A house with land in west Cork for the cost of a good wage

A run-down cottage on Long Island for €49,000 — with sea views. Rose Martin reports

IT’S back to the good old days when you could pick up a house and a bit of land in west Cork for the price of a decent salary.

Marie Cotter of Irish Rural Properties has just sold a brace of houses in Goleen for €63,000 and says prices have plummeted all over the peninsula.

And she’s now selling, (among others), a run-down old cottage on Long Island for €49,000 and it comes with half an acre of land and sea views.

As this is really a holiday home buy, is it difficult to access the island?

“Not at all — it’s only 10 minutes over — they swim the cattle there,” she says, adding that she has a number of viewings lined up already, some as far away as Christmas.

“Enquiries from the UK are starting to increase — they are the saving grace and there are plenty of inquiries. I’ve had plenty for the first time in four years and have three people viewing out of it. I’m hoping it’s not a blip,” she says.

And as to the house on Long Island — it’s not a renovation job, she says, more of a Grand Design project. And you can’t say fairer than that, at €50k.

VERDICT: Perfect summer home — you could even camp out and renovate/extend bit by bit. Lovely.