Lusk Village... Good investment?

Folks,

Hoping someone can give me some advice here.
Myself and my girlfiend have placed a booking deposit on a new 3 bed end of terrace in Lusk Village development just outside Lusk.
We have 3 weeks to decide if we wish to proceed with the purchase.

Our main concern is that the house may be overpriced and that when we try to sell in 3-5 years time, we will not be able to get a good return, or even break even!

The house is costing 310,000 Euro.

Does anyone have any opinions on what the investment potential this property would have?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Dunner

I would reckon your on to a winner, Lusk has good ameinities close to the train and it still somewhat rural.

Thanks for your reply Gerard.

I feel myself that it's a good deal, from looking at houses in Donabate (next stop towards city on the train), they seem to be 330k - 350k for similar 3 bed end of terrace. Lusk should be (fingers crossed) the next town along that will see rises over the next 5 years.

If anyone else has an opinion, it'd be welcome.

If you are depending on the train to get to work, its going to very very crowded all the time, the train seems to fill up in Drogheda and whatever few seats are left are taken in Balbriggan. If you can see or smell Ballealy I would reconsider, its a blot on the landscape and should have been closed years ago. The traffic at Blakes cross can be bad too, I hate that corner!

The bypass seems to have moved the traffic from the middle of the village, its close to Rush for the beaches, close to Swords for shopping too.

Stobear,
Thanks for the reply.
We would be commuting via the train. The whole packed train thing is nothing new to me at this stage, i've been using the rush-hour dart for the last 3 years.

My only concern really is re-selling the house in 3-5 years. Obviously we do not want to be left with a house that we cannot sell or that has to be sold for a loss.
I know it's impossible to tell what may happen to the market in the future, i'd just like to know peoples thoughts in relation to the potential the property may have.

Btw, where is Ballealy? Lusk Village development is less than a mile from the train station & the route to the station doesnt go through the village at all.

Cheers

Balleally isn't a concern in Lusk village. You do occasionally get the delightful smell of the farmers manuring their fields.

I'm not sure I'd agree with the good amenities comment above. There is currently the village store (Londis) and another small shop which has recently opened. Most people do the bulk of their shopping in Swords.

We bought there about 3 years back, and the prices are now about 50% higher than we paid. You'll be looking at about a 20 minute to half hour walk to the station. One issue is that the station car park is full before 7:45, so you either need to be out the house early, or walk or cycle to the station. Currently, the 7:45 and 8:10 trains are horribly crowded, but there is some breathing space on the 8:25, so you're ok as long as you don't need to be in too early.

dunner said:

My only concern really is re-selling the house in 3-5 years. Obviously we do not want to be left with a house that we cannot sell or that has to be sold for a loss.
I know it's impossible to tell what may happen to the market in the future, i'd just like to know peoples thoughts in relation to the potential the property may have.

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Isn't the above a perfect example of the madness that pervades the residential property market at present?

You can't predict a market, particularly one that has become as disengaged from the fundamentals as the Irish property market has become of late.

Worrying about resale values in 3-5 years time is a bit like worrying about what the weather is going to be like next year - you have no control over it so don't worry about it.

The only concern an owner-occupier should have is whether the property meets their current and predictable future needs and, if so, whether the price is reasonable today.

If the market rises after you buy - great. If it doesn't or if it falls - that doesn't reflect on the quality of your decision at the moment you made it.

In any event, houses for owner-occupiers are for living in. They're not an investment in any meaningful sense of the word.

oysterman said:

The only concern an owner-occupier should have is whether the property meets their current and predictable future needs and, if so, whether the price is reasonable today.

In any event, houses for owner-occupiers are for living in. They're not an investment in any meaningful sense of the word.

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Hear, hear!! Some of the best advice i've read on aam in ages (and there's often some great advice on this site!).

Imho the day Joe and Jane Averagebuyer forgot about what they required in a home and started thinking only about "how much profit will I clear on this in a couple of years" was the real beginning of the maddness that pervades Irish property.

Although I responded earlier, I have to echo Oystermans sentiments. We recently moved house to reduce commute on us and new babybear, since then we dont know ourselves. We paid the premium (which I have no issue with) for being closer to work and the outskirts of Dublin. However chatting to a neighbour last night she told us that the house we bought 3 months ago is now selling for 100K more. I thought so what? I have my new house, life is a lot more tolerable and the stress of commuting is gone. But I have my bricks and mortar, Mrs and Junior Bear are happy. I never considered the house value 5 years from now (as I learnt from AAM that trying to time the market is a mugs game) when making the purchase.

One thing that might be relevant is whether or not you will want to trade up in future years. For example, we have a 2 bed apartment, which is fine at the moment, but obviously that will change if/when we decide to have a family. All other things being equal, I would imagine that it's preferable to have a property that you will be able to sell at a profit that will go towards financing your move to a bigger property (deposit, stamp duty etc.). I agree that looking at the potential for the property to increase in value shouldn't be your primary concern when purchasing as an owner/occupier, but in certain cases, I think that it may be wise to factor it into the purchase decision. That's my own view, I'm sure others will disagree.

Just to give a bit of background here... some of the comments above are justified but i think it depends on what the property means to the person.

We are currently paying approx 1000/month for a 1 bed apt within a quick commute to city center. In 3-5 years we will built our "dream home" in a gorgeous location in Co Armagh. Until this time however, we would like the additonal space a new house provides. We are also are sick of paying someone elses mortgage when we could have our own place, the way we want it, for just a little more.

We are not trying to make a fortune on the house we buy, would just like to have enough to be able to build our future home the way we have dreamed it should be.

We see the Lusk house as a stepping stone, but we would not like the purchase of it to affect the chances of us building that dream house.

Just like to know peoples thoughts on whether the property should or should not retain it's value over the coming years. No one knows for sure, but there seems to be alot of people "in the know" here so they're opinion would be welcomed.

dunner said:

Just like to know peoples thoughts on whether the property should or should not retain it's value over the coming years. No one knows for sure, but there seems to be alot of people "in the know" here so they're opinion would be welcomed.

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DISCLAIMER: (I'm sure as hell not "in the know" with regards to future property prices and doubt anyone bar Mystic Meg could ever claim to be! )

You seem to have a long term plan, which i commend. However, and not to throw a spanner in the works or anything, how would you cope with a stagnant or slightly deflated property value when you came round to building your dream house? (Not saying that would happen but I'm a big believer in playing out as many scenarios as possible).

Thanks for the reply Eurofan.
If the property could be sold for the same price (310k) in 5 years time we would be more than happy. Anything over that would be a bonus, slightly less wouldnt harm us too much. My main worry, and i'm sure they're are alot of people thinking the same, is if the market plumets and we lost 50k (or possible more!).

At the moment we're paying approx 12k a year so over the next 5 years that's 60k being wasted on rent! That's a whole lotta money to be paying out without getting anything in return....

Dunner, if u want to reduce your exposure in 5 years u should probably increase your mortgage payments, even an increase of 50 to 100 extra a month can knock a big chunk off the term of the mortgage and ultimately increase your equity on the property,

Interest rates wont be this low for ever so you’re better off paying now rather than when rates go up