Rochestown site almost as valuable as the house

THERE’S a touch of “here’s one we prepared earlier” about Athlo, a Rochestown home built 30 years ago on a site that is now more valuable than the house itself as ‘deja viewings’ commence in earnest.

The south-facing 1,700 sq ft bungalow alongside the Monastery comes up for sale priced at €650,000: that’s the same price region as a half acre site next door sold just two months ago, when it made €630,000, stopping just shy of the 9% stamp duty threshold.

So, the selling mantra here for the half-acre residential property Athlo, with the same vendor who sold the site and is now trading down to a city suburb, could well be “buy the site and get a house almost for free.”

Literally, hundreds of people viewed the adjoining half acre site here which had outline planning (OPP) for a single storey home from January.

The viewing profile then was almost all young families living in the Rochestown hinterland, in four-bed semis and detached homes, all looking to trade up and to build anew, to modern specifications and comforts on a great country site near Douglas.

Many of the same hopefuls will flock to the house next door, Athlo, on the market with Valerie Parkes of Hamilton Osborne King who seeks €650,000.

It has three bedrooms, one with en suite, large living room, dining room, sun room and kitchenette, as well as main bathroom, and in addition there is a detached garage, all on well-kept and private gardens.

While the house is perfectly fine, and has been well kept, it may well fall into that Celtic Tiger trap where home-hunters’ aspirations and budgets outstrip the qualities of yesterday’s buildings. Some buyers may chose to add to, or work with the original house, but as many again, or more, will seek to knock and rebuild from scratch.