The most difficult part about buying a house in a foreign country? Choosing the location.

Especially in a counterintuitive city like Dublin, where the wealthier areas are not located in the city center, but mostly in the Southeast part of the city (Ballsbridge, Sandymount, Rathmines, Blackrock etc).



And the worst part? There is very little information on the internet, and interviewing locals can provide very discordant opinions. What someone might consider a livable area, others will consider it pretty dodgy.



With all the information I collected, I tried to create a map which would include not only a clear view of all the areas of the city, but also color code them based on how 'recommended' they were. Additionally, I wanted to have a clear overview of which areas were serviced by train and LUAS lines (bus lines are not included, as they are very developed and all areas are serviced).



* Here are factors that I used to label a location as 'ideal' in this post:

- High value properties (which you can easily resell or make a profit on)

- Stable / wealthy neighbourhood

- Well connected with public transportation

** Please note that these are not maps based on science and stats, but they are based the fragments of information I found on the Internet and on the opinions of the Dubliners I've spoken to.



*** Please keep in mind that this is a personal blog and I just hope that my experience might be of use to others: this was a map that I initially created for myself in 2015, and that I'm now sharing with you. I'm not a professional data scientist, and I did my best to collect this information.