Should I buy or keep saving?

lionstour said:
Thats great; just 140 miles away from Dogulas Co Cork.

And I would question your numbers on clondalkin. A lot of properties for rent there and I doubt there is that much demand,
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Sorry i was just giving a general example.
I have six properties let in clondalkin all for around this amount , never empty . Bought at different times in last eight years.
 
serotoninsid said:
I hope i'm not steering this off in another direction (i'm pretty sure i'm not as it's related to the general theme of the thread thus far) but would this be a general consensus? ie. 130-140 would be the build cost for a typical 3 bed semi (assuming this is what theoptimist was referring to)??
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Yes it would cost this amount considering the local council will want 15K to 20k contributions.IMO
 
You must keep you eye on the property which you want to buy and work for few moths more and pay all the money cash so there won't be too much of interest and no hassle as well.But look for a place which is safe and genuinely vacant.
 
Still saving and a house that I am interested in is over 50% less than its peak... Fingers crossed it keeps dropping!!
 
If you want to invest money's and let your sister use the investment try diamonds they are a really good investment. They go up in value every year in excess of any bank interest rate and property(still descending in value). You should also get some irish tax advise before lodging large amounts of money into an irish bank account, the government and revenue are constantly changing the tax laws and you may be liable for Irish tax?
 
Hi Bobskins,

The house that I'm currently looking at is one which I could see myself living in later on in life if I ever come to Ireland full time, I wouldn't see myself wearing diamonds :). Its a large 4 bed detatched in a nice quiet housing estate.

I have been thinking about it and I won't be buying unless the market settles somewhat or something really catches my eye.

In relation to the irish tax, I am aware of the good chance of the laws changing to screw us earning outside of the republic but I assume their will be plenty of notice and they will have to apply a cut off date for tax free lodgings??



Cheers,

Allen
 
Ya 4 bed fully detached houses have pretty much halfed in value since the peak in 2007. Im sale agreed on one in galway. I have about 130k negative equity in my current house. I wouldn't be in any rush Into the property market if you don't need to. Personal circumstance change all the time and you never know what's round the corner.
 
allenk said:
I have been thinking about it and I won't be buying unless the market settles somewhat or something really catches my eye.
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Nobody can call the market. You have to remain detached. You wish to buy in Douglas because you are from that area and you maybe miss home and this would give you a link and because Irish people need to have bricks and mortar. As you are not going to live there any time soon if ever you need to have a very cold clinical business mind to make this decision. Involving your sister is pointless, within 6 months she might be off to Oz, married or having a baby, you don't know what might happen there and your careful plan will be in shreds. If you do up all the figures, cost of buying, stamp duty, legal fees and mortgage amount and term, plus interest rate with a 3% swing and projected rent we can look at the figures and see if it will give you a good return. Also being far away makes it really difficult to manage renting a property. Anyone will tell you the professsionals are fairly useless in this, but you have a better chance with a sound house in a location that will always rent. And use a family member to collect the rent and manage the property for you, a competant reliabable person who you pay for the service as you would a professional and your plan can be viable and I don't see why it wouldn't be a good investment. First off though can you find out from the banks will they actually lend to you and you would be better off getting a large mortgage rather than owning it outright from a tax planning point of view.
 
Hi Bronte,

I'd be looking at a house for around 200k where I would require a 75% mortgage. I'm currently saving 2-2.5k/month so 25-30k/annum. Rent in the area would get me at least €800/month (friend renting 2 bed in same area for €750/month). I spoke with 2 people in the BOI mortgage department over xmas and they seemed pretty confident I should have no problem but I won't take it as gospel.

why would I be better off going for a large mortgage? Because I could offset the rental income tax against interest paid?

Cheers.
 
It would be the other way around regarding the offset. 75% of the mortgage interest is allowed as an expense against rental income, the remainder less other exp's is subject to irish tax and prsi and usc as its an irish situated asset. Also the tenant is obliged under irish tax law to withold 20% of the rent and pay it over to revenue as you would be considered a non resident landlord.Banks will only give 20 year mortgage on an investment property too. You may have an exposure to stamp duty at 1% if it's an investment property. But TRS runs out for new buyers at the end of 2012.
 
As I'm working outside of Ireland and not paying any Irish Tax I don't believe I'd qualify for TRS but can anyone confirm please?

One of the reasons that I am renting to my sister is so I would not have to declare it an investment property. I'll give her the house for free and if she feels obliged she can gift me some money in return on a monthly basis :)
 
Oh dear AllenK what you are proposing is oh so not worth it.

Instead of TRS you will be entitled to the much better landlord mortgage relief whereby you can write off 75% of mortgage interest against rent each year.
 
Quick comment. currently foreign residency & income source would preclude consideration of property finance from any Irish based Bank or BS. If you don't have the cash available to buy the property, its not a runner, don't waste time applying for a mortgage.
 
Hi

TRS is not available to you, that is correct, sorry bout that had to look it up. If you give your sister the free use of your property there is a deemed gift element there around 8% of market value which adds up even if you take the €3000 annual tax free gift away. The sibling treshoulds for gift tax were reduced in the most recent budget so just another element to think about.
 
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