STARTER HOMES

FAIR HILL, CORK €175,000

THIS end-of-terrace house (pictured) wasn’t always end-terrace - it was fully ‘embraced,’ but a one-time road widening move saw its neighbour lopped off, giving it an almost semi-detached status.

Now, having last sold 30 years ago, for £18,000, it come up sale once more with Vincent Clinch of F&V Sheahan, who says it has been tastefully modernised.

Sq m: 79 (850 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 3

BER rating: Pending

Broadband: Yes

VERDICT: Great condition and a walk into the city centre

CAPPOQUIN, WATERFORD €50,000 +

THERE’S swift viewings at the River Blackwater-side houses at Port na hAbhanann — because the five fully-finished houses here can be bought for €50,000, €55k and €60K each.

If there’s any catch, it is just that would-be buyers must be cash purchasers: it’s a stipulation insisted on by the financial institution that funded that scheme, apparently.

The houses, just a couple of hundred metres from the town centre (and Cappoquin does have a good stock of houses for sale), have river views and aspect, with sun terraces, and three bedrooms, with one en suite.

Developed by Cork-based investors, the houses on offer are timber framed, with electric heating, and are a decent, 1,300 sq ft plus size.

Some houses in the scheme are listed on websites at €850 a month to rent (depending on demand, though): at the € 50,000-plus guides quoted by agents Sherry FitzGerald John Rohan in last week’s Irish Examiner adverts, a mortgage could be served for around €175 a month — only they be able to won’t negotiate with buyers needing finance!

It’s understood that there’s interest from some cash buyers for multiple units and even as an entire block — and, why not, at €250,000 or so for the five?

Sq m: 125 (1,345 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 3

BER rating: Pending Broadband: Yes

VERDICT: Time to look once more behind the sofa?