Semi-d within scope of first-timer

JUST how much more bang you get for your buck in the calmed-down (if not becalmed) Irish property market is seen in the case of this five-year-old Carrigaline semi-d.

A four-bed home in mint condition, number five, Firgrove, in the large, south Cork, Heron’s Wood scheme comes up for sale with agents Dooley and Howard for €295,000 — and it is only a few years since three-bed semis in a lesser state here were selling for €350,000.

Number five, Firgrove is a well-kept family home with a confident decorative theme and a fenced-in back garden with paved patio area for al fresco dining, and a timber shed. The well-specified, four-bed home, now within the price grasp of some first-time buyers in jobs secure enough to prise cash from nervous bankers, has two reception rooms, the larger one in front with bay window, the rear one with patio access, as well as long, 18’ by 9’ kitchen with units in ash.

Number five also has a guest WC off the hall by the front door, a utility by the kitchen, and, upstairs, one of its four bedrooms is en suite, and two have built-in robes. The house has an alarm, double glazing, gas heating and a floored attic with power supply and pull-down stairs.