Buying In Belfast

[ravedave]

Bit of a strange one this.

I've been saving up to buy a place now for quite a few years. I nearly got my fingers burnt with a previous property in early 2007.

I'll freely admit I know very little about the areas in Belfast as I don't really socialise much in the city - I am from the country and usually go home there most weekends.

I'm now at the stage where I think I need to seriously start looking at buying a place for myself. I have worked hard and saved my money and now have a decent pot of cash for a deposit.

My problem is that I don't know where the good areas to live in are in Belfast. I've an idea that lower Stranmillis (behind Cutter's) and Rosetta are meant to be good areas, but I've got no one to offer me advice and a second opinion as I have no friends to call upon with any more knowledge than myself.

I think I could afford up to £180k but ideally would prefer to spend no more than £165k.

I am only considering semi detached properties and want to be somewhere in a quiet, clean established family area - I've had enough of living with the 'young professionals' and their antics.

I am currently living in lower Stranmillis and I find the area to be a bit out on a limb - for city living you are quite a bit away from a shop if you forgot milk or suchlike. however, it does have some major plus points too - but none that for me justify the additional costing.

Any advice for me would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

[geeza]

There are some nice parts in East Belfast, Ballyhackamore, Orangefield, Orby and belmont.

[sirbinlid]

what about up by four winds top end of the ormeau, know a few folk who live up there and really enjoy it

on a side note we were looking in belfast but tbh still dont think we were getting good value for money so settled in dromore and you get a heck of a lot more for your money

[lolacarrascal]

Bit of a strange one this.

I've been saving up to buy a place now for quite a few years. I nearly got my fingers burnt with a previous property in early 2007.

I'll freely admit I know very little about the areas in Belfast as I don't really socialise much in the city - I am from the country and usually go home there most weekends.

I'm now at the stage where I think I need to seriously start looking at buying a place for myself. I have worked hard and saved my money and now have a decent pot of cash for a deposit.

My problem is that I don't know where the good areas to live in are in Belfast. I've an idea that lower Stranmillis (behind Cutter's) and Rosetta are meant to be good areas, but I've got no one to offer me advice and a second opinion as I have no friends to call upon with any more knowledge than myself.

I think I could afford up to £180k but ideally would prefer to spend no more than £165k.

I am only considering semi detached properties and want to be somewhere in a quiet, clean established family area - I've had enough of living with the 'young professionals' and their antics.

I am currently living in lower Stranmillis and I find the area to be a bit out on a limb - for city living you are quite a bit away from a shop if you forgot milk or suchlike. however, it does have some major plus points too - but none that for me justify the additional costing.

Any advice for me would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

This a good site for getting a whole range of relevant socio-economic statistics for a particular area and you can drill down to quite specific locations. Just type in a post code like BT4 or BT5 and that will get you started.

http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/

Edited July 28, 2011 by lolacarrascal

[2buyornot2buy]

I would try and sit back and take your times with Belfast. I think in the short to medium term nothing is going to happen to Belfast prices except for them going further down. I think this in particular will apply to the high "investor" areas such as Stranmillis, Rosetta and Ravenhill ect. 180K is a massive amount of money.

I agree about the living with Young Profs but at the end of the day it going to be super cheap, you're building up the deposit, prices are dropping and your gaining money on interest not paying it on the mortgage on a deprecating asset.

Think of this as your 2007 again. Don't get the fingers burned.

[ravedave]

Thanks for the responses.

Buying outside of Belfast is not an option I have considered. I am only considering buying in the big smoke as it is close to work and social activities. As I am single I do not want to live out in the sticks - although I do apprecaite that you get better value there.

In terms of building up a deposit, I'm doing well - puting away nearly £1k per month at the minute, but that is being hit by inflation.

Sinbinlid - where do you mean by 'top end of Ormeau'. Are you taking about in Rosetta, Annadale Av, Knockbrea, Hampton and Galwally?

I did notice some nice looking properties in Wynchurch but I don't know what the area is like - I want to get into a settled mixed area with no flags or any of that crap.

Did someone on here buy in lower Stranmillis within the last year - female member if I remember correctly?

Thanks for the links.

[Smell the Fear]

Rosetta is a nice mixed family area, convenient etc.

I've bought in "lower stranmillis", handy area for all sorts of things, Lagan towpath for walking/cycling, a few pubs/restaurants/cafes within a short walk, botanic gardens, Queens PEC, museum, Lisburn Rd, parks etc. Even the City Centre is only 1/2 hr walk along the river. Mixed area, close to schools as well so popular with families.

There are some houses let out, mostly to "young professional" types sharing. This seems to the case all over Belfast and is a recent development in many cases - I put it down to BTL boom, people holding onto their houses after moving elsewhere and renting them out. Hopefully it will reverse, would love to see families buying all these houses back again.

[ravedave]

Thanks for that reply. Like I say I'm living there too now. I can't see myself being able to afford anything there and still have a sufficient financial buffer. There seems to be a few sub £200k in Willesden although I'm not sure what they'd actually sell for.

The one thing I don't like about the houses though is that there can be some slight noise from the adjoining house. Luckily our neighbours are a family so any noise (apart from the baby crying) ends around 10pm at latest.

It is one of my big concerns buying somewhere with noisy neighbours - how do you take that into account when buying!?! Out of interest has anyone had issues with noisy nieghbours and done anything like installing sound proofing. If so, how successful was it?

[sirbinlid]

2 ravedave

yeah mean up round upper galwalley and knockbracken

[Smell the Fear]

Thanks, not quite settled yet, undertook major renovation work but it will be perfect when finished soon. Plan to stay put for at least 10 years but would be perfect forever if needs be.

[polythene pam]

I think Stranmillis is the most mixed area of the city and it's a very good area. We wanted to buy there but it is very expensive and we could only afford something small. It's very poorly served by buses which I think is a downside.

We've lived in Finaghy for about 10 years. The houses on Finaghy Road North tend to be cheaper than those on F.R South. There are some lovely houses in the area behind Creightons garage. The village grew during the 1930s so lots of the houses have character, are well built and can have generous gardens. It has great transport links being close to the Lisburn Road which has loads of buses, the train and the motorway. It's close to the Lisburn Road (our posh neighbours) so there are plenty of good restaurants etc. I think where we live is mixed but it's hard to know!

We considered Rosetta and Ormeau when we were buying. There's a few lovely streets off Sunnyside street which are worth checking out.

[shipbuilder]

Bit of a strange one this.

I've been saving up to buy a place now for quite a few years. I nearly got my fingers burnt with a previous property in early 2007.

I'll freely admit I know very little about the areas in Belfast as I don't really socialise much in the city - I am from the country and usually go home there most weekends.

I'm now at the stage where I think I need to seriously start looking at buying a place for myself. I have worked hard and saved my money and now have a decent pot of cash for a deposit.

My problem is that I don't know where the good areas to live in are in Belfast. I've an idea that lower Stranmillis (behind Cutter's) and Rosetta are meant to be good areas, but I've got no one to offer me advice and a second opinion as I have no friends to call upon with any more knowledge than myself.

I think I could afford up to £180k but ideally would prefer to spend no more than £165k.

I am only considering semi detached properties and want to be somewhere in a quiet, clean established family area - I've had enough of living with the 'young professionals' and their antics.

I am currently living in lower Stranmillis and I find the area to be a bit out on a limb - for city living you are quite a bit away from a shop if you forgot milk or suchlike. however, it does have some major plus points too - but none that for me justify the additional costing.

Any advice for me would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

I grew up in the area above Forestside shopping centre in the Castlereagh Hills - do a search for Beechgrove in BT6. Lovely, mixed area on the edge of the city but not quite as far as Four Winds. Not a through road to anywhere so quiet, with the countryside close by and if you're in one of the streets further up the hill, spectacular views over the city. Prices there are starting to look a lot more realistic.

Edited July 29, 2011 by shipbuilder