fatgrandad

Hello,

First post here, so please be gentle.

We are late fiftysomething UK citizens, looking to "semi-retire" to Kerry (Killarney area is currently our favourite) - I took redundancy a few months ago, and we are both looking to do something different with our lives, and love the area.

Our plan is to purchase a bungalow for ourselves, and also a separate property to be let out as a holiday let. We wont be vastly wealthy, but should have enough funds from my redundancy and house sale to purchase both properties without need to borrow any more. We have now sold our house in the UK (subject to contract etc), so things are beginning to heat up!

I've got a couple of questions on which I would be grateful for any advice/thoughts:

Firstly, I am struggling a bit with Irish Estate Agents, certainly in comparison to UK-style agents. They seem very slow in getting back to me, and sometimes do not bother at all until I follow up with them. Given the state of the property market, this surprises me. I am interested to know whether this is just the way it is, or whether it indicates any hostility to UK buyers. If so, then clearly we might need to re-think our plans.

Secondly, the idea of a holiday let. I am not sure of the viability of a holiday let property business in the Kerry (Killarney) area, given that there seems to be so many holiday homes in the area. Any thoughts on this, or advice where I could go to get further guidance?

Very grateful for any feedback on this, and sorry it is a bit of a long post!

mrhappygolucky

The Auctioneers are just that way, and is nothing to do with you being English - they'll cheat, tell lies, make up offers to anyone. The best thing to do is go in personally find properties that you're interested in then get the to take you to see them.

Moses2013

It's usual that you have to follow up yourself in Ireland and there are good and bad estate agents like anywhere. Irish people aren't bothered if you're English, Irish, Polish or Chinese, so I wouldn't worry there. If an Irish person tells you they'll ring tomorrow, they will probably not ring at all. You always have to call back yourself if you see an interesting property you like. Killarney is a very touristic area and there is a huge market for holiday homes, since tourism is growing every year. All you can do is look on Daft and keep contacting estate agents. The housing market in Galway is very different and moving fast because of the job market. It's pretty hard to find good properties, because they sell straight away and they didn't build enough in recent years. Up until last year there were plenty of properties that had been on the market for years, but now they're all selling. Rural areas are still pretty cheap and it's understandable why we have more UK buyers with the strong pound etc.

jonboy

Dear fatgrandad,

please do some research into the tax implications of your move and the notion of being landlords. I understand that the Irish Government are a crowd of taxing Berties! Forewarned may well be forearmed. Others may have a greater understanding of the local tax laws.

fatgrandad

Thanks everyone for guidance so far. Flying into Kerry week after next to view properties, and am investigating the tax position! Does anyone know if there are specific sites dealing with selling holiday homes, or is it best to stick with myhome and daft?

Moses2013

Like anywhere you pay tax, but I have not found Ireland bad for tax and it's not as confusing as let's say Spain You can also get a lot of reliefs and it's always wise to use a tax advisor.

Here is a simple calculator lease agreement, landlord information, irish landlord, irishlandlords,PRTB

Rent a room is not bad and the income level has increased.


If you are a landlord by virtue of renting a room to someone living in your own home, Budget 2015 has pushed up the level of income that you can receive tax free under the Rent A Room Relief scheme. Currently you can receive up to €10,000 tax free for renting a room in your home. From 1 January 2015 this will increase to €12,000.

The Home Renovation Incentive is being extended to include rental properties owned by landlords who are subject to income tax. This relief kicked in immediately after the Budget announcement. It applies to repairs, renovations or improvements to rental properties carried out on or after 15th October 2014. The minimum qualifying spend of €5,000 and maximum qualifying spend of €30,000 will apply per property, meaning landlords can avail of this incentive more than once if they own multiple rental properties.

jonboy

For the benefit of fatgrandad, such a lovely name, it is an old link but probably little has changed.


We will never get money back by renting property - Independent.ie

Moses2013

Oh a lot has changed. Like anywhere the same rules count and you have winners and losers. If it wasn't worth it, nobody would be a landlord. People who bought during the crash have only seen an increase in value + rents have gone up.