Stylish overhaul a winner as home finds willing bidders over €200,000

A PRICE survey marks the fact that the average Irish house now costs a startling and painful to fund €200,000. Just as that stark reality sinks in, a mature city house which came on the market in Cork pitched just below that figure has been bidded up well past200,000 by its first viewer.

No 3 East View Terrace in Cork city is a three-bedroomed mid-terraced house, gutted and given a total overhaul by its vendor since he bought it over the last few years.

Smart, stylish, individual, ready to move into and very well located, it is appealing mostly to first-time buyers keen on city living and who want a bit more space than an apartment offers. But with three bedrooms investors will also calculate their sums on likely rental returns.

It hit the market in the last week at €195,000 with Jennifer Birmingham of Noelle Morrison estate agents, but within days was at €210,000 and expected to climb a bit more. The house is just off Quaker Road, up above Douglas Street, a few minutes’ jaunt to the city centre, and is in a cul-de-sac terrace of about 10 homes, looking east over the Quaker cemetery, and with small west-facing facing back yards.

The ground floor here is largely open plan, measuring 21’ by 15’, with a cast iron pole supporting an overhead beam, one of the party walls to a neighbouring house has an exposed stone finish and the staircase has steel banisters.

The ground level has a utility and bathroom, while the kitchen has maple units, and there’s a glazed door from here to a small back yard.

Overhead has three bedrooms, two of them a double size, and one has a shower room and a door to a tiny decked area with steps back down to the small yard.

The house has been pretty much done from top to bottom, with double glazing and gas central heating for home comforts.

Even though the city is just on the doorstep, for those who still insist on a car, there is on-street parking to jostle for with a residents permit.