Intrigued by area perception

#1

For 300K 3bed semi D, better option is

  • Rathfarnham
  • Beaumont
  • Raheny

0 voters

I widened out my net to include southside properties for the first time tonight. I typically rule out southside on the grounds that it’s probably too pricey and it may be a bit far from work but I have noticed that (and it’s the novelty of not seeing the same lot of houses over and over again, possibly) there seem to be nicer houses for the money southside.

I don’t know the southside very well but a few houses in Rathfarnham caught my attention as being attractive and they weren’t in Whitechurch either from what I can see.

While I’m not saying I’ve 300KE to spend - I probably don’t the way itnerest rates will be going - comparatively, 300KE is not unknown for a 3bed semi D in the areas listed below, two northside, one southside.

What would your choice be?

#2

I picked Beaumont because I feel it is a bit more accessible via public transport than Rathfarnham… but I could be wrong. Rathfarnham is too suburby for my liking. Raheny didn’t even come into the decision process!

#3

I would consider Rathfarnham to be a much better area than the other 2.

#4

Which is why I picket Rathfarnham over Beaumont!

Mind you, transport is a little bit of a problem.

#5

It’s interesting.

I actually live in the Beaumont area - the border between it and Whitehall is unclear so some EAs deem it Beaumont, some Whitehall. The ESB or someone calls it Donneycarney.

I’d agree that it’s got reasonable transport connections depending on which part of Beaumont you are actually in. I can’t comment for Rathfarnham on that front.

But Beaumont strikes me as a bit weird - it’s not alone in that - in that there are lots of houses there but not much else. Not like a village that just got engulfed, just lots of houses. Even Raheny has more of a centre to it. I don’t know Rathfarnham all that well so can’t comment there either.

If I had to describe Beaumont as anything, it’s again, very suburban and less community than I would have expected…

#6

The lack of the like a village feeling is what puts me off Northside in general - Drumcondra is too small and more of a strip than a village (which is I guess what Beaumont is as well), Fairview is a bit lame and Clontarf is too far … east? something - I hate the Dart not to mind being too expensive. Rathfarnham village is alright but not great, not pushed on it, which is why I picked the one I can get away from easier!

The village feel is absolutely key to my selection process, which is why I am trapped in the Ranelagh/Rathmines/Rathgar/Terenure axis - not only are they villages with stuff, you can walk from one to the other. I look at other areas, D4 and Portobello, but I’m drawn back to D6 all the time.

Pity my budget doesn’t agree with me - if I’d just agree to borrow more than 3x my salary I’d have more options, but it seems imprudent!

#7

I think Raheny is very underestimated. On the Dart line. Near the coast and St. Annes Park. Fairly close to town. Some parts of Raheny better than others mind you. Reckon you’d get better value here than Rathfarnham (which has that south side premium added to the price).

Raheny would be my choice.

#8

Smithfield?

#9

I’d consider 4 times if the house was right. But by the sounds of things, the least villagey of the lot of them is Beaumont.

I wonder why - anecdotally - the market llooks to be bearing similar asking prices. 295K is common around here, versus 300K in Rathfarnham. Maybe proximity to the hospital, airport and DCU are carrying more weight than I assumed.

#10

this is in rathfarnham but 10 mins walk to terenure village, 15 mins to rathgar village and 5 to rathfarnham village.
myhome.ie/1243391

might get one of these for ~300K

myhome.ie/1371030
myhome.ie/1243482
myhome.ie/265690

#11

Lived there for a year, in the distillery complex. Hate it hate it hate, think Smithfield overall is a kip. Not to mince words or anything… Maybe it has improved in the intervening almost decade or so. ( :open_mouth: ) Never had much of a village feel either - no restaurants back then anyway, thought it did have the best Indian takeaway I’ve had this timezone. There is in Stoneybatter, but that’s not very salubrious either.

The payment % of net when I stress test makes 4x impossible - even at 7% we’re pushing 60% of my takehome unfortunately :frowning: So despite what the bank says I can’t consider it :frowning:

There are rentals in Rathfarnham but it’s a lot easier to rent a three bed semi-kip to a bunch of nurses/students than to a family (tho the way my ex and his housemates lived up there they were like the world’s oldest students, but I think that area would be derided as Nutgrove in any case). To me it seems there are more houses for sale in Rathfarnham, but certainly a large number of those houses probably aren’t in Rathfarnham.

#12

Couple of prolems with the framing of the poll:

  1. A lot of Southsiders wouldn’t consider *any *Northside location to be a viable alternative, and vica versa with Northsiders looking south. Dubliners are very North/South-side centric I think. Certainly I’d be in that camp for better or ill, making the poll kinda meaningless for me. I was debating Rathfarnham v. Stillorgan here the other day with someone and that made sense to me. Rathfarnham v. Raheny doesn’t.

  2. Rathfarnham is a somewhat skewed choice of a generic Southside area since it is so large and varied in perceived prestige. As OP mentions, you have Whitechurch and Nutgrove Avenue at one end of the scale, Crannagh Road and Castleside Drive on the other. Although certainly I’d agree that the middling areas of Rathfarnham - Fairways, off-Ballyroan Road - are a very good example of middle-of-the-road Dublin middle class.

#13

marlay park an advantage

#14

I went for Rathfarnham for access to the hills.

#15

Same here - just had a look at these houses in D6 (that’s D6 and not the outer reaches of D6W) posted by blackdog and was frankly astonished.

myhome.ie/1371030

myhome.ie/1243482

myhome.ie/265690

Similar houses that in the far less swanky D7 are asking not a lot less than these. The difference is that these may go for closer to the asking.

Re Beaumont vs Raheny vs Rathfarnham, I agree with Larry, its like comparing apples and oranges. Leaving Rathfarnham out of the equation, I grew up close to Beaumont and all it amounts to is a series of sprawling souless housing estates…. I wouldn’t buy there in a fit.

#16

If you are looking at Rathfarnham what about Ballinteer, Dundrum, Kilmacud, Stepaside

#17

The pricing is similar. I didn’t expect that as I perceived Rathfarnham to be a more desirable area and hence would have expected higher prices.

I would be interested to know why the pricing is similar. As it is, Rathfarnham is coming in way ahead in the poll which would lead me to think that I’m not alone in that perception, in which case, prices around parts of D9, in particular Beaumont, are too high.

#18

I noticed something similar in Ranelagh v Fairview. I know a road in Ranelagh where the prices were definitely over a million, now with asking prices in the €500ks (though these houses went sale agreed v quickly), but big redbricks in Fairview asking close to 500k a few months ago were selling for nowhere near €1m in 2006 (according to my Irish Times research).

#19

Rathfarnham would be my choice. You have the mountains and Marlay Park on your doorstep plus the M50 right beside it - although Raheny is closer to the sea (I think) plus you have St Annes Park.

They’re probably quite similar areas ie the middle of the middle class. So it would depend whether you prefer to be North or South.

One thing however, is that Rathfarnham especially is so big that youd need to narrow it down a bit to to make a real comparison. Parts of Rathfarnham can be pretty rough - while other parts are quite high end - its a huge area.

Wouldnt put Beaumont in the same category as the other two though. Its just a collection of non-descript housing estates as far as I can make out.

#20

I’m renting in Raheny right now. Overall it’s a grand place to live. Has a small village (don’t really use it that much), a supervalu, Tesco clarehall (24hr) within reasonable distance, and it has St Annes Park, Dollymount etc close by. It also has a DART station. So it certainly ticks all the boxes in terms of amenities. It’s a large-ish area though, with a mix of estates from the downright rough to the very nice. Massive differences in prices.

I’d consider buying in some of the nicer parts (e.g. around Watermill road towards Bettyglen), but these are a little pricey, and you’re getting further away from the Dart.