Starter Homes

BLACKROCK, CORK €150,000

Sq m: 70 (780 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 2

BER rating: Pending

Broadband: Yes

A great location on the edge of Blackrock village in Cork, and a setting on a cul de sac of terraced dignified old city homes, plus a long back garden set No 3 Glandore Avenue up as a place to cast an eye over.

Priced at €150,000 by ERA Downey McCarthy, this renovated and extended house is within a two minute walk of buzzy Blackrock village and its weekend markets and cafe/bakery, as well as having some of Cork’s best river walks nearby.

No 3’s in walk-in condition, with charm and character, and the long garden’s a bonus, giving scope for further extension in time.

VERDICT: Suburban village and harbour to hand.

BALLYBUNION, CO KERRY €75,000

Sq m: 30 (330 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 2

BER rating: Pending

Broadband: Yes

You could row a boat across the estuary here at Lower Kilmore to Ballybunion Golf Club — and it has been done plenty of times in the past.

So say the selling agents Sherry FitzGerald Stephenson Crean of this old-fashioned, simple semi-detached two bed with a corrugated steel roof at the estuarine The Cashen. It needs doing up (although some upgrades have been done already) but heck, it’s as quaint as anything.

VERDICT: Galvanise yourself: it’s got great potential, views and setting.

Picture: Property in Ballybunion