Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan
The first week was grand I hit my targets; I was beginning to relish the running, but just hated the fact that I’m not better at it. I’m training with some amazing women in New Ross Striders.
They are seriously putting me to shame. My boyfriend and I took part in the Tramore Duathlon on the last weekend in February, it was chilly but the variety of cycling and running was fun.
I decided to opt for the treadmill in Ferrybank gym for my short run at the start of this week, the downside being I was counting every single metre on the screen in front of me.
The past few days were interesting to say the least. My parents are tillage and suckler farmers; that has meant my training over the recent days has consisted of dragging water and feed to cattle, shoveling out sheds and keeping newborn calves alive.
There was no running, but plenty of walking and let’s call it ‘strength and conditioning training’. As we were snowed in, I have had no access to a treadmill. The area around the farm has thawed now but I’m sure my father would think me a little odd if I start running 100 metre laps around the sheds.
Hopefully, I’ll slide back into the swing of things next week.
It’s Sunday afternoon and really it’s been a tale of two weeks. Two weeks ago I had my first 5k run, I had done a 5k run-walkrun the day before and thought ‘I reckon I can do this’ so on Monday morning after dropping the kids to school I went over to Johnstown Castle and completed it in just under 27 mins, I was delighted and planned on building from there.
I did only one more 5k since that and only shaved 22 seconds off the first. I was delighted with that. The problem is it was 10 days ago and unfortunately I have only been out twice this week. I did do a long walk and a heavy long walk back as we were without power from 2pm Friday until 10am today (Sunday).
Myself and my neighbour (Ryan) walked to town for food supplies and Coal, this was my best work out yet.
So as you can see a very mixed two weeks, we did do a lovely family walk today with the neighbours and built another snow man, and I have shovelled a lot of snow, so there has been some activity!
Until next time – remember keep smiling. My partner and I have been unable to get a mortgage to buy our own home. Will we be eligible for the new Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan?
The new Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan provides mortgages to first-time buyers at reduced interest rates (2%–2.3%) to buy new or second-hand properties or to build a home. You can choose to fix the rates for the full term of the mortgage, so you have the same repayments for the whole time you are repaying the loan. To qualify for a loan under the scheme:
• You must be a first-time buyer aged between 18 and 70 years of age
• Your income cannot be more than €50,000 (€75,000 for joint applicants)
• You must have a deposit of at least 10% of the purchase price of the property
• You must have evidence of two insufficient offers or refusals for a mortgage loan by two banks or building societies
• You must have a satisfactory credit rating
• The main applicant must have been in continuous employment (or self-employed) for at least two years
The property must not be over 175 square metres. If you are buying in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Louth, Meath or Wicklow, the maximum market value of the property cannot be more than €320,000; in all other parts of the country, the value cannot exceed €250,000. You also need to show that you can afford the monthly repayments, which must be less than one-third of your monthly household income. You can use the Home Loan Calculator on rebuildingirelandhomeloan.ie to work out how much you can borrow.
The Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan is available nationwide from local authorities. You must make an appointment with your local authority to submit your application form and supporting documents in person. You can also call the Rebuilding Ireland Home Loan help desk at (051) 349 720 for more information.
Further information is available from the Citizens Information Service below.