Buying in Limerick

fitzy73

Registered User
Messages
5
Hi folks. Longtime lurker ...

I am in a position of having some money to invest. As part of that I am thinking of purchasing an apt in Limerick.

The apt is 2 bed, close to the city centre, and priced at around 50k.

I am from Limerick originally but now live in the UK.

A few questions:

1. What is the rental market like in Limerick for two bed apts?

2. I am happy to do this properly ie register etc, so I assume I need to do an Irish tax return?

3. Property is being sold through a receiver. Not sure if it is Nama related or not. I have a price in mind and will happily walk at look elsewhere if they won't play ball. Should I be worried about the receiver bit though?

4. I'm assuming that management and water charges are paid by the tenant? Management charges are high at circa 1300 a year.

5. Any other advice greatly received.
 
You can check out the Limerick market on daft. As you're a native I assume you know where you are buying.

The receiver is not an issue per say, but it might mean the deal could be protracted, or maybe not, it depends.

As it's an aparemtn I'm assuming we are not talking family home in dispute scenario.

Have you visited the apartment?

You should tell the tenant they are liable for the management and water charges.

The management charges on a 2 bed in Limerick look high to me from a tenant's point of view at 25 Euro a week.

Yes you will need to do an Irish tax return, and also check what is needed in the UK.

What does one get for this?

Be very careful of apartment blocks. I'm not a fan of managment charges, is the place looking well, you need to inquire into the management company, is there works forseen, are they solvent etc? A lift costs a lot in a sinking fund.

Who is going to manage this for you?

Do the figures stack up.

If you pay the managment charges, it is then fully tax deductable, so it might be preferable that you cover this.

Are you borrowing to fund the purchase?
 
It very much depends where you buy in Limerick there is a glut of apartments in Limerick so rental yield is not great. If you have 50K sitting in the bank and you lived locally and you could deal with this yourself and it was in a 'good' rental area I would say go for it but since you don't live in the city and would have to pay for someone to manage it and you couldn't do the little jobs yourself and get someone to rent it for you I wouldn't recommend it as this will also cut into your profits also as an investment going forward don't expect any great increase as the 'boom' passed us by the first time and Limerick still very much not showing any increase in prices. I own a few of these properties in Limerick and also knowing the Dublin market you cant compare in any way both markets.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I would be funding it from savings / other investments. I'm getting bugger all from leaving the cash in the bank and want a diverse portfolio of stocks, property, other savings to try to increase my return.

Family can and will do the odd jobs for me (at a cost!). I'm a bit worried now about apt bit as doing further research it appears a number of them are available. Also the mgt co issue is worrying.

What would the average time to rent out be for a city centre apt? I'm aim to slightly undercut the current rents to get people in and I'm prepared to finish it well.

I'll be home in a few weeks and intend to visit then. I suppose that will make up my mind.

The other option is student apts in Castletroy but I have the feeling that could be a nightmare.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk 2
 
I would say students apartments in Castletroy are a better bet than what you are looking at. I never intend to be a landlord but if I had to pick at that budget I'd go for Castletroy students rather than those €50k apartments.

Rents in Limerick are much lower in comparison to almost neighbours Galway and Cork

I rented for years and never paid management fees, it's built into the rent. As a tenant you pay ESB, and gas/oil and imo the water charges.
 
It very much depends where you buy in Limerick there is a glut of apartments in Limerick so rental yield is not great.

It's the same in Waterford. And in certain locations you cannot borrow for appartments with the banks.
 
Family can and will do the odd jobs for me (at a cost!).

e other option is student apts in Castletroy but I have the feeling that could be a nightmare.

You need to approach this as a business, if you want your family you need to hire them on a professional basis, this is what I do. Good or bad times they get paid.

Student apartments are a different market. It's around a 9 month period, unless there are summer lettings as well, which I cannot envision in Limerick, Castletroy is a decent part of town. Some student blocks are run on a communally pooling of rent and expenditures etc. There's another student campus on the Ennis road that was with Allsops and failed to sell.
 
If you go down the road of student accommodation you will find it much more time consuming I know I rent to them in Castletroy I am thinking of the cost of having someone available to your tenants when they call which can happen a lot e.g. when a light bulb blows!! Also the student would have preference to be near the college and you are looking at houses mainly near UL there is apartments further away but you will have more difficulty letting these (so my friend tells me). I also have apartment in city centre but you are looking at very low rents and if you look at latest Daft report property still dropping in Limerick. If I was you and you really want to invest in Limerick I would try and up your money a bit and invest in a house at least then you could get long term tenant in and hopefully properly vetted less bother to you, also I feel your property would have better chance of increasing than if you invested in Apartment.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I have much to mull over.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk 2
 
Back
Top