Advice on buying a cottage or apt

Hi Guys,
We're just looking for a bit of advice. We've put an offer on a 2 bed cottage in Dublin that was built in the 1890's. The floors are sloping and it needs to be rewired. Should we steer clear or is it something that can be easily sorted?
We've also put in an offer on a 2 bed apartment in the same area (which has been accepted), it only needs a small amount of work but the management fee is €1800 pa. Both properties are in the same price region.
We would be really grateful if anyone could offer advice as we're really struggling to make a decision.
Thanks,
Sch3cter

Apartment living is very different to house/cottage living. This is very much a personal choice and decision. The best would maybe to get a contractor in to give you a quote for the work needed in the cottage? You will then have a better idea of what is involved.

I think you need to think long and hard about this.
Is there a garden with the cottage? Is so is this what you would like to have , summer evenings there will you have kids in the future or now that would use it. Is there a size difference in the two, what are expansion options like at the cottage? Parking do you have your own drive with the cottage or designated space with apartment.
The management fee is not required with the cottage so its a lot that could be used over the years to get the cottage right.
Personally I would go with the cottage especially if considering a family or have one already. I am in an apartment at the moment for the first time, and I cannot wait to get back to a house.

I owned an apartment for 3 years and hated it from the start. The hassles of shared doors, management fees and management companies just werent for me. I own a 95 year old house now and loving it.
Remember though that old houses can be money-pits. There'll always be bits falling off and holes to be filled! I guess owning an old house is like owning a vintage car, its a labour of love!

A mortgage will be paid off one day but management fees will always be there and will increase. I'd opt for the cottage any day.

Thanks for all the replies guys!
I think the problem is that we're worried about work involved in doing up the cottage and the cost of this. So the next step would probably be to get a builder to look at this. The cottage is slightly smaller but has a small courtyard whereas the apartment has no balcony only communal gardens. Also, the cottage is on street permit parking while the apartment comes with an underground parking space.
Has anyone ever had a problem with sloping floors, I guess we're worried about how serious this might be.

Thanks

it depends on how long the floors have been sloping. If they have been like that for 100 years, then its probably nothing to worry about! Its always good to get an engineers report when buying any property though (including an apartment.)

If you go for the apartment, make sure you do your homework on the state of the management company. In the development I was in the management company was badly structured and badly run and almost got struck off by the companies office. If id did get struck off, my apartment would have been un-sellable. I was paying over 1400 per year and they could barely keep the grass cut and the bins emptied. Try to find someone who already owns an apartment in the same development and ask them how well things run.

Not all mgt companies are bad news though. I rented an apartment in the city centre for a few months a few years ago. The mgt co there were brilliant. The grounds and common areas were kept spotless and they even had their own manager/care taker who kept things right.

There is probably no end to the amount of money you could spend on an old house. For me this is something I enjoy and I am glad I bought my place. You have also more change to adding value to a house in the long-term by renovating it. Its hard to add value to an apartment

Personally, I would always go for a house/cottage over an apt. for all the reasons already mentioned i.e. outside space, your own front door, opportunity to add value.
The only time I might think about living in an apt is when I am older (currently I'm 38) and might want a low maintenance place in a town or city centre - so that I'd have services nearby.

As you said have someone give you an estimate of how much it would cost to fix up the cottage and then make your decision. It will all come down to money.

Hi Guys,

Thanks a million for all your replies. We checked out the management company and they are down on the CRO website as "Strike off Listed". Does anyone know what this means? Should we be worried about this?

You should be very worried about this. It basically means that the company is one step away from being struck-off by the companies office. If its struck off then it can’t trade, meaning it can’t pay its bills for insurance, bin collections, grass cutting, etc, etc. It would also make your property almost impossible to sell in the future.

The most common reasons that companies are listed for strike off are due to them not making annual returns or can be down to a revenue issue. If you contact the companies office they may tell you why this company is listed. It might also be an idea to see if the development has a residents committee, they might be able to shed some light on the issue.

If nothing else, it shows some very shoddy bookkeeping on behalf of the management company, which would worry me.

If it was me, I would walk away from this one as it will break your heart in the future. If you do go ahead, then you should have a long conversation with your solicitor about it. But I think any sensible solicitor will also tell you to walk away.

Thanks JohnJay
We rang the CRO today and they said it's good that we found out when we did. The lady I was talking too said that the company is being Involuntarily struck off because they haven't submitted any accounts since 2010. She said shortly after they're struck off the company will be ordered to dissolved which makes it illegal for any the people who own the apartments to sell them. She advised us to "stay well clear and walk away, you're only going to get yourselves into a lot of bother for nothing"

It seems to me that you're talking like you only have the option of one or the other, there are tonnes of houses and apartments out there!

Are you in a mad rush to buy? Are there any not very old houses in the areas you're considering that are in your price range?

Sch3cter said:

Thanks JohnJay
We rang the CRO today and they said it's good that we found out when we did. The lady I was talking too said that the company is being Involuntarily struck off because they haven't submitted any accounts since 2010. She said shortly after they're struck off the company will be ordered to dissolved which makes it illegal for any the people who own the apartments to sell them. She advised us to "stay well clear and walk away, you're only going to get yourselves into a lot of bother for nothing"

Click to expand...

I had a similar problem with a management company a few years ago and I too found the CRO very helpful. Its good that you found this out at an early stage and not closer to closing. In fairness, your solicitor would have found this out before things went too far, they would have to get a letter from the management company as part of their process.

You now know the first question to ask the estate agent the next time you view an apartment! :-D

I would advise anyone buying an Apartment to get the Estate Agent to get the latest set of Management Co accounts. Alternatively if you could get the exact name of the Management Co you could download a copy of the latest accounts from the CRO for €2.50. It could be money well spent.

If the flooring is slate or stone, you may want to lift it anyway as it wont have any damp proofing membrane under the slab and you will have a chance to level it before reinstating the floor (many of those old cottages had / have problems with damp and hard to heat) but if the floor is timber then I would get a surveyor to have a good look at why. Timber flooring which is plumb to begin with doesnt suddenly start to slope unless one of the walls has started to subside. You may need to lift the flooring and reset one one end of the joists, or replace them. Best to get a good surveyor or architect in to have a look - goodness knows there plenty looking for work.

I'd go for the cottage any day, most people hate appartments as they have to pay the yearly fee for upkeep and this puts people off so will be hard if you decide to sell it at a later date. The cottage will appeal to more buyers so if you sell later on you have more interest. I'd Definately go for the cottage.