Killygordon or Convoy in Co Donegal

I'm considering the possibility of purchasing a house for rental purposes in either Convoy or Killygordon villages.

They're close to Ballybofey / Stranorlar and not too far from Letterkenny.

Would either village be regarded as being a more desireable place to live in, and therefore easier to rent out a house?

Or would either be regarded as being more "on the up" than the other?

thanks

I would reckon that the chances of getting rentals in either place are slim, at best. Who would want to rent there?

Try putting an ad in the local paper and see the response. I would be wary of sinking capital into either place frankly.

BTW, I thought Killigordon was in Derry? Maybe it's in both counties.

auto320 said:

Who would want to rent there?

BTW, I thought Killigordon was in Derry? Maybe it's in both counties.

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These villages are quite close to Ballybofey/Stranorlar and Letterkenny, and maybe 30-40 minutes drive from Derry city. They're also very close to Strabane.

They're both in Co. Donegal.

I'm not sure what you mean by "who would want to rent there", since they're very close to these towns and also to Derry.

auto320 said:

I would reckon that the chances of getting rentals in either place are slim, at best. Who would want to rent there?

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auto320 said:

BTW, I thought Killigordon was in Derry? Maybe it's in both counties.

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This post will be deleted if not edited immediately wept, how on earth could you be qualified to say "who would want to rent" in Killygordon when you don't even know where it is?!?!

Anyone who knows their Irish geography and knows their Donegal will be aware of the very simple fact that Donegal is the most beautiful county in Ireland )), so any part of it would be a hugely desirable renting option for Irish holiday makers, if well advertised, who realise there is a world outside Brittas Bay It astounds me how ignorant so many Irish people are about Donegal, you'd swear it was in another country. Your loss.

As for all-year-round renting opportunities, again if you know your Donegal you'd realise Letterkenny is exploding (!!) population wise and there is an endless demand for houses/apartments in the area - this I know from experience.

Killygordan or Convoy are not beautiful places and I don't know who would want to rent there. Are they close to Derry? Sure. As is Letterkenny, Buncrana, Manorcunningham, Newtoncunningham, Lifford etc.

Advising someone to invest in Killygordan or Convoy because of 'exploding population' in Letterkenny makes no sense-there are loads of new developments in Letterkenny-why would you rent outside the town when you can rent in the town.

Parts of Donegal are indeed beautiful. I still wouldn't advise anyone to invest there with a view to year long rental.

And I am from Donegal.

CCOVICH said:

Killygordan or Convoy are not beautiful places and I don't know who would want to rent there.

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Is that an opinion or a statement of fact? Having lived in Convoy for 5 years I beg to differ, but we all have our prejudices, eh?

CCOVICH said:

Are they close to Derry? Sure. As is Letterkenny, Buncrana, Manorcunningham, Newtoncunningham, Lifford etc.

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Of course they're close to Derry! But they're not in Derry, which is the point at issue!!! But if you're happy for your county to be confused with your neighbour............. (Confuse Donegal and Derry in GAA circles and you're likely to end up in hospital )

CCOVICH said:

Advising someone to invest in Killygordan or Convoy because of 'exploding population' in Letterkenny makes no sense-there are loads of new developments in Letterkenny-why would you rent outside the town when you can rent in the town.

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I didn’t advise anyone to do anything, I'm not qualified to do so, I simply expressed an opinion based on my own experience and knowledge of the area in question.

“Why would you rent outside the town when you can rent in the town?” Because supply is not meeting demand in Letterkenny these days, and hasn’t done for the last two or three years?? Talk to students trying to find accommodation there!

Hands up: my brother is an estate agent in Letterkenny, so I have some knowledge of the issue.

Letterkenny is often tagged with the label of the ‘fastest growing town in Europe’ – I’m as sceptical about these tags as, I’d guess, you are, but the population growth there in recent years has been extraordinary.

What returns you might get on rental property in Letterkenny and surrounding areas I have absolutely no idea, all I was saying, to those who might assume Donegal is some stagnant backwater, is that the area in question is quite evidently vibrant and growing.

CCOVICH said:

Parts of Donegal are indeed beautiful.

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Only parts? Well, okay, Bundoran is my definition of hell on earth.

Bushfire said:

This post will be deleted if not edited immediately wept, how on earth could you be qualified to say "who would want to rent" in Killygordon when you don't even know where it is?!?!

Anyone who knows their Irish geography and knows their Donegal will be aware of the very simple fact that Donegal is the most beautiful county in Ireland )), so any part of it would be a hugely desirable renting option for Irish holiday makers, if well advertised, who realise there is a world outside Brittas Bay It astounds me how ignorant so many Irish people are about Donegal, you'd swear it was in another country. Your loss.

As for all-year-round renting opportunities, again if you know your Donegal you'd realise Letterkenny is exploding (!!) population wise and there is an endless demand for houses/apartments in the area - this I know from experience.

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I was in Klligordon recently, but couldn't remember which side of the border it was on, just thought it was in norn iron. It is pretty much right on the border in any case. Sorry if I made This post will be deleted if not edited immediately weep for you! At least I know where it is, although you will appreciate the border is not exactly a visible line that makes county boundaries obvious to the passing traveller. I have the same problem with Leixlip, hard to tell if it's in Dublin or Kildare.

As for Donegal being beautiful, no contest, it's stunning. As for it being a hugely desirable renting option for Irish holidaymakers, just ask any estate agent! Bucketfuls of empty holiday properties available for rent, even in July/August. Too many holiday homes built in recent years in the face of a falling market of Norhern renters. In addition, towns like Letterkenny have indeed exploded; the place is like a mini city, you would get lost in it! There is no need for any Polish or Irish renter to leave the town to get a nice rental apartment or townhouse. Killygordon or indeed Convoy would be way down the list for most renters. Sure they're lovely places, but dead as doornails and not attractive to the required demographic.

If you had read my post carefully, I advised the OP to put an ad in the local paper to ascertain the level of interest. That's still my advice, but personally i wouldn't buy a property in either place unless I wanted to live there.

auto320 said:

I was in Klligordon recently, but couldn't remember which side of the border it was on, just thought it was in norn iron. It is pretty much right on the border in any case. Sorry if I made This post will be deleted if not edited immediately weep for you! ......

As for Donegal being beautiful, no contest, it's stunning.

As for it being a hugely desirable renting option for Irish holidaymakers, just ask any estate agent! Bucketfuls of empty holiday properties available for rent, even in July/August. Too many holiday homes built in recent years in the face of a falling market of Norhern renters.

In addition, towns like Letterkenny have indeed exploded; the place is like a mini city, you would get lost in it! There is no need for any Polish or Irish renter to leave the town to get a nice rental apartment or townhouse.

Killygordon or indeed Convoy would be way down the list for most renters. Sure they're lovely places, but dead as doornails and not attractive to the required demographic.

If you had read my post carefully, I advised the OP to put an ad in the local paper to ascertain the level of interest. That's still my advice, but personally i wouldn't buy a property in either place unless I wanted to live there.

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Apologies for your biting your face off o), I'm far too sensitive on the subject of Donegal and folk's lack of knowledge of it - the irony is my biggest nightmare is that the rest of Ireland will finally discover its splendour and I'll have to share it with Dubs on Jet Skis

As someone who has either lived or holidayed in Donegal for the last 30+ years, and has witnessed the changes there, I have to say my experience doesn't tally with your comments, but as I said before I'm not involved in the property letting business so am in no position to advise, only to offer opinions based on what I have witnessed.

It's certainly true to say that Killygordon/Convoy aren't prime tourist spots, mainly because they are inland, but I know of more than a few fellow Dub residents who holiday around there, the area is a lot quicker to reach than the west coast of the county!

As for Killygordon or Convoy being way down the list for most (year round) renters, that's very probably true for those who would prefer to be closer to Letterkenny, for work/college reasons, but as I said above my information is that supply isn't meeting demand. Therefore, obviously, some renters are having to move outside the town, some by choice (ie those who want to escape the frantic metropolis that is Letterkenny these days!).

Could you make your fortune renting a property in Killygordon/Convoy? I very much doubt it! My point is simply that before frightening someone off a little local knowledge might be required!

I can tell you that your source may have misinformed you regarding Letterkenny and supply and demand. I live and work in the town.
For starters supply is outweighing demand, prices of houses seems to have stalled for the last 12 months. A few estate agents I've spoken to recently say that nothing is shifting. Prices in some of the better estates are actually falling back as expectations are reduced.

Rental in the town is really cheap. 600-700 euro will get you a modern fully furnished four bedroom house. What size of mortgage will that cover?

The myth that Letterkenny is 'the fastest growing town in Western Europe' is false. Donegal's fastest maybe! Europe, No.

There are indeed many beautiful places in Donegal, not just on the coast, but thats where the best ones are. And I don't mean Bundoran.

CN624 said:

I can tell you that your source may have misinformed you regarding Letterkenny and supply and demand. I live and work in the town.

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So does my brother, and he's in the property selling/renting business! As I'm not looking for property in the area he hardly has any motive for telling me that business remains excellent in Letterkenny and that demand continues to outstrip supply, but we'll have to agree to differ. He's been brutally honest about his business before, so I have no reason to doubt him now. Maybe his experience is just different to yours, some are prospering these days, some (like me!!) aren't.

As I said above I'm always sceptical about 'fastest growing' claims.....not that Wikipedia is the definitive word, but:

It has been and continues to be referred to as the fastest growing town in Europe; however this has never been substantiated. Information from the Central Statistics Office in Ireland and the EU Statistical Office, EuroStat, going as far back as 1977 make no mention of Letterkenny in their reports on the fastest growing towns or cities within either Europe or Ireland. However, a former President of Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and Industry remarked once that it could be the fastest growing town in Europe, this was later used by Frank Mc Donald of the Irish Times in an article in 1995 entitled 'The Fastest Growing town in Europe' and from then on was used regularly in the press locally and nationally. This is not to say that the town has not experienced rapid expansion in recent years. Between 1996 and 2002 the population of the town and its environs has risen from 11,996 to 15,231. This increase by 27.0 % has made Letterkenny one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland, outside the Dublin commuter belt

Statistics from over 10 years back aren't really relevant today-especially if they have never been substantiated. I remember the 'fastest growing town in Europe' tag, but certainly don't believe it anymore.

On Donegal in general, it would certainly appear to me that more jobs have left the county in recent years than have been created. I am amazed at the amount of development that has taken place in the county and really am puzzled as to what is driving 'demand' (it would appear to me that a lot of development is driven by supply).

As for students trying to find accomodation in Letterkenny, maybe they have problems, but show me a student that doesn't have problems finding accomodation anywhere. And I certainly don't see them renting in Killygordan or Convoy as a result.

As you say yourself, you wouldn't advise someone to invest in the likes of Killygordan or Convoy. So it looks like we are all in agreement on that score. And that is what this thread is about after all.

P.S.The only poster that mentioned 'stagnant backwater' and 'Donegal' in the same breath was you Bushfire .

CN624 said:

Rental in the town [Letterkenny] is really cheap. 600-700 euro will get you a modern fully furnished four bedroom
house. What size of mortgage will that cover?

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I don't know the town but looked on daft.ie and a found a 4-bedroomed house
for €157,500

http://daft.ie/searchsale.daft?search=1&s[cc_id]=c24&s[a_id]=1539&s[mnp]=&s[mxp]=&s[bd_no]=&s[search_type]=sale&s[refreshmap]=1&limit=10&search_type=sale&id=194131


If it's possible to get €650/month for this that would give a yield of almost
5%. When you consider that quite a lot of property investments in Dublin
achieve yields of 1%-2%, it's not bad.

CN624 said:

For starters supply is outweighing demand, prices of houses seems to have stalled for the last
12 months. A few estate agents I've spoken to recently say that nothing is shifting. Prices in some of the better
estates are actually falling back as expectations are reduced.

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I don't think this is anything specific to Letterkenny, as if you enquire with many
agents (as a seller, not a buyer) they will say the same thing for many towns along the
west coast and border counties.

From what has been reported recently in the press the same could probably be said about Dublin too.

CCOVICH said:

P.S.The only poster that mentioned 'stagnant backwater' and 'Donegal' in the same breath was you Bushfire .

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We clearly have very different experiences on how Donegal is regarded by people who don't know anything about it You might have missed the point I was making in this thread, ie that one should surely be familiar with a place before giving advice on whether or not it's a good investment area. We'll leave it at that, we're getting nowhere.

My father has two houses in Letterkenny both in what are considered good estates. Rental of these houses is very difficult. The houses are normally rented to students but this year he was unable to rent one. It was rent on short term rental to FAS trainees but is now vacant again. I also know the house next door to one of the houses has been on the market for about 9 months which doesn't seem good.

Would it be easier to rent out a house, and more scope for capital growth in Ballyshannon?

Ana_Nab said:

Would it be easier to rent out a house, and more scope for capital growth in Ballyshannon?

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Yes, Ballyshannon is not a bad little town and has reasonably decent shopping and facilities. There is even a relatively modern shopping centre of sorts at the bottom of the town (do you still think I know nothing about Donegal, Bushfire?). It is also close to the coast, but avoids the excesses of Bundoran. It wouldn't be a bad place to live even. Also, it is not too far away from anywhere, it's a short trip from Sligo for instance; Sligo has grown and developed very well in the last few years.

If you are set on investing in the lower price ranges in Donegal then Ballyshannon is probably an option with a possibility of a return at some stage. I wouldn't see anything too exciting in it, but if it has to be Donegal then it might do ok for you. The trick here would be to go in with very low offers on anything secondhand that you see and that suits you. There is a lot of property for sale in these kinds of small towns, and its quite likely that some sellers need to offload, even at a loss. There were some section 23 apartments with sea views for sale there a month or so ago in the 150k bracket that would be worth a look if you are hoping to rent, not sure if any are left but hunt around.

Anyway, its a lot better than Killigordon or Convoy.

Thanks auto

Yes I was thinking of making some lower offers on 2nd hand properties.

auto320 said:

If you are set on investing in the lower price ranges in Donegal then Ballyshannon is probably an option with a possibility of a return at some stage. I wouldn't see anything too exciting in it, but if it has to be Donegal then it might do ok for you.

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Just wondered, but do you have any suggestions for other locations outside Co. Donegal for purchasing 2nd hand properties at €150,000 or less?

The original post has got lost in all this debate. here's my tuppence worth.

1. Convoy/Killygordon are not serviced well regarding shops/supemarkets/pubs/public transport and property bought there, however cheap, would be hard to rent out longterm, IMO.
2. There is no problem getting accomodation in Letterkenny, as a glance at local papers will tell you, so overspill of rental market will not reach these two towns. Students are not a factor as transport/services would be a problem for them.
3. Property is cheaper in these towns and both should develop well in the coming decade, but investmetn would be long term to get a profit, especiallya t the low, in any, reantl income you would get.

Ana_Nab said:

Just wondered, but do you have any suggestions for other locations outside Co. Donegal for purchasing 2nd hand properties at €150,000 or less?

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I don't think that there is a lot of value in Ireland generally right now. Recent figures on the number of completions show supply now outstripping demand, and prices certainly have peaked. A lot of sellers in rural towns in particular are discounting to try to get sales.

The reality is that the more remote areas are the first to suffer, They have enjoyed a level of sales and prices unrelated to the actual value of the properties, more dragged up by relation to the prices being achieved in the major centres. With supply passing out demand, these peripheral areas suffer most. Despite what some people might like to think, the entire county of Donegal comes into the description of peripherality. Add to that the loss of manufacturing jobs, and the picture is bleak. The current levels of employment in the county are driven by the construction industry in the greater part; when that reduces, property at current prices will seem expensive, especially in small towns.

Where else would I go with my money? In Ireland, nowhere really at this point.

Welfarite said:

1. Convoy/Killygordon are not serviced well regarding shops/supemarkets/pubs/public transport

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Welfarite said:

Students are not a factor as transport/services would be a problem for them.

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Whilst public transport from Killygordon appears to be more of a problem, public transport from Convoy seems ok as I checked on the Bus Eireann website and they have buses travelling from Convoy to Letterkenny each day at 08.00 arriving in Letterkenny at 08.20