Rent to buy Schemes

Hi all,

New here but have been reading some good advice so said i'd post looking for some myself.

Anyway I've been offered a fully furnished 3 bed house that I really like on a rent to buy scheme. I've been offered it for €275K but if I bought at the end of year 1, i'd get a €10K discount and all the rent paid for the year would be refunded to me which I could then use as a deposit. I was previously very reluctant to go for rent to buy due to the 3K non-refundable fee which you pay and the fact that not all the rent would go towards the purchase, which isn't the case with this offer.

Now I realise a lot of people would think it's crazy to agree a purchase price on a property now that I wouldn't purchase for another year but as things stand between myself and my other half, we're paying 1,000 per month in rent which makes it a little difficult for us to save up 20K as a deposit anytime soon so the option of getting a full years rent back to use a deposit seems very tempting. The rent on the "new" house we'd get would be 1,200 month since it's rent to buy but would only be 1,050 if we were going to rent it.

Any advice/opinions appreciated?!

Hi Gcsm9,

It really depends on where the property is located to be honest. As we are not allowed to speculate on property prices here, I'll leave it to yourself to say whether you think prices will fall further in that estate.

Also it depends on your future plans. Do you plan to sell the house again within 5 years or will it be your long term home? If you plan to trade up before then maybe you are better off renting...even rent somewhere cheaper so that you can save a bit more.

I have seen house in estates drop by 100k over the last year so I can see why you would be nervous. 275k seems expensive for a 3 bed semi so I assume it must be near Dublin.

Thanks for the reply brokeagain.

Yes, I probably would look to sell again in 5 years time or something as this would basically just be my first home to start out but I guess you never know how things will go. It's more the fact that renting just feels like im throwing money away at the moment, when I could be paying similar towards my own property.

It's not based in Dublin, it's in Cork but within walking distance of the city center so a pretty good location. There are other houses available in the area which are going for €300K + so i'm not particularly worried about the location.

Houses "going for €300k" means nothing I'm afraid. Just because that's what they're asking for doesn't mean they'll get it.

€275k within walking distance of the city centre is fair enough i reckon. Best of luck with it.

Sorry Soarer, should've been clearer. A friend of the family bought a house not too far away and paid 310K a little less than 6 months ago, granted the house was a bit bigger and nicer looking.

And thanks!