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My mate bought a 2 bed apt in Dublin 8 just before Christmas that was recently renovated and was offered at a fixed price - no bidding wars, no negotiation, viewing to offer accepted in 2 days.

Positive: I've a house now and as long as I pay the mortgage nobody can take it off me. I'm done with the rent rat race and having to move every year. My kids have a place to call home and a community to grow up in.

It was a slog to get here and the vendors generally have your gentials in a vice grip at every step in this market. The process is riddled with frustrating holds, slowness, mild ineptitude and nobody shows their full hand to get a deal done quickly. It's a real pain in the hole and I am glad it is over. The upside is worth it though IMO.

You are doing great so far, it's a good move to do it when young if you're set on it and in ways I wish I was like you that young and just went for one. The best of luck with your impending offers and purchase!

I bought my house at the end of 2020, at the age of 26.

I was earning 38k at the time.

I had been slowly saving for a house, but also had been saving for a few big holidays in 2020.

Then covid came, I was working full time through out it, and literally couldn't help but save most of my income, added onto my savings and holiday money. So had a deposit plus renovation money. As I knew income meant I would be looking at a doer upper.

Started house hunting in the August, won a bidding war in October, got the keys Christmas week.

Started renovations on Stephens day 2020, moved in Christmas week 2021.

Under 30 and bought last year. Around 12 weeks from sale agreed to keys. Shop around for AIP if your job has any bonus/overtime etc, my AIP difference between the banks was 73,000. Made all the difference

Similar boat to you, very rough and unstable childhood. Bought my house at 25, 31 now and very glad of it (naturally). Can't say it was too complex, I just got AIP and then went sale agreed the next weekend. Bought the second place I viewed and live very comfortably.

Mostly positive story. We’ve been renting in Portmarnock for a few years since emigrating to Ireland from South Africa and we closed on our first property today, just 500m away so kids can carry on in the schools they love.

Sale process was mostly chilled and the agent and developer were really helpful and patient as we ran into mortgage approval issues but it all got sorted out in the end and we move in two weeks.

Two things stood out as pretty rough during the process, first being that a new build is likely to come without floors so budget for that.

Second, the mortgage process is absolutely crazy, never had any issues buying houses in SA, if you can afford the mortgage payment it’s granted in like a day or two but we went through what felt like a 2 month long audit and got declined for silly reasons with multiple banks despite the monthly mortgage payment being significantly less than the huge rental we currently pay. Get a broker would be my advice, ours was invaluable.

Buying early is a great idea, rental market here is insane.

As a first time buyer you are a more beneficial bidder than others. You are not in a chain (needing to sell your property to purchase new property) That means you are literally ready to go. People that want a quicker sale will go with your bid ahead of a person in a chain. That is how we won the bidding on our first house. When you start bidding ask the auctioneer if the other bidders are in a chain. Use it as a tool to get ahead of the other bidders.

Bought a few years ago - usually agonise over decisions- wrote some lists of wants and essential features... Enough boxes were ticked. Very happy. Wish I'd been able to do it at 26/27/28.  (Also interest rates are low so that's a positive). Consider the commute!! - for future you- not 26 year old you! 

We were 26 buying our first home in 2022. Have since sold that home and upgraded to the "forever home" as the house gained a lot of value. I know lads in work who have apartments they bought a few years ago. Most of them are lucky enough to be in a position whereby they'll be able to keep the apartment as an asset and rent it out to cover the mortgage when they eventually move to a house.

Myself and the other half got our AIP last August and went sale agreed on a new build just outside of Dublin within 2 weeks. By chance also close to my family too so if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

Don't buy into the constant moaning you hear about never owning a home. Put your head down and save, it's a lot more achievable if you're smart with your money and set realistic goals.

Bought a fixer upper for 80k 7 years ago and it’s now worth 300k. Mortgage free and every cent I earn for life goes to me. Now go on holidays 12 times a year and live life. 

Best thing I ever learned to do was swing a hammer. 

You honestly sound almost identical to me situation wise and I just got my keys before Christmas.

One thing I'll say is with no debt or loans and that much savings, the mortgage part should be as easy as it gets. PTSB and AIB couldn't give me one quicker once I gave them documents they needed and were great to deal with the whole way.

If you're using the First Home Scheme, they're also incredibly well run and the most responsive out of anyone I dealt with.

Best of luck with it. Although no matter how smoothly it goes it'll likely be one if not the most stressful period of your life. I don't think it can be helped!

We bought our house in our late 20s start of 2019. It took 5 months to go from AIP to keys and as a first time buyer I found the process pretty stress free as we didn’t have a chain behind us of selling to someone who was waiting to sell who was waiting to sell etc.

But here’s what happened … We ended up bidding on a house, it was going up and up. We put our last bid on. Had viewed another the previous week so bid on that one as we felt we wouldn’t get the first one… but the next day, we ended up going sale agreed on both houses within an hour of each other. Couldn’t believe it! We had to make a difficult decision which one as we obviously couldn’t two houses!!! We went with the second actually and in the long run I do think it was the better house (about 15k cheaper also!)

We are very proud of being able to buy in our late 20s, at the time the market was tough to get on the ladder, it’s tougher now, I wish you all the best with your goal for this year. Set your goals, you might have to make some scarifying along the way, you’ll get there!

I have no degree, I moved to Ireland 6 years ago. I started my way in tech, working as a moderator reviewing content.

We were struggled with our salaries for years. We shared a bedroom in a house with other people for 3 years. My wife is self employed and it was so difficult to get a modest number. I was struggled too with 35k a year, but this year I got lucky and I was layoff last June 2025. A couple of months later I got a new job 75k per year.

After five years saving and part of the money investing in stocks (9k profit only, I sold it), we made 95k cash.

We end up buying an old house for 460k in D9 in December 2025.

Keep saving, investing, keep looking for new jobs and check the affordable housing schemes if you are single. You can make it, never give up. Good luck.

Edit: I’m 31 years old

Got super lucky 2 years ago. My house was 3 bed 3 bath detached and looked very grubby on daft. It ended up being on the market for 7 months which is incomprehensible in my area. We put down the asking offer for 300 and got sale agreed about an hour later that morning. We spend a few months renovating / knocking some inside walls to open up the inside before moving in. House is more or less finished the last year and a bit other than the spare bedroom / dump room. There was far smaller houses on our row recently going for 480+ asking price . We honestly just got absolute pot luck.

Started viewing houses in Mid March 2024 and we put a bid on the second house we viewed in April 2024 (we only viewed three houses total!). Sale agreed end of May 2024 and we moved in end August 2024.

We were also so lucky to have a family member who’s a solicitor and handled all the legal work, that is 100% the reason everything went so smooth and so quick for us.

We went with Auctioneera.ie.

Bidding felt really controlled and safe - it’s live so you can literally see the bids before your eyes. Only people who have physically viewed the house and received a code can bid, and all bidding is done over a limited time period (which I forgot ) but I think k it’s less than 24 hours? , no waiting for a phone call and not knowing what’s going on etc!

PSA: If you’re looking for a lovely, friendly, hands-on experience… don’t go with them 😅 no complaints from me.. they ticked all the boxes for us super efficient, straightforward, and none of the over-complicated stuff. I know some people nearly want to move in with their estate agent they get so friendly 😂

Edit - Forgot to wish you the best of luck ❤️

I’ve no advice my love as I’m a renter, but well done you 🙌and you should be very proud of yourself, and I wish you all the best x

Yeah I know your prob looking at Dublin but mine was down the country viewed my 2nd house put a bid in at ten accepted at 12 keys in hand 2 months later

Lots of apartments under the 300k mark around Dublin 1. Someone I know around your age, with less than you have now, bought one and it's worked out great. They used a broker with seemed to take away a lot of the heavy lifting. But it did take an extraordinary length of time to complete the deal (the majority of transactions are this way), be patient, and just push through the process.

Mid thirties couple, after living in Ireland for a couple of years we decided to go for it.

Visited and offered close to 40 properties over the period of a month . We were adamant about not going to a higher budget. Towards the ends we were starting to be a bit discouraged, not giving up at all but just going with less excitement towards the viewing.

Then we came across what is our current home. Catch was we had to wait 4 months before moving in as the owners were moving to another family members home, and it is located in a small village (900 people or so). Other than that house was 20 y.o. and turnkey conditions. We went for the blunt straight forward approach with the agent as we were being constantly outbid and the previous viewer had offered him asking price in front of us: asked him what was the price the owners were looking for , then we offered that plus 5k but with a deadline of 24hs on the offer.

Worked ! And as soon as we went sale agreed we were confirmed on two more properties that we were bidding on , so yeah , when it rains it pours I suppose.

We bought in September, F23 and M24, 3 bed semi in Dublin. AIP to sale agreed in 2 weeks, then sale agreed to close in 11 weeks. Needed (and still needs) a good bit of work, but most of that is done now, we moved in just before the new year.

That's a serious deposit bud, well done

I bought my first place in October this year and im 35 (M and single). Was really lucky that the seller wanted a quick sale and did a blind final bid between 3 of us, so got the place for only 25k above asking.

You're doing amazingly well at 26 with your salary and your savings. It's only a matter of time and luck with the bidding👍 All the best🙏

Hi! My salary is €54k and I’ve managed to save €70k with no debt, so we’re in a very similar position. I actually just went sale agreed this week on a second‑hand one‑bedroom apartment in Dublin after viewing places since October.

I realised I could afford a two‑bedroom in other counties too, but the management fees were quite a bit higher (€1.6–2.2k), so the one‑bedroom made more sense for me. I also thought about renting out a spare room to help with overpayments, but in the end I preferred having a space that’s fully my own.

There are lots of paths to get there, and the affordable housing schemes are definitely worth looking into as well. It’s a tough process, but it is possible — and you’re already in a strong position.

Jon Arne Rise got bullied. When he went back to Norway in 2006 after winning the champions League with Liverpool. He went to McDonald's and was served by the person who bullied him!

We went sale agreed on an apartment in October in clarehall for 317,000 Still waiting though for seller to fix the the pre contract enquiries, we started looking last may, it wasnt too bad its more now the waiting to close this sale. Going for the mortgage is the easy part though! Bidding can go crazy but not all of them. I'd say June until September things sell for highest I noticed October-April is a little bit easier not as many people bidding. Never set your heart on the first property you go on sale agreed, I found everyone says the same thing.

I offered the asking price. Said binbids, 24hours, accept or I'm out. It surprisingly worked. This was five years ago so different times. Doubt it would work today

Bought an apartment no one wanted in Adamstown in 2021, no bid wars and paid asking price. It needed a lot of cosmetic renovation work and so far we have put around 30k into it. Judging by a recent sale of an apartment near ours with exact same layout we probably have around 150k equity in it + it looks gorgeous and comfy. Best decision I’ve ever made.

Bought my house at the end of 2023 at 26, 3 bed in Dublin. Long grind and 2 years of losing friends who didn't like that I didn't drink or go out on the weekends anymore. But I'm so happy now, nobody can take this from me and coming from a childhood of renting and evictions it means the world to me