2 bed local or 3 bed further away?

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morpheus

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were looking at a 2 bed home in balbriggan its nice, well looked after etc, its 305k.

were from balbriggan, and are involved in lots of sports there too, both of us run out of house by 7pm every mon, tue, wed, thur and sat.

we just viewed lovely 3 bed with attic conversion for 312k in drogheda. problem is its 35 minutes further journey for us both every day.

this is our first home, do we stay local and have relatively pain free move out of family homes, or do we take plunge and buy inm drog cos its a good price and nicer bigger home.

im worried the distance and running back and forth will effect us badly by adding to initial stress of getting first place and movin in together. but were both worried were making wrong choice by buying a two bed locally as every1 keeps telling us we wont sell the two bed on in couple years.

has anyone any advice on kind of questions we need to ask ourselves,

Drogheda:
3 bed 1200 sq ft 312k with attic conversion and is semi D but its north east drogheda well looked after and interior design isnt what we'd like but is nice.

Balbriggan
2 bed 900 sq ft, mid terrace, no side access to garden but very well looked after and decorated and local for us, but its 305k.

your help is appreciated.
 
Its going to be a very personal decision and no two opinions will be the same but personally I'd vote for living nearer to family & friends than floor space. You say that people are telling you you won't sell a two bed in the future..yet someone is selling that same two bed now?

The only downside will be if there is a downturn in the market and negative equity comes into play, are you prepared to sit tight? If a couple of children are added to the equation..then how would you feel? Even with extra floor space if your far from family & friends with a new baby, then life may be more difficult.

Questions I'd be asking myself (in no particular order) include:
1. can you extend into the garden?
2. Can you convert the attic?
3. Whats the effect of having to travel 35 mins each way 5 times a week going to have on your relationship?
4. Which area are you more likely to have a social life in?

Good luck with your decision
 
We are moving from a gorgeous, spacious 3 bed house to a MUCH smaller house for the location. Our current house was our first house and we love the actual house. However nobody comes to visit us, and visiting family can only be done at weekends etc. In the new house we can drop into our family and friends (we are both from the same area). I definitely agree with what was said about even if you had kids it is much better to be close by friends and family than further away. I know lots of people who have bought 'palaces' further away from their families and like us, you spend a fortune on taxis, end up staying in your parents because you still want to go out with our friends and family.
 
If i was in your position i would buy the two bed locally . can you imagine the extra cost of travelling for both of you + 1 hour each travelling each day (traffic permitting) . think of your standard of living ! if you are considering this why not buy a 4 bed in portlaois?!!
 
well someone has decided to try and out bid us.

most expensive 2 bed in area sold for 310k few weeks ago, then prices slid back to 300, 295, some1 just bid 306k... this lark of putting 1k on top of my bid erks me to the extreme, i could bid well over 310 as were approved for a bit more but we want to keep mortgage lower as were 100% FTBs and will be up to the hilts in debt.

Now im in situation where i could end up paying more for a 2 bed in balbriggan than i could for a 3 bed in drogheda.... location location location indeed. Is it worth paying more for less to be local, my girlfriend is as undecided as me, were willing to take a risk with moving but i dunno how we could live with it if decision is wrong one.
 
I went for the very small 2 bed in the location we wanted (640 sqft small) and have never regretted it for a second. Can even extend the ground floor and haven't, because we don't "need" the space....

900sqft is a fairl big for a 2 bed, so size isn't as much of an issue as you think. If you need an extra room for friends calling over etc. get a couch that has a pull out bed - sort of creates a 3rd bedroom.

A 3 bed with 300 more sqfeet probably uses 100/125 of it on 3rd bedroom and another 75 of it on hallway and landing. So your actual daily living space is in the region of 100 more sqft than the 2 bed, which isn't actually a lot - just to put it in perspective.
 
Its gotten to the stage of indecisiveness that I need to ask the following.

How much of a big deal would it be to resell the drogheda house in 6 months time if we decide its not for us and we need to move back more local?

How would being tied up in our first mortgage affect our ability to sell on so early?

I know we lose our FTB status, but i think we can handle that.
 
tarquin . some great advice there fair play. morpheus get hold of yourself!! big deal....
time spent on mortgage approval
preferential rate for FTB
100% loan
no stamp duty ( circa 10k)
solicitors fees + outlays ( 3k)
estate agents fees to sell if commute turns out to be nightmare (4k)
petrol/hours on road/taxi to go out with friends/

alternative... buy 2 bed where you want and as someone said miss out on a 100sq ft box room for your friends to stay in once a quarter and to be usedas storage for the rest of the time!!! be close to everyone and everything you know........priceless....!! i sound like the add. how would you feel if house prices fell in the next few years and you buy a house in drogheda and you couldnt sell it to move back to balbriggan!! maybe rent for a month in drogheda and see what you think? if its too much hassle imagine living there for good!
 
thanks guys, appreciate the sound advice from you all.

Do keep your opinions etc coming though :D
 
Sounds to me like its a bit of a no-brainer! If you have friends and family and sports activities in Balbriggan, I would advise you to think more about Balbriggan. ...having spent ten years sitting in traffic to get to and fro places, I would always choose my free time over extra space. Its worth the extra money in my book...and a loss of free time will affect your patience, your energy levels and you will have less time to spend with each other (don't know how important that is to you ;) ) but these are things you need to consider.

I would imagine as the housing situation gets worse in Dublin that there will be at least some first time buyers interested in buying in a few years if you decide it was the wrong move. And I agree, you won't need the spare room if everyone lives within short distance of you. People don't like going over to stay with friends anyway ( I find) as they have things they need to take care off at the weekend. Go up and visit Drogheda a few times and see if you can picture yourself there doing your shopping or going to cafes etc if you think it will help. Best of luck.
 
I like drogheda, its local for us, we currently do our shopping there, like i mentioned were both gormanston and balbriggan based, its just that as the house is on the north side of the boyne, it adds to the commute by 15 minutes.

It takes us only 14 minutes from balbriggan to edge of drogheda, but then 10 - 15 minutes commute from outskirts of drogheda across town back down north side of quays and up to the house!!! crazy traffic.
 
I know! traffic is mental everywhere these days. But it will be 30 mins whatever way you break it down.

Look at your social life as it is today for both of you and see if you can live without it. because if you're coming home to Drogheda first to get a bit to eat and then go for 30 min drive to see friends or to play sport, and another 30 mins back (you say in your original post 4/5 times a week?)...no alcohol for the driver...it will change your social life...if the weather is lousy you might not feel like driving anywhere! And hey, we're not exactly on the med here!

If you think you can put up with that for next few years then that's something to consider. Is it near the proposed train station in Drogheda? might be a good buy then...
 
I would say stick with 2 bed in Balbriggan if all your friends, relations, clubs are nearby. All the big houses in the world don't make up for friends etc close by.

What are 3 beds selling for in Balbriggan? Where is your proposed two bed in Balbriggan? Nice location?
 
2 bed in Moylaragh estate.

3 beds are over the stamp duty limit which we're trying to avoid paying.

Someone said you can offer to give cash to a seller whos property is over the stamp duty limit. i.e. 325K, they sell it as 317K and you meet balance in cash? Sounds dodgy, you would need your own cash i guess to meet the balance as youll only get a mortgage for the selling price.

typical 3 bed in balbriggan is 320 - 350
 
Someone said you can offer to give cash to a seller whos property is over the stamp duty limit. i.e. 325K, they sell it as 317K and you meet balance in cash? Sounds dodgy, you would need your own cash i guess to meet the balance as youll only get a mortgage for the selling price.

We done this, it was simple enough... it was actually a solicitor that told us about it!
 
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