Buying an apartment: a popular choice

In recent years purchasing apartments has become increasingly popular with both investors and owner-occupiers.

Ireland has come to love the easy life, and apartment living offers just that. We can pay an annual fee, which provides us with a range of professional services, saving us the bother of having to maintain the external and common areas of our properties. As an investor, this is ideal, as it means that we have to spend a minimal amount of time maintaining the appearance of the property having employed someone to do this on our behalf. As an owner-occupier this also applies and frees-up time, which may otherwise be spent mowing the lawn on a Saturday morning. Of course living in an apartment also has its down sides. It means that the common areas in respect of the block are being used by all residents and can tend to look grubby. There is also a certain lack of privacy. Depending on the location of your apartment, you could be surrounded both above and below and on either side by other apartments. However, this is all part of apartment living and it certainly seems that it is a rather trendy way to live.

As a first time buyer I invested in an apartment for a variety of reasons. I was a single person and did not want the hassle of purchasing a property with extra rooms, where I would have to spend extra money to furnish them. I also felt that apartments were more secure and as a single woman this meant a lot to me. I was on the fourth floor and was pretty confident that no one would be too interested in climbing up the front of the block to break into my apartment. Although storage space was tight at times, I found that there really was plenty of room despite people constantly saying otherwise.