What was your best investment decision?

"do a minor renovation with grant support to get around the RPZ limits"

Utter nonsense.
Check 3 below and more from the RTB site.

Exemptions to the Rent Pressure Zone rental cap ​

Not all rented properties in RPZs are subject to rent caps (i.e. the restriction on rent increases to 2% per annum pro rata or the rate of HICP inflation, whichever is lower). Properties that are exempt from RPZ rent caps are as follows:

  1. A property that has not been rented for a period of two years prior to the immediate tenancy commencement date;
  2. A property that is a protected or proposed protected structure and has not been rented for the period of 12 months prior to the immediate tenancy commencement date;
  3. A property that has undergone a 'substantial change in the nature of the accommodation'.
A 'substantial change in the nature of the accommodation’ is a defined term. A ‘substantial change’ will only be deemed to have taken place if the works carried out to the dwelling concerned meet one of the following criteria:

The works consist of a permanent extension to the dwelling that increases the floor area (within the meaning of Article 6 of the Building Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 497 of 1997)) of the dwelling by the amount equal to not less than 25% of the floor area of the dwelling as it stood immediately before the commencement of those works, 

or 

  • in the case of a dwelling to which the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 243 of 2012) apply, the works result in the BER (within the meaning of those Regulations) being improved by not less than 7 building energy ratings,
or

  • the works result in any 3 or more of the following:
  • the internal layout of the dwelling being permanently altered;
  • the dwelling being adapted to provide for access and use by a person with a disability, within the meaning of the Disability Act 2005;
  • a permanent increase in the number of rooms in the dwelling; 
  • in the case of a dwelling to which the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 243 of 2012) apply and that has BER of D1 or lower, the BER (within the meaning of those Regulations) being improved by not less than 3 building energy ratings; or
  • in the case of a dwelling to which the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No 243 of 2012) apply and that has a BER of C3 or higher, the BER (within the meaning of those Regulations) being improved by not less than 2 building energy ratings.
  • If the works above were carried out for the purposes of a landlord complying with his/her repair and maintenance obligations, the landlord cannot rely on those works for the purposes of the RPZ exemption.
 
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Dr Strangelove said:
Ask anyone who bought 2003-2008! Negative equity and inability to trade up, down or sideways or to take up career or personal opportunities elsewhere.


Not any more. There are very few circumstances where landlords can terminate a tenancy and there are lengthy notice periods.

Being a renter allowed me to take a job opportunity abroad in my mid 20s that transformed my career.

Home ownership is great (I own my own home now ) but I'm glad I waited until I was relatively settled with career and family.
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Just out of curiosity, would having been a homeowner at the time stopped you from going? Could you have potentially rented your property or left it vacant/under a caretaker agreement or would this have been impossible at the time?
 
SquirrelChaser said:
I know absolutely nobody who gave a month's notice and hopped on a plane to take advantage of a life opportunity. Not one single person. Zero.

But I have known homeowners who moved abroad and could later move back because they owned a home. They had a choice.

There are downsides to everything.

It's sweet that you think that landlords generally rigidly adhere to the law.

The "very few" reasons are plenty. Landlords can evict, do a minor renovation with grant support to get around the RPZ limits, then double the rent when they let it out again. Happens all the time. The fact that it's perfectly legal is of no help whatsoever to the tenants affected.

Or they can invent a family member who wants to move in. Say they're selling. Or actually do those things.

And a decision from the RTB in favour of the tenant is worthless if they don't have anywhere to live. Even assuming the landlord pays.

And then there's the extortionate rent levels, which are equivalent to a mortgage and a half if you're lucky.

And that's ignoring the many people who rent a room rather than a property and have no security of tenure whatsoever.

So yeah, 1 small step from homelessness. Ireland is an awful country for renters.
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Perhaps an age / career thing. Myself and lots of my friends who were early 20s in 2009-2013 lost jobs and just left within 2 months.

However those I knew a few years older (late 20s) who had bought were in much more difficult situations. They tried to make it work on 3 days a week. Were unemployed eventually left and were working abroad to pay the balance between rent and mortgage. For many they didn’t see a way back so it wasn’t a case of house to go back to but something holding them back from building a new life. I remember some flying back to deal with an issue with the property etc. Most people worked in construction/ engineering.

I think it depends on how people experienced the recession.
 
charlie007 said:
"do a minor renovation with grant support to get around the RPZ limits"

Utter nonsense.
Check 3 below and more from the RTB site.

Exemptions to the Rent Pressure Zone rental cap ​

Not all rented properties in RPZs are subject to rent caps (i.e. the restriction on rent increases to 2% per annum pro rata or the rate of HICP inflation, whichever is lower). Properties that are exempt from RPZ rent caps are as follows:

  1. A property that has not been rented for a period of two years prior to the immediate tenancy commencement date;
  2. A property that is a protected or proposed protected structure and has not been rented for the period of 12 months prior to the immediate tenancy commencement date;
  3. A property that has undergone a 'substantial change in the nature of the accommodation'.
A 'substantial change in the nature of the accommodation’ is a defined term. A ‘substantial change’ will only be deemed to have taken place if the works carried out to the dwelling concerned meet one of the following criteria:

The works consist of a permanent extension to the dwelling that increases the floor area (within the meaning of Article 6 of the Building Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 497 of 1997)) of the dwelling by the amount equal to not less than 25% of the floor area of the dwelling as it stood immediately before the commencement of those works, 

or 

  • in the case of a dwelling to which the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 243 of 2012) apply, the works result in the BER (within the meaning of those Regulations) being improved by not less than 7 building energy ratings,
or

  • the works result in any 3 or more of the following:
  • the internal layout of the dwelling being permanently altered;
  • the dwelling being adapted to provide for access and use by a person with a disability, within the meaning of the Disability Act 2005;
  • a permanent increase in the number of rooms in the dwelling; 
  • in the case of a dwelling to which the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 243 of 2012) apply and that has BER of D1 or lower, the BER (within the meaning of those Regulations) being improved by not less than 3 building energy ratings; or
  • in the case of a dwelling to which the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No 243 of 2012) apply and that has a BER of C3 or higher, the BER (within the meaning of those Regulations) being improved by not less than 2 building energy ratings.
  • If the works above were carried out for the purposes of a landlord complying with his/her repair and maintenance obligations, the landlord cannot rely on those works for the purposes of the RPZ exemption.
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Wuhoo, a definition. I'm sure that's very helpful to our former neighbours and countless others.
 
Possibly not considered 'investment' but turned out to be far better than my investment in bank shares, cheques from AIB & PTSB recently totaling €20 for a initial cost of 10k

I have put on one bet in my entire life and that was on Trump to win the election back in 2016, not that I supported the man but figured the voters would! A nice little return of 3.5k on my 'investment' of 1k. Impulse buy that worked out!

Bookies weren't going to be caught again this time!
 
charlie007 said:
I think it's important that both landlords and tenants are well versed in the tenancy rules.
This way they can ignore the mistruths (I'm being kind) that go around.
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The problem arises when landlords don't care because they know there's not even remotely enough capacity to monitor & enforce the rules. Of the tiny percentage of rental properties inspected each year the vast majority (93% per a quick Google search) don't reach the required standards for example.

Laws on their own are worthless. Is my main point. There's very little real protection for renters in Ireland.
 
SquirrelChaser said:
The problem arises when landlords don't care because they know there's not even remotely enough capacity to monitor & enforce the rules. Of the tiny percentage of rental properties inspected each year the vast majority (93% per a quick Google search) don't reach the required standards for example.

Laws on their own are worthless. Is my main point. There's very little real protection for renters in Ireland.
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Not reaching the correct standards is sometimes for things fairly minor. It doesn't mean that the property is not livable or a slum or would not be lived in by owner occupiers. My property was inspected recently. It didn't fully respected the correct standard. The evacuation plan posted on the door was missing the location of the fire blanket (provided) and my plumber didn't tick properly the form when he serviced our boiler (service was done and in compliance). While there was one Carbon monoxide, I hadn't noticed that the law had changed and one was also needed near the bedrooms. I am sure some landlords are not respecting the laws, some tenants don't either. The rules are fairly stringent when respected and for anyone stuck in the rpz zones, the rent are now low.
To go back to the initial point, renting is probably not a good financial decision long term. However most people will need to rent during their adult life and sometimes it would really make no sense to buy and would be impossible.
 
Howth Head said:
Not so much active "decisions" as the way things have turned out...

1. Getting married relatively young (compared to most people today) and having two daughters who are now well grown up and taking care of themselves. (I have friends who started families much later and are raising school and college going kids well into their 60s. We've been "empty-nesters" for quite a few years while both working full time, with no school or college expenses. Hard to overstate how much that is worth. And I don't miss being an unpaid taxi--driver/chauffer either!)

2. Buying a three-bedroom house in a nice part of coastal South Dublin in May 1995 for £94k! (Having thought £86k was way too expensive a year earlier.) Added a sizeable extension for £20k - sold for £300k four years later and bought a bigger detached house in a similar area.

3. Having just one family car for most of that time.

4. Not smoking.

5. Not owning a dog/dogs - ever! (Can't believe how much neighbors spend on them - including kennel fees vets expenses.)

6. Generally being "low-maintenance" and a cheap date. Give me decent pub grub over expensive restaurants any day!

7. That Yamaha acoustic guitar - bought in Danfay, Aungier Street when I was 21 - still play it regularly!

Some of it was down to luck and timing. For example in early 1992 had just moved back from the UK after three years there. Still had a UK joint account with about Stg £25k. Rumors were circulating that Bertie was considering devaluing the punt, so held off on bringing the cash back to an Irish bank (I think they give you about three months before it becomes a non-resident account.) Sure enough, the punt was devalued by 10% which, added to the exchange rate was worth a few extra thousand. Interest rates were high here at the time so a good time to save for a house deposit. (Rents were still low - a two bedroom apartment with balcony in Blackrock could be had for £450 pm.

Finally, I think not making bad or catastrophic financial decisions are as important as making good ones. (Such as a relative who bought Bulgarian property in the 1990s because it was a "no brainer". Nearly broke her - both financially and mentally.)

We all know people who are risk-averse and live seemingly boring lives spending little or nothing. Part of me wishes I was little more like that when younger. Have never had a high salary and don't have a very good pension compared to many - but with no mortgage/loans and low outgoings - it's enough.
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Great on all fronts bar the dogs - My dogs give me so much more than I will ever be able to give them financially or in any other way!
 
Bought a cottage on 2 acres in 1993 for £13,600 with a credit union loan. Spent about £10,000 on it and sold it for €150,000 a few year later. Then bought a new 4 bedroom house in town for €166,500 with another credit union loan. Loan was cleared in a year or two.

I rented this house out for @10 years - it was beside an IT college.

This gave me a lot of leverage to make other moves in the property market and now have 4 houses mortgage free including our family home.

Invested in Eircom and got out with a 15% profit
SSIA was a no brainer

AVCs but left it far too late to jump in
Opted into buying 10 years of NPS (Buying Pension Service) 5 years in and 5 more to go and I will have a full state pension at 60 - will only know if this is a good investment if I live long enough - but it is giving me a lot of peace of mind and that is a big plus for me.

Now starting to play around with the investment app on Revolut - I have a lot to learn about stocks and shares - considering putting €300 a month into somethings like Vanguard 500........

Happy investing
 
banchang said:
Buying a load of Apple & Berkshire Hathaway in March 2020 !
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Buffet got the covid thing very wrong though just looked at all the stocks he sold in 2020

American Airlines, delta Airlines, United Airlines, restaurant brands international, Costco, Phillips 66, occidental petroleum, jp Morgan chase and Pfizer

All these stocks were heavily sold off during the covid sell off but buffet also sold them and missed out on the huge recovery afterwards, he sold Airlines, oil companies, banks, and even Pfizer??
 
joe sod said:
Buffet got the covid thing very wrong though just looked at all the stocks he sold in 2020

American Airlines, delta Airlines, United Airlines, restaurant brands international, Costco, Phillips 66, occidental petroleum, jp Morgan chase and Pfizer

All these stocks were heavily sold off during the covid sell off but buffet also sold them and missed out on the huge recovery afterwards, he sold Airlines, oil companies, banks, and even Pfizer??
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Be that as it may, the BRK.B that I bought in April 2020 has gained 160%. If earning a gross CAGR of 20%+ is getting things wrong then long may they keep failing.

Or, as Beckett wrote, "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
 
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galway_blow_in said:
Tesla shares, even since Trump won the election, the gains have been incredible
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I had some pre election and theyve done well - but for how long. Feel like theyre overpriced, but what do i know, therefore have sold them, taken a bit of profit and will buy back in when they (hopefully) fall back a bit.
 
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