Where to live/ what can we afford?

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Slaphead

Registered User
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Hi all,
after 11 yrs abroad were now moving back home, problem is where!!! Im 30, married and weve got 2 kids 10 & 5. I'm told i can expect a wage of roughly 60k, the missus probably a bit less.

Im from north wexford but dont neccessarily want to move back to my home village. Id prefer to be nearer the coast, ie Gorey (where the folks now live) but the school situation in Gorey worries me. We also dont want to live too rural.

I have a good chance of getting a job in Enniscorthy and am more or less guaranteed one in Stillorgan. Enniscorthy is doable from anywhere in wexford but Stillorgan is a different story so ive been looking towards Greystones and the DART. We'd like to live on a nice family estate, with loads of other kids about and not too much out in the sticks, Charlesland looks nice for example.

What sort of price range should we be looking for and can anyone reccomend any areas??. Id be extremely grateful for help as were moving in the summer and for the sake of the kids i'd like to be able to make a decision soon.
 
Welcome to AAM, Slaphead. That's a pricey part of the country you're talking about... :eek:

Have you had a browse of myhome.ie and daft.ie to get an idea of prices?

Frankly, the way the market is at the moment, I'd be inclined to recommend renting for a while first and waiting for something to come up over the next 12 months. Rents have kind of flattened out lately, and house prices seem set to stand still or even drop, depending on area and property type. With recent (and projected) rises in interest rates, you may come across a 'stressed vendor' if you're patient enough (and make sure all the local EAs have your number in the event that something suitable comes up...).

Best of luck with the move!
 
DrMoriarty said:
Welcome to AAM, Slaphead. That's a pricey part of the country you're talking about... :eek:
Have you had a browse of myhome.ie and daft.ie to get an idea of prices?
Frankly, the way the market is at the moment, I'd be inclined to recommend renting for a while first and waiting for something to come up over the next 12 months. Rents have kind of flattened out lately, and house prices seem set to stand still or even drop, depending on area and property type. With recent (and projected) rises in interest rates, you may come across a 'stressed vendor' if you're patient enough (and make sure all the local EAs have your number in the event that something suitable comes up...).
Best of luck with the move!
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Yes ive been looking in these places(DAFT), but mainly at stuff to rent at first, but we want to settle straight away, ie rent and then buy in the same area, for the sake of the kids.
Greystones does seem too expensive. But i reckon i can push and get the Enniscorthy job.

I was looking at the "How much can i borrow" thread:

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=158798#post158798

A conservative estimate of 50k for me and 35k for the woman give's us 383k. We havnt got much of a deposit saved up though. Are the houses in Charlesland allover 400k? Were looking for at leadt a 3 bedroom, hopefully a 4.
 
Slaphead said:
I was looking at the "How much can i borrow" thread:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=158798#post158798
A conservative estimate of 50k for me and 35k for the woman give's us 383k. We havnt got much of a deposit saved up though. Are the houses in Charlesland allover 400k? Were looking for at leadt a 3 bedroom, hopefully a 4.
Click to expand...

A question about this.
If we borrow say 400k, pay the smallest deposit, how much do we pay back per month and for long?
 
Slaphead said:
Are the houses in Charlesland allover 400k? Were looking for at leadt a 3 bedroom, hopefully a 4.
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Up until a couple of months ago you would not get any sort of house in Charlesland for 400K. This may have changed in the last 2 months…it remains a popular area though so I doubt they took much of a drop, if any. You would look at paying approx 420K for a 2-bed townhouse, and 550K for a 3-bed! There are no 4-bed houses but there are 4-bed duplexes over apartments, think they’re around the 550K mark too.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news…​
 
stresshead said:
You would look at paying approx 420K for a 2-bed townhouse
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2 bed townhouses in Charlesland have dropped close to the 400k level now:
[broken link removed]

There are a lot of properties for sale in Charlesland, many have been on the market for months. Vendors may be willing to accept offers below the asking price.
 
You'd be doing well to get a 4 bed in Arklow for €400k TBH - there's no hope of getting what you want at your budget anywhere north of there
 
babaduck said:
You'd be doing well to get a 4 bed in Arklow for €400k TBH
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There are plenty of 4 beds in Arklow under 400k. A quick myhome search returned 15 houses with 4 bedrooms under €400,000 in Arklow.

babaduck said:
there's no hope of getting what you want at your budget anywhere north of there
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That's ridiculous, there are plenty of properties within the OP's budget north of Arklow.
Why didn't you take two minutes to check the accuracy of your statement before posting rubbish?
 
If I were you I would hold out and rent for a while as you would be sorry if you pay those crazy figures for a house in Charlesland, it's not the best of developments and the houses are tiny. The way the place is laid out is so squashy looking, with 2 kids you would be mad. Why not rent in Bray or somewhere and wait for the prices to come down a bit more as they will and then pounce on a house you like in a nice area.
We were renting for 5 years until we bought our own house (in Bray) this year and we paid less than last year so hold out, we have 2 kids aswell and as much as I hated renting. I would have hated to have borrowed half a million for a 3 bed semi.
Take your time, pick your favoured area and rent and see how it goes.
Best of luck, been there and it's tough with 2 kids in tow and worrying about having a home for them but don't panic buy, not now!!.
 
whathome said:
2 bed townhouses in Charlesland have dropped close to the 400k level now:
[broken link removed]

There are a lot of properties for sale in Charlesland, many have been on the market for months. Vendors may be willing to accept offers below the asking price.
Click to expand...


i stand corrected, I suspected that might be the case alright - there are hundreds of the 2 bed townhouses
 
Thanks for the excellent advice lads, it'll all become clearer during the christmas season when i go for a few interviews. I think the best thing would be for us to aim for north wexford and the job in Enniscorthy as:
a) i know the area
b) its considerably cheaper (25% roughly from what i can see)

Although Greystones/Charlesland would be nice as i'd still be in touch with Dublin, but like i said, most likely too rich for my blood.

I dont mind renting for a bit although i'd prefer to be starting now as were both 30 and have been renting for over 10 yrs now! A lot depends on what sort of work the women gets, with the sort of qualifications she has she could get anything from a secretarial effort to a decent IT thing.

It's pretty hard to work out how much of a monthly fee we can afford on a mortgage, €1600 seems to me to be a huge sum. Were renting a 3 roomer now, 30 minute commuting distance from Stockholm for €750 with most stuff included, ie heating etc.
 
Slaphead, sounds like you have made up your mind on the area but don't get too hung up on "being 30 with kids and renting". We went through that feeling aswell. Me being 29 & hubbie 33 and we nearly paid €440k for a house in Wicklow until the panic set in about what we were doing so we pulled out, rented for another while (we were 6 years renting altogether & hated it!) and got a lovely house where we wanted in Bray for what we could afford, granted we have alot of work still to do with it but we are doing okay. Thing is, where we live now eventhough the market is starting to level out our house will always be worth something due to the location and the lovely job we are doing on it bit by bit. Plus, we are a ten minute walk from our sons school, a short spin to daughters creche and I get the dart to work and hubbie drives to his job in 15 mins so we saved on changing cars. Take everything into account. As I said before, best of luck to you with everything!.
 
It'll take me a bit longer to make up my mind but the important thing is that we want to settle in one place straight away. ie rent at first where we want to be and then buy in the same area without having to move the kids to new school again. Our 10 yr old has been to through two creches and two schools and our 5 yr old is on her 2nd creche. The whole move to Ireland will be tough enough on them even though they're used to the country and speak proper Irish English.

Id prefer to be nearer to Dublin, ie north Wexford or a bit up into Wicklow but the missus is keener on getting something cheaper a bit further down the country. We all want something fairly urban though, ie an estate with lots of families which is why Charlesland caught my eye.
Like i said it'll be clearer after the holidays when ive had a few interviews and had a little look around a few areas aswell.
 
Slaphead said:
Hi all,
Id prefer to be nearer the coast, ie Gorey (where the folks now live) but the school situation in Gorey worries me.
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Can you elaborate on your comments about the Gorey 'school situation' - we are looking at moving down there and we have a 2 year old who'll need a school place in a few years...thanks.
 
chippengael said:
Can you elaborate on your comments about the Gorey 'school situation' - we are looking at moving down there and we have a 2 year old who'll need a school place in a few years...thanks.
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The community school (secondary) is way overcrowded apparently, it was opened in 92 or so after 3 or 4 schools went together and was built to cater for 600 or so. I think there's closer to twice that in it now though.
Someone from around might be able to give you more exact information on it,,,
 
It may be overcrowded, but it has a reputation for being a very good school, and because of the pressure for places, anyone outside the catchment/feeder area is finding it impossible to secure a place. Something to bear in mind if you are considering rural N Wexford.

IMO Gorey is a great town (bar the traffic, which will ease after the bypass), Good amenities and a good vibe, better that towns directly north or south of it. New commutities can be ok, but I find Charlesland a bit souless tbh.
 
Slapheah, I am in the same boat as you at the moment having lived in the U.K fro 10 years me and the misssus are moving back home and looking at the Greystones area. I have been looking at property there fro the past year and prices in charlesland have gone from around 320,000 to 420,000 for a 2 bed terraced. My sister in law bought there 1 year ago for 330,000. its a nice 2 bed but has a tiny back garden just about big enough for a small dog or large rat which ever you prefer but not really big enough for kids. There have been some nice houses in the older estates up for sale recently a 4 bed semi going for 375,000 with a huge green area outside the front door, mind yoou not much is selling at the moment My parents in law just purchased a lovely pent-house and got a cracking deal( wouldn't have said that a few years ago) 420,000 for a top floor 3 bed with unobstructed views of the golf course and mountains. Houses in charleslands are dropping in price from around 425,000 to 405,000 lets face it its still insane for a 2 bed terreace:mad: but what can you do?

We now plan to rent as I want to see howe things pan out over the next 24 months, rising interest rates, increased supply etc etc

Anyway best of luck greystones an dsurrounding area is really beautiful and I think a good place to raise a family and still close to the big smoke, where most of the employment is.
 
Greystones is a fabulous town. I lived there from the age of 5. Although it has changed a lot in the last 30 years it remains a great place to raise kids.

I'd say that if you can work in the opposite direction from the city and live in Greystones then you have it made! Urban living without the traffic grid-lock in the morning. It ain't cheap though and that's something which always must be factored-in.
 
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