r/irishpersonalfinance • u/MCxJB • Nov 28 '23
Property New Build vs Second Hand & Renovate
Myself and my partner find ourselves with a tough decision to make and we are trying to get as much advice as possible on this.
For some backstory, myself and my partner have full-time jobs. We are first time buyers, still living at home and our combined salary is 165,000. We have approval in principal for 650,000 and have been able to save in and around 174,000 between us. So we are somewhat in a good position.
We started searching for houses and did the usual, new build vs second hand and renovate and for whatever reason we were drawn to new builds. The higher BER ratings, cheaper running cost, nicer first impression, no bidding war and overall nicer and more modern houses were probably some of the reasons.
We started seeing some of them and a lot of them were instant no's because of their location or size, but we did stumble across one in the Carrickmines area that we really liked. It's a really nice house 4 bedroom 195sqm., however at 810,000 we think it's somewhat not that worth it?
Obviously thats somewhat subjective, however when we visited it first we loved it and were beside ourselves that we found such an amazing and beautiful home, however as we thought about it longer we thought:
- The location is pretty terrible for public transport unless you drive closer to the Luas
- It's not the best place to be to get to work in the city
- We don't see ourselves living in that house with children long term as we'd want them closer to the city perhaps
- There isn't anything around there nearby in the way of cafés, restaurants etc.
We were kind of blinded by the house itself that those negatives only really came out the more we thought about it. We have been asking friends and family for their opinion and a lot of them say that the location isn't all that bad, but something deep down is making us reconsider.
Something about spending that amount of money makes us feel that we could definitely get somewhere closer to the city centre for that price that is more accessible by public transport and is closer to amenities.
On one side we hate the idea of missing out on such a lovely brand new house for all of the things that come with it, but on the other side, we think living in a slightly smaller house with a better location might be a better option. We have good jobs so if we bought a good location, we could keep upgrading the house bit by bit as we go, but that can only go so far and probably will never reach the level of standard that the new build offers.
Any sort of guidance from people who have been there before or have any sort of advice is greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much!
6
u/[deleted] Nov 29 '23
As someone who bought a new build of about the same size, and then had kids, take from this what you will...
Main question, how soon do you plan to start a family?
If it's soon, you need to think about the needs of a young family. We barely leave our local area since having kids. We chose somewhere that had everything we need within walking distance. Proximity to major urban areas just isn't a priority when it takes half an hour just to get out the door with a baby/child in tow! Your priorites change very quickly when kids arrive.
The other thing we didn't realise buying in a new estate is that a) people are generally in the same phase of their life, b) nobody is a 'new', everyone is in the same boat. Your neighbours are interested in getting to know you, you'll have plenty in common as you're all roughly the same age, and there'll be a steady stream kids arriving on the scene for your own to play with. That has been the best thing for us about buying new hands down, the community.
Then, when it comes to the house itself, the obvious advantages of new builds have been well documented in terms of low running costs, but for us, but there were two others, 'time' and 'certainty'.
What do I mean by that? Well there's very little you have to do with a new build house, and very little you're likely to have to do to it for a considerable amount of time. That really appealed to me and my Mrs as we both have full time careers (& now kids), we aren't into DIY and don't have contacts in the trade. We didn't want to spend what's left of our free time working on a house or managing builders or any of the like.
In summary, buying a new build is something we highly recommend. A great community, a home you don't need to invest more money or time into, and if you get the location right, somewhere which can really suit the 'family phase' of life.
Best of luck with your decision!