Opportunity knocks in Douglas

THE last comparable sale made €520,000, also for a do-er upper, but on the basis that you have to start an asking price somewhere, and given that the market is continuing to drag through prime season selling time, a Rosebank Douglas, three semi-d has a lower, €475,000 guide.

Algrove is a three-bed semi in the ‘inner-Douglas’ setting, within as easy a walk of Cork city centre as it is of Douglas itself.

Built in the early 1950s by Lanes builders, Algrove is a quietly-set solid family home pleasantly showing the signs of its maturity, inside and out.

Estate agent Timothy Sullivan says it needs upgrading and modernisation (there’s no central heating, for example), and because there’s a detached garage across a narrow side passageway to the back garden there’s more than ample space for extension.

He expects offers over €475,000, and no matter how quiet the overall property market gets before seasonal summer slumbers, he will have good viewings because of the location.

In the same hinterland, semis of far greater stature and further up the price scale have been keenly bid upon. Ivydene with Frank V Murphy & Co went for €2.2 million, and another mid-1900s semi in posh Knockrea Park ) is under swift offer at a reported €1.3 million, its asking price.

Closest comparison to Algrove is the sale last May of No 5 Rosebank, a three-bed semi of similar vintage, also needing a good measure of work. It made €520,000 with Joe Gavin of James G Coughlan Associates.

Being sold ‘as-is,’ Algrove has two reception rooms, each with original tiled fireplaces, hall, kitchen with garden access, and three first floor bedrooms, plus main family bathroom. There’s a bright westerly aspect, and there’s a good back garden.