Booterstown Wood, Booterstown, South Co. Dublin

Ideally i would love a house(3 bed semi) close to DART line as I work in Ballsbridge but not too much out there for a 300k budget at the moment.

If i buy one of the apts i plan on staying there for about 5 years and then selling.

Mngt fees for a 2 bed - €1400 !
 

What do you get for that sort of money? Thats very high. and is it guaranteed that you will get any work carried out?

Imagine paying 1400, then the property tax coming in on top of it. Not good.
 
charlie MacZ said:
Any thoughts ?
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I went to see these apartments, fantastic location, good quality fittings etc, great bathrooms, but I would have a number of issues with them.

Bedrooms have a standard double bed with bedside lockers (only room for 1 in guest bed) and in most cases inadequate amount of fitted wardrobes and no space to add any. You could get a bed with drawers, but even with that there’s no where near enough storage for a couple.

Kitchens are small but appear to have enough presses, but when you look, 1 is a drawer unit, 4 are allocated for fridge, freezer, dishwasher and boiler. This leaves under the sink for bin, under the hob for pots, after that you only have maybe 4 small units for food crockery, utensils etc and very little worktop space, no where near adequate.

The apartments on the N11 are dual aspect. The master bedroom and living room with their balconies (many only big enough to stand on) face onto this noisy road. The other aspect if you are high enough and at the right end have spectacular views over to Howth, but only from their kitchen and spare bedroom windows.

The block going down Booterstown Ave and facing into the courtyard are quieter, with more wardrobes, kitchen units and proper balconies.

There is far too much wood, from the N11 you see some which is already discoloured and looks nasty, but all of the front is wood, while not yet in the same condition is on its way there. Irish weather does not suit external wood to this massive extent.

There is only one 1bed @ €215K, the others are up to €235K.
There is only one 2 bed @ €289K, the others are up to €330K.
 
Those prices, in this market, are just crazy imho.

But I don't know Dublin that well, so perhaps you are paying for location?
 

I have to agree with a lot of what you said. I went on Sunday afternoon to kick the tyres. Lots of activity, very busy but a say many were doing the same as me and weren't real buyers. Having said that, there were lots of red sold dots on the plans. Of course how many of these deposits turn into sales will be interesting but still, for 3 days activity it's promising.

Location wise it's very good. Close to transport (46A route, 10-15 min walk to Dart). Well established neighbourhood. Close to Stillorgan shopping centre, Blackrock, schools etc.

Good quality of finish (although kitchen appliances have yet to be fitted in most) through out. But overall I wasn't impressed. I hated the tiling in the bathrooms, it made it too dark and I felt I was in a cave. Sink was positioned way too low, you'd be bent over trying to use it.

Layout and sizing of rooms was very bad. The show bedrooms had the smallest beds you could get and even then there was barely walkaround room. Add a decent sized double and it would be tight. Limited wardrobe space and no room for chest of drawers.

Kitchens were tiny, very little counter space. Fine if you're the type of person who loves M&S meals, useless for anyone who does proper cooking.

Practically no storage space. Some apts had a cupboard that could take a hoover and an ironing board but that's about it.

Balconies on the N11 apts were tiny (in some cases just a 6 inch strip). Not that you'd want to sit out with all the traffic going by. But sound proofing appeared good, but you won't get a full picture until you move in and see if you can hear neighbours above on their wooden floors.

Wood everywhere, and already in some places weathered and need of TLC. Expect management fees to shoot up to rectify this after year one.

Overall, it's probably better than average, and some of the duplex apts are a decent size and seemed to be snapped up. I say this will sell out soon, but it wouldn't be for me.
 
exclusive development in an upmarket area bound to be snapped up
 
Complainer said:
That's the Year 1 fee - What do you reckon the fee will be in Year 2?
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My management fees have come down every year since I moved in - our management agent has chased and sourced cheaper contracts in some cases - and our residents agreed to less frequent cleaning schedules in the public/shared areas - so it doesnt always go up.
 
It's great to hear of well-managed estates, but there are certainly an awful lot of not well managed estates out there. Particularly in the first few years where the developer retains control of the management company by not selling the last apartment, and gives out generous contracts to his buddies.

The real point that I was making was that a buyer should not assume that the year 1 fees are representative. The buyer should be checking out how long will it take for control of the management company to vest with the owners.
 
mtk said:
exclusive development in an upmarket area bound to be snapped up
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truthseeker said:
Havent you heard - minimalism - its the new 'upmarket exclusive people' buzzword - you mustnt have received the memo
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The lack of storage space in apartments and house is a real bugbear here; last time we rented, we had to look at 20 places before we found somewhere with a reasonable amount of space. Most places, if you have a few suitcases and a hoover, you're in trouble.
 
charlie MacZ said:
Ya, seen the irish times article first thing this morning. Rang the EA they said their gonna be snapped up fast, i cannot get out there until saturday.
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Just to note that the now infamous Sindo journalist Alison O'Riordan was on TV3 this morning saying that, when she bought, the estate agents assured her there were just a few left. She is now very puzzled as to why most of the apartments are now rented out and the ground floor is empty. It's indeed a mysterious conundrum.
 
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