Buy a one bed or two bed apartment?

G

Gqueen

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Hi there,

I am looking for advice please if possible.

I sold my house last year and for various issues am only in a position now to buy again and have been renting a one bedroom apartment for the past year. I am sale agreed on a 2 bedroom apartment at €400K (which I would be overpaying for due to the state of the housing market currently, asking price was €350K) on a nice street in my desired area (D8) which is also not far from where I am renting. My landlord is now selling the apartment (I have to be out by December) I am in and I could be in position to purchase it at a lower cost of around €270K. They are also currently working on the building where I am renting as there are redress issues. I work from home 3 days/week.
My financial situation is that I have a decent amount saved of €100K + mortgage approval and would prefer to buy a house instead of an apartment however its not possible currently again due to the price of houses being unaffordable to me. I can afford the mortgage payments on the 2 bed apartment at a bit of a stretch without having to get a housemate which is my preference however I wonder am I better off to buy the 1 bed apartment I am currently in and be financially better off and potentially sell it in another 3 or 4 years when the market calms a bit?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
 
The question is Where would you prefer to live?

Forget about finances for the moment. I would imagine that a 2 bed is better value than a one bed. I understand that they are easier to sell as well.

If you buy a one bed and don't like it you will end up trading up much earlier than you expected, and that is a very expensive and risky process.

Another advantage is having a €400k stake in the market is probably better than having a €270k stake in the market. If house prices fall, you will lose more money but your intended house will be cheaper. If house prices rise and you have "only" a €270k stake, then you might never be able to afford a house.

So, in your position, I would buy the two bed. I would get a tenant and use the tax-free rent to pay down the mortgage to a comfortable level and be in a position to trade up if that is what you eventually choose to do.
 
I was in a similar situation to you both financially and circumstances and I chose the 1 bed option and no regrets so far. Far too late in life to be sharing with someone. My 1 bed has the same living room / kitchen space as a two bed so all I am missing out on is an additional box room and ensuite which would probably end up as cluttered storage space or walk in wardrobes.
 
Certainly a two-bed makes more sense financially if you rent out the spare room, but do you really want to do that?

Personally, I couldn't share a two-bed apartment with a tenant on a long-term basis.

I have lived in both and when in the two-bed only ever used the second bedroom for guests from time to time.

Now I live in a 1-bed and any guests stay on the sofa. It's not ideal, but it's fine for a couple of nights.

However I will say, I would like a second bedroom to able to work from and for storage.

However, I think it really comes down to Brendan's earlier question: taking the investment consideration out of it, which would you prefer and are you willing to pay for it?
 
What is the scale of the work being done on the redress scheme.? Depending on what it is (pyrite for example) would be a big deciding factor for me.

If you could afford it, I'd go for the 2 bedroom, worst comes to the worst, you could always rent out a room for a while if needed
 
My daughter bought a one-bedroom with a large balcony in a mature development near coastal South Dublin a year ago. Having looked at scores of places the previous year she also discovered that many one-bed apartments had at least the same size living room/kitchen etc as the two-beds. In fact, she found that some one-beds had slightly larger living areas and a bigger single bedroom - which suggests builders often squeeze an extra box room into the same footprint. (She could have afforded a two-bed in a less desirable area but is very happy with her decision.)
 
Thanks so much everyone for the great perspectives, really appreciate it. Went back to the agent to see if the sellers would have any movement on the sale agreed price of the 2 bed based on a few factors. If you don’t ask you dont get so worth a shot. Will let you know how I get on great site btw, I’m new to it but love all the great advice on various threads
 
Given that there is a severe and chronic shortage of 1 bedroom apartments, and very few actually getting built, if you can get the apartment at a good price that's a good opportunity.
However, would try to check if there are redress issues that you might not get a mortgage on it as many lenders will not lender on a unit if there are fire cert issues (which is what 90% of defects in apartments are about). Try to find out what redress issues they are currently sorting and if they are likely to be finished before you go to signing contracts as solicitors won't sign off and banks won't lend without a fire cert already being in place.
 
Any 1 bed apartment built after 2008 had to be 50m2 minimum and in many cases had to be 10% bigger aka 55m2 to meet an additional stipulation that a "majority" of one bed units had to be 10% bigger than the minimum. That's bigger than a lot of tiger era 2 beds that were commonly 55m2.
Pre tiger era apartments tended to be smaller, typically 30-38m2, tiger era did see bigger builds, the idea of the "shoebox" was a myth promulgated by people who never set foot in a purpose built apartment. Minimum size of bedrooms for 1 beds are bigger than for 2 beds.
 
I bought a 2 bed house - it just ended up as wasted space to be honest, but otherwise I am happy with the purchase, even though I would have been perfectly happy with a 1 bed apartment. There's huge social pressure to buy a far bigger home than you actually need and a huge social stigma attached to 1 bed apartments that don't reflect how good a lot of them are and their affordability for FTBs.
 
Gordon Gekko said:
Personally I’d keep renting with a view to buying a house if that’s feasible. I think apartments are too high risk with all the fire/structural stuff.
Click to expand...
And that's exactly how we keep the system as it is going - telling people they "need" things they don't, like additional bedrooms, houses and other niceties. One of the biggest shocks for me in buying a house after decades living in apartments and pre-63s, was just how much time and effort I would spent maintaining the patio and garden, clearing drains etc.
 

Have just checked and the apartment purchased by my daughter is exactly 55m2 - not including the large balcony. (It's about 20 years old so pre-2008.) It's a decent, comfortable size for a single person or a couple.
 
Howth Head said:
Have just checked and the apartment purchased by my daughter is exactly 55m2 - not including the large balcony. (It's about 20 years old so pre-2008.) It's a decent, comfortable size for a single person or a couple.
Click to expand...
That's the issue right there.

A 1 bed has near zero utility if a child comes along so for most people they're only a temporary housing solution. For older people it eliminates the possibility of someone else living with them, which often means the difference between the older person living at home or in a (nursing) home.

A second bedroom, even a very small one, massively increases the usefoff the property in the long term. And nobody should be buying a temporary home in my opinion.
 
That's why I bought and happily live in one. It also eliminates the sudden arrival of relatives or friends who are stuck for somewhere to sleep for the night.
 
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