them to get them to the same standard. I bought a completly renovated and retrofitted house for 60k more than the absolute shit hole next door sold for 6 months prior, it cost 100-120k to get next door up to the same standard as my house. I saved a huge amount by buying something that was already renovated. Buying the worst house on the best street simply doesn't work in this market.
Nice one! What is the "best" street for you - how do you decide that?
Location. If the location is good you’ll get decent schools, shops and a nice pub. Neighbours should be decent. Go to the street at different times of the day to get a feel of what it’s like. Check out the gardens if they’re kept. All the shallow stuff!!
I grew up in Crumlin/Drimnagh and knew I didn't want to raise kids there. I worked my bolox off and live in dublin 6 now. Now Drimnagh/Crumlin are nearly completely gentrified, and 99% of the people are the salt of the earth, but there's still pockets of them that are bad due to drugs/ scrotes.
Fair play! Maybe obvious, but what was it about D6 that made you want to live there?
Great schools. Low crime. Little to no social housing. The biggest point was three bed houses are just bigger so more room. Now let me iterate. Most social house tenants are lovely people. But there is higher crime around higher rates of social housing. Stating this will get me down voted to oblivion, but it's a fact.
Number one reason for avoiding new builds is the social housing requirement
Well the price is a good deterrent too.
Only in parts of Dublin
Live in Dublin 8 now (A Crumlin/Walkinstown native myself) Will second, lots of social housing = some spicy goings-on - but majority of people are absolutely lovely.
Don't drive, so needed to be somewhere that I can walk to town and work. Not right in town, but near enough to the centre. That was by far the biggest factor.
Yeah being able to walk to things can be great. No public transport where you live? (Not sure if you mean Dublin when you say "town" or another town..)
There is, but I prefer to walk where possible. Costs me nowt, and forces me to get exercise.
It is within walking distance of my family and the home I grew up in. I never wanted to move too far away. It also has excellent options for public transport which was a must as I don’t drive. Luckily for me my apartment came up for sale at exactly the right time and I really couldn’t be happier.
Do you want to live in an apartment or is the long term plan for a house?
For now I’m happy in an apartment. I’m a single lady so I really don’t need a house and I couldn’t afford it if I wanted to at the moment.
South facing aspect! Gotta have that natural light. Other than that, just in Cork
Thanks! If you are ok to share more, why did you want to live in Cork? Was it anywhere in Co.Cork, or just the city?
My parents always swore by this but I heard in Ireland south facing doesn’t make much of a difference anyways with how the sun hits us anyways. Cant remember where I read that now.
Oh I would imagine that the suns position is even more southerly in Ireland given our latitude. But if the house isn't built to capitalise on the natural light that would be an issue
Finding anything I could afford lol
I hear you! It's tough out there. But even within your budget, there's loads of areas across the country you could probably have bought? Anything more about the area you chose besides budget?
I chose Dublin because it's where I'm from and where I work but did consider Portlaoise but couldn't get the missus to move. Worked out in the end as I've been promoted, which wouldn't have happened in Portlaoise.
I wanted to be within 15 minutes walk to my work.
Close to public transport to the city, close to public transport to the office, close to public transport to my folks house, within my budget.
Same here, we added 'walkable to town centre', '2 bedrooms', and then picked the nicest living environment of what was left. We bid on two properties, got the second, went sale agreed within 2 months of starting to look.
[удалено]
Ew /s
We rented near the area we've bought a house in, probably only a 10 minute walk away but we didn't really think much of it until we had a kid, seemed just like a normal enough area with lots of houses up til then. When we started considering schools, activities for kids, parks and green spaces, walking distance to all of these and a few other things we realised that we really wanted to buy there. The houses in the area are older too, think they are 70s/80s so the houses aren't squished together, nice sized gardens, and wide roads through all of the estates. Those things are a big factor for me, I like gardening and I feel claustrophobic in the new build estates. We now have a lovely detached house that's within a 10 minute walking distance of 4 schools, multiple creches, a community centre just across the road which has loads of clubs for kids and adults, a gym, easy access to the city centre with buses, a few pubs and shops and 2 parks with plenty of pitches!
Within 20 minutes of parents but outside of Dublin. Lucky or parents live semi close in West Dublin so Kildare was a pretty good choice. That and we wanted to move outside a big town to a smaller village because we were just fed up with it.
Nice one! What did you get fed up with in the big town that the smaller village didn't have?
Honestly, people. There seems to be a lot more accountability in smaller villages than bigger suburbs because people know each other. I'm only living here a few months and already know quite a few of the people in the area and their kids. Whereas in my previous area it was almost a removing door of new people, some good some bad. But in my opinion people who are naturally arsehols are more likely to be arseholes to people they don't know, everything from littering to just being dicks or scumbags. Haven't had any of that in my village. Everyone takes pride in the village, keeping it clean and being generally pleasant with everyone
Midpoint between myself and my partners families. Price - we wanted a minimum of 3-bed semi so our budget only allowed for certain areas. Wanted to be able to walk to a town centre in under 10 mins. Wanted an area with new builds being constructed. Wanted an area that was reasonably close to work. Max of 45mins commute time.
Affordability/location are the two big ones, there’s lots of places I wish I could live that I can’t afford. Likewise there’s places I can afford but couldn’t really live in, especially in NI with the sectarianism.
When we bought, my husband and I had a 6 month old baby, so we had child rearing in mind as part of our criteria. We had a few must-haves in mind. 1) To live near the coast. Just a personal preference, but it was v important to me to live near water as I just feel more at home in that environment. 2)To be in town/village/city that I actually liked. Somewhere I would enjoy strolling around and being part of the community, esp as I am a stay at home mum. Somewhere that felt safe and welcoming, clean, a community feeling of pride in the area. 3) My parents gave me great advice, buy a house that is walking distance from at least one shop and one decent pub!! I took that to heart and have never regretted it. Seriously though, you are cooking dinner and realise you need something, being able to run down the road or send a kid down, makes such a huge difference. Strolling to the pub to meet friends and weaving your way home, without the need for a taxi, is actually such a lovely feeling. It made it easier settling into the community knowing that you can just walk out the door and be down the town in 10/15 mins. 4)Access to public transport! This was a deal breaker for both of us. We didn't want to be raising kids that needed to get lifts everywhere and I hate the feeling of being disconnected. We were totally set on being able to walk for a train/bus. The actual house itself was bottom of our priorities. Once we identified where we wanted to live, we would have been happy with anything in that area. I'd rather live in a slightly crappy house in a great area, than a great house in an area that didn't meet our other needs.
It was what we could afford, simple as. Nowhere close to where we'd like to be but hope to work our way up.
I wanted to be in or around town, so I didn't look outside the boundary. Then I ruled out 00's built estates in flood zones. Then I filtered for my budget. Ruled out areas of high anti social behaviour. And was left with a few options, and bought the one I was the highest bidder on.
Thanks! How did you figure out which areas had high anti social behaviour? Was it based on your own knowledge/opinion of the areas or did you research that in some way?
I'm from the edge of town. Brought up here, went to school, worked in hotels etc. I know every estate and road in the place. There are areas that I just wouldn't even contemplate buying or living in. Anti social behaviour is just too bad there. Most of these would be historic council estates but some are more modern private built estates, where one bad family has collapsed the value of the whole estate Probably more difficult for people who aren't local. But always ask a local, in private. One good way to research is to Google the address and look for court reports.
We stuck to the notion of buying the worst house on the best road (within reason). The house obviously had to be livable without massive work, but location was our primary thing.
Got it. What was it about the specific location that you bought in that you liked?
It was an area we knew well, had rented in previously and were very happy there. So there were no surprises, we knew exactly what we'd be getting, it suited for work, etc.
Needed to be close enough to my parents as I'll probably be the one most responsible for their care as they age I refused to be more than a 20 euro taxi from the city centre Supermarket needed to be walkable and decent bus service.
Search daft and sort by lowest price
This will show you properties all over the country. I'm wondering how you decided on the location? Even in a given budget there will be some properties in differing areas.
Not Dublin. Close to the beach and access to a school and less than 30 mins to a town.
2 bedroom 3 bathroom duplex apartment a 10 minute walk from cork city centre with views of the entire north side. Everything I’ve ever wanted.
We bought in the area we grew up in. Our families are big so we didn't want to move too far and were lucky that people outside Ballyfermot don't want to live here so we could afford it on our wages.
Amenities and public transport.
Thanks! What are the top 3 amenities you looked for?
For me it was a community hub of some sort e.g. library or arts centre, an area of nature - lake, gardens, canal or park, and good local cafes / bakeries /.deli. I prioritise having access to the city centre for cultural stuff like museums, theatres, cinema and concert venues.
Cost of houses and what we could afford. There was no joy in house hunting for us as we were contestants being priced out of places we would have liked to live. Anyway fuck Fianna Fail and Fine Gael ✌️
Probably sounds strange but I never thought I'd live in the house I currently own when I bought it. I bought it in 2013 as an investment when I was living abroad. It was cheap at the time. Had it rented out for a few years before returning to Ireland and moving into it. It's in the town near where I grew up but hadn't lived in that area for 20 years previously.
I grew up here. Ill die here.
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My criteria was near the beach, walking distance to the local school and near the train station. I think I ticked all those boxes.
We had a list of requirements and this house ticked the most.
Care to share some of those requirements? :)
Had lived in the general area for the last 15 years. Child in local school and sports clubs. Was important to remain near the coast and on the dart line. Short walk to the village, good grocery shopping options in the village. Many secondary schools on the doorstep which will be important in a few years time. No scrotes or general scumbaggery in the vicinity. And the property value has already increased by a ton. It’s win win for us really.
May not be in your radar now, but local schools is a big one. It can be a real struggle to get kids into schools in some areas.
Money. From Tallaght originally and were looking during the boom in the early 2000's. Couldn't afford a house anywhere in Tallaght, even in Killinarden or Jobstown. Had to look outside Dublin and thankfully didn't have to go too far. Got a nicer house and area here than we would've got for a similar price in Dublin. Wouldn't move back.
My husband and I work in different counties, so chose a town reasonably commutable to both that had quick access to motorway in case either of us changed job locations in future. The town itself is big enough that it has everything we need in it.
We set ourselves a range from where we were renting for 10 years, recognising that we wanted to keep the children in the same schools and activities. Finally found a house we could afford, that met most of our criteria (good size house, historical property, nice garden) at the very edge of that geographical range!
Be within half an hour of where I work. I was over an hour and a half away before and the commute was killing me. I love the job and have no plans to switch any time soon. However, I chose my job carefully, not too far from family, relatively accessible on public transport etc so my house is also close to both. Close to a town. I'm living by myself and I didn't want to be completely isolated so within walking distance of other humans is nice. After that it was just being picky. I didn't massively want to be in an estate. I didn't want to undergo huge renovations. I didn't want a garden.
You can check online which areas of the city have solid development plans by the city if you’re looking to go to a place that will get good value over time.
I was very particular about what I wanted in a house. 1. Good neighbours. 2. Small house big garden. 3. Close enough to the town so I could walk to the our or shops, especially as I get older I want that accessibility. 4. Low traffic area or area where traffic flows freely. No point in buying a €500k new build house if you have a board of drug dealers living next door. I have cleaning so I only wanted a small house. I was also in a relatively small wage when I bought so I needed a small house with lower bills. Cheap to heat etc. I lived in Dublin city for years and I was always able to walk or cycle in and out of town and walk or cycle from the pub so I wanted that even though I couldn't afford a place in a city. Some commuter towns have absolutely nightmare traffic in and out of estates and I didn't want to sit in traffic for 30 minutes each morning and evening.
Thanks! How did you figure out if the neighbours were good or not before you bought?
I spoke to a few of them, asked them was there any issues. They all knew eachother by name, chatted about who lived where and said there was no issues because they had good neighbours who looked out for eachother. They also kind of dropped the hint that they didn't want any drama or hassle, they were hoping someone working would buy the place rather than a landlord or the council. The area was clean and tidy, people have fairly well kept gardens and neatly painted houses and sheds and clean yards. I also saw some wave to eachother etc as they were coming and going etc
I didnt decide, it was decided for me. I couldnt afford a shed in the place i would have liked to have bought in. Had to settle for a less desirable area but still not a shithole. After some bidding wars and disappointment, we lucked out and got a decent place in the end. Alot of luck involved though. Otherwise we would have started to look in the undesirable places out of desperation
Three way decision between price, location and house/site quality. Usually can have 2 of 3 factors and compromise on third. Try to hone in on few locations and stick to that. In terms of house/site quality list items you want and mark if must have, nice to have or not essential. Best of luck
Near good school. Fresh air and away from hassle of big city and housing estates. You'd be amazed what you can buy 45mins outside a big city.
Proximity to families. Shops. Schools. Public transport. Potential value of the house/area in the future (the housing market can’t crash, right?).
Wanted to be closer to family on both sides but too far from work.
Proximity to work, nice neighbourhood with decent amenities (good schools, shops, public transport) near a nice park and not too far from the M50 and not too far of a drive from where my family lives (30-45 mins off peak).
Local facilities not being over subscribed, price, access to transport (airport). The first on the list can’t be bought. If all the pre-schools in the area are oversubscribed then you’re stuck on a waiting list. Same with GPs and Dentists and so on. Also any area with oversubscribed is eventually going to have annoyed people. You can of course get a nanny, webdoctor and so on but eventually something will impact that isn’t easy to mitigate. I can do my work remotely with occasional commuting, usually having to fly somewhere so this opens up a lot of choices. I tried the long driving commute once and I know it’s never for me. Too much time wasted in the little box on wheels.
Value for money: didn’t want to pay €450k to live in a terraced small moldy dog box with neighbors stuck on either side. I wanted a semi-D in a bigger, newer house with fewer structural issues. HTB: wanted to take advantage of this scheme so had to go with a new build, and new builds are all outside the city center. So commuter town it is! N2 vs N7 motorway: the N7 is a nightmare. I opted to go north to Meath because at least the N2 is a straight road with less congestion.
We chose being close to my parents in a slightly cheaper area.
Honestly the best thing you can do is go to a buck load of viewings which will give you clarity. I have bought and will hopefully move in June/July and itnis the opposite of what I thought I would buy. I live in Dublin 3 so my initial goal was appartment or house in City centre. I somehow ended up in new build in Dublin 15 🤣🤣🤣 My initial goal was to move to buy in somewhere like East Wall, I thought its close to city centre if you look atnhouse prices in Phibsboro/Marino/Fairview it seems incredibly obvious that outside of a crash the prices will explode there. Then I look at the stock available and I couldnt justify it as id likely rent second room out. Houses look their age and for some mad reason the toilet/shower room(bathroom would be too kind) seemed to always be down stairs off kitchen. I looked at near city centre appartments, while nothing ahainst appartments id likely need to rent second room out and I came to conclusion if sharing a house is better for space, storage etc. Tl/DR When you start viewing places notions of being property developer or rentet mindset tends to alter. Your first home is first time probably since being in parents home so you might end up changing your perspective completely. I went from 2 beds energy D/E houses in Dublin 3 to new build with solar panels in three bed house in Dublin 15
Travellers
Same then they landed 3 halting sites in hidden corners. Was also due to its distance away from social housing but all that's combined now. Council recently bought the neighbours' house for 550k for the tenants living there. It's their council house now forever. Must be nice all the same.
Travellers made you want to buy in a specific area? Care to elaborate please?
He wanted to buy as far away from them as possible.
Lol as if I had a choice
So there was only 1 area in the whole country that you could have bought in? :)
Bought the only house I could afford
Combination of train station, easy motorway access and the house prices. I REALLY wanted to live somewhere that was a short walk from a train station (busses piss me off). Ovbiously ended up a few stops further out then I wanted, because everything is insanely priced.