Downsizing where to live in Kildare

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Hermione
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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#16 Post by Hermione »

Groucho wrote:I agree with the posters who said that 4 bedroom to 2 is a bit of a jump at this stage of your lives. The book A Squash & A Squeeze comes to mind! Also, would your 2nd child be OK moving school and town (and friends) mid-way through secondary? And a final point - the way the market is in Ireland, I don't think any of us can guarantee that our kids will move out/away and stay away - if one or other (or both) needed to live with you during college, or needed to move back in down the line, possibly for a long period (even with a partner in tow), would a 2 bedroom be sufficient in that scenario? I know we can't live our whole lives for what our kids might or might not do, but it is a consideration all the same.

You have no doubt considered all of these points but I'd be wondering if you could achieve what you are after without such upheaval. Similar to what Sally has suggested, or could you address the garden maintenance by e.g. sectioning 3/4 of it off and selling it as a site, so you get some cash in and only have a small garden to look after? Or buy/rent a slightly smaller house in your nearest town so you're not moving everyone from the area they know?

I hear you on the maintenance of a big site. It is a giant pain in the hole. I am that soldier. But I don't feel I personally would be in a position to downsize that much until later in my life eg when my kids are settled. In the meantime, I am also looking at ways to reduce the overall maintenance workload here (my pea gravel driveway will be first in my firing line anyway).
We got our drive tarmac'd and it made a huge difference but when you have an acre of lawn and 500 ft of hedgerow to cut it just becomes soul destroying.

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Jane b82
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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#17 Post by Jane b82 »

Kill and johnstown are lovely villages too, 5 mins away from naas and very close to Dublin! Best of luck

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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#18 Post by August »

Sounds like your hearts are set on a move. Apart from the space to live/sleep/study for you and your kids over the rest of the school and college years, one thing to consider in smaller houses is how much sound travels and how much more aware of each other you are when you are all living closer together. Sound insulation is something to consider when looking at potential houses. You don’t all want to be suddenly aware of each other’s every move!
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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#19 Post by August »

Until you actually make the move, how about letting most of your lawn turn into a meadow? It’s so lovely to watch what pops up naturally and to see the wildlife it attracts to your garden. You could mow paths through to make it more accessible (and intentional looking for potential buyers). It doesn’t have to be super long either. You could just mow it a few times per year. There are lots of useful guides available online.
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Sally
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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#20 Post by Sally »

August wrote: Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:20 pm Until you actually make the move, how about letting most of your lawn turn into a meadow? It’s so lovely to watch what pops up naturally and to see the wildlife it attracts to your garden. You could mow paths through to make it more accessible (and intentional looking for potential buyers). It doesn’t have to be super long either. You could just mow it a few times per year. There are lots of useful guides available online.
agree with this.
We have a large site also, approx an acre, but we’ve hedged off about half an acre for the actual garden, the rest is just meadow.
Within the half acre we have a rough meadow area down the back of the garden with various trees and bushes, and we just mow paths through it so kids like to explore down there.
A ride on mower every two weeks is actually quite doable…. Stick in ear phones, listen to my Spotify and I’m quite content to while away half an hour in peace.

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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#21 Post by Shining »

I hope you don't mind me posting this but just something from my own
I think it would be important to discuss things with your children.
Last edited by Shining on Fri Sep 24, 2021 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#22 Post by Elsie »

Maynooth, Celbridge there is loads of building going on there at the moment, same with Leixlip which is becoming part of Celbridge. Dunboyne Co Meath or Clonee all areas to look at. House prices are crazy though.

i just googled bungalows to see what comes up and this is the offerings https://www.myhome.ie/residential/kilda ... w-for-sale

do plenty of googling to give you an idea of what you are getting for you money.

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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#23 Post by SarahBC »

Depending where you live currently, it may cost you money to downsize closer to Dublin!

A lot of factors to consider..

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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#24 Post by HeyJude »

I can recommend loads of places in Kildare to live but do you want to live in a housing estate or a stand-alone house? Also do you want rail/bus links or to be close to the motorway i.e. which direction will you most likely be heading i.e head south or Dublin?

Also do you think you'd be happy so close to people again? I was raised in a housing estate and we lived in apartments and a terrace in the city for a number of years when we got married. We moved to country/outside village/town area in a stand-alone bungalow and I could never move back to an attache house again. Now we have neighbours all around us but far enough away to wave rather than chat if going in or out of the house iywkim.

Good places are Straffan, Clane, Kill, Johnstown etc. If you're not currently in the commuter belt you may find it costs you to move there though. Also there's Newcastle which is in Co. Dublin but in the Kildare area iykwim?

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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#25 Post by Hermione »

Shining thanks for your honest response. Your points about having to get in the car for everything really brought it home to me, I just had to nip out from work for an hour to drop DD to the nearest town and then have to collect her again later. I think I'm a city girl at heart despite being brought up in the countryside, I would nearly prefer an apartment to living in a housing estate. We will be heading both North to Dublin and South to Kilkenny and Cork but our preference is to be closer to Dublin. We would look at other counties too i.e. Meath,

Maybe it's a case of we move now to a 3 bed with some space and then downsize again in a few years.

I totally love these two properties as does DH but it doesn't meet our needs right now.

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/terraced-h ... re/3465762

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-h ... th/3462953

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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#26 Post by CocoRose »

I live in an estate at the edge of open countryside a short walk from a town, end of terrace and while it's fairly low density I get away 9 times of out 10 with a wave! I do not feel crowded at all in that sense and it's very quiet generally, dark and silent at night... just minus the bloody barking 😑 that would be my issue in estates is dog owners who don't manage the nuisance noise. It wasn't an issue a year ago but it's getting on my nerves now. Doesn't bother DH.

Reading this thread does make me realise I'm also a town person, I play with the idea of a bigger house outside a town but know I value convenience and am too lazy for a big garden can barely keep the one I have nice.

Navan? They've everything you need, talk of train line opening up, lots of parkland, public pool.

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Re: Downsizing where to live in Kildare

#27 Post by Hermione »

CocoRose wrote: Mon Aug 09, 2021 3:49 pm I live in an estate at the edge of open countryside a short walk from a town, end of terrace and while it's fairly low density I get away 9 times of out 10 with a wave! I do not feel crowded at all in that sense and it's very quiet generally, dark and silent at night... just minus the bloody barking 😑 that would be my issue in estates is dog owners who don't manage the nuisance noise. It wasn't an issue a year ago but it's getting on my nerves now. Doesn't bother DH.

Reading this thread does make me realise I'm also a town person, I play with the idea of a bigger house outside a town but know I value convenience and am too lazy for a big garden can barely keep the one I have nice.

Navan? They've everything you need, talk of train line opening up, lots of parkland, public pool.

https://www.daft.ie/for-sale/detached-h ... th/3458992

Looking at Navan too.

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