Houses

[lostcarpark]

Been meaning to update this since the weekend. Everything's a bit manic, as usual...

Angie and I were looking at houses on Saturday. Our choices are: buy a shoebox in Dublin, or buy something with enough space swing a cat a little further afield. At the moment we're leaning towards the latter.

So on Saturday, we trekked out to Drogheda (about 30 miles north of Dublin) to see a couple of estate agents and view some properties. We looked at a variety of three and four bedroom houses. For some reason the ones we liked best were also the most expensive. Funny that. We've rather fallen in love with this one. I'm not sure if it's within our price range, however.

It was gorgeous, though. Everything was beautifully decorated. It had fantastic wood flooring. Lots of space. Excellent fitted kitchen (with space for dishwasher). Really nice fake beams and skylights in the kitchen too. Great big sitting room. A "playroom" which would quite likely be requesitioned as an office. An excellent shed/workshop in the back garden. And most excellently landscaped gardens with really nice decking. I just want to move in so we can have a barbecue before the summer ends!

Moving to Drogheda would mean a few changes. My hours at work are pretty flexible, so at the moment I have a pleasant cycle to work and can come and go as I want (which usually means sleeping in till the last second I can get away with). There's a good train service from Drogheda, but it would mean an hour or so travelling each way, which would require better planning and schedulling than I'm used to. It would, however, be a good opportunity to get some writing done. There's also a new motorway due to be completed in the next couple of weeks, which will take a fair bit off the trip by car, though I wouldn't drive to work.

So we're planning to go see some more houses next Saturday. In the meantime, I've got to try and figure out how much we can actually borrow. Working for a bank may make this a little easier. Or it may not. And there's all sorts of other houose moving expenses that we have to factor in that I don't want to think about right now...

Comments

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm, love that house. What's 300k euros in real money? :)

[hawkida.livejournal.com]

A euro is around two thirds of a pound, roughly speaking. So that'd be around 200k.

[jcaswell.livejournal.com]

! That's pretty damn cheap for a 4 bed detached! (Well, in London it is, can't speak for the rest of the country :))

[lostcarpark.livejournal.com]

It's pretty damn cheap for Dublin too. However, Drogheda is not Dublin and it's not London. But it is (a) only 40 mins drive (less when the motorway is finished), (b) well served by trains, and (c) has ADSL available (admittedly at exorbitant Irish rates).