non resident buying investment property
Lou - Recently I went through a similar process and am happy to share my experience. I recently inherited a half-share in my mother's Dublin house when she died, together with my sister who has lived abroad all her life. My plan was to get a 50% mortgage with an Irish bank and rent out the property until I retired to Dublin (3 years time).
In this case because it was an inheritance, I was buying directly from a sibling, and the property was under the limit for stamp duty my ambition was to simply cover the mortgage repayments. Like yourself I was not seeking a profit. Most people warned that the property market in Dublin was "overheated" and prices would fall but this did not concern me unduly as I wanted the house solely for the garden, which is a passion. I set a very low rent and floated a "tester" ad on daft.ie.
First thing I discovered on assessing potential tenants is that Dublin is very much a "renter's market" and they quote their terms despite the very low rent I was setting. Half were foreign nationals e-mailing/telephoning me from their country of origin asking if they could have the house "now". As they did not have Irish bank accounts or jobs/promises of jobs I felt these tenancies would be problematic as they hadn't even reached the starting-line. The three prospective couples who came to view had very high expectations and upfront about things they wanted in place. I spent a great deal of time and energy compiling a list of tradesmen to complete the necessary renovation work before the property could be let and encountered a second big obstacle to running an investment property in Dublin - tradesmen are so busy, so well-remunerated and in such short supply it was going to take months to have the house in rent-able condition. The large garden actually became a liability as none of my prospects were willing/able to maintain it neatly so I would have to have gardeners for the next 3 years (and in Dublin this is expensive).
Next to agencies. Be alert that in Ireland agencies offer three separate services each of which is charged......obtaining/vetting tenants, property management, trouble-shooting. As the cost of having the full service is (by UK rates) very expensive, the alternative would have been emergency trips to Dublin whenever a w.c. got blocked or the burglar-alarm malfunctioned and then hope the particular tradesman/technician could be persuaded at emergency rates to do the sorting or repair. As a non-resident landlord you must appoint a rent collector in Ireland even if you do not work through an agency.
Thirdly after 30 years in the UK and experience of purchasing a home here I found the process in Ireland to be far less transparent with information difficult to get hold of and I got to the end of a year of effortful long-distance dealings with banks, agents, solicitors, bureaucracy tradesmen etc. completely exhausted and with no sense I was in control of the process or ever would be.
Last but not least when I "did my sums" and deducted the proportion of rent payable to Revenue, accountant's and solicitor's fees, agency, repairs, and mortgage interest.......together with the huge personal commitment l the record keeping entails, plus the stress.
If you have a strong supportive friendship and family network in Ireland being a long-distance landlord/lady is feasible. In the end I decided to sell as it makes more sense to put the proceeds into my UK bank which currently pays 5% interest. If I do finally decide to sell up here and return to Ireland I will return as a cash buyer. If prices continue to rise in Dublin........well, the world is a big big place!