Trading up: Bishopstown, Cork €250,000

Sq m: 147 (1,581 sq ft)

A classic, Bishopstown house is how Jean Shanahan of DNG Kevin Condon describes, 5, Central Avenue.

An extended four bed, it will need work, but makes up for that with a good footprint, a south-facing garden that’s utterly private and a great, central location.

The house is a 30-second walk to Col•iste An Spriod Naomh, she says, and around the corner from the shopping centre, with good schools all within a stone’s throw.

An executor’s sale, the price reflects the work needed, but Shanahan adds that the property just needs upgrading. It has three bedrooms on the upper floor and a bedroom with en suite bathroom on the lower floor, along with kitchen, dining and living room.

“The gardens are due south and not overlooked — they’re surrounded by mature Fir trees, from which Firgrove gets its name, and you can’t see anything from the back garden, it’s not overlooked. It’s in poor condition and will need work, but it does have double glazed windows and it’s a great size — an old Bishopstown house and a lovely house,.” she says.

Further up the road, a property in better condition is on the market with Lisney at €295,000.

VERDICT: A doer-upper/ blank-canvas project which could be the start of a great makeover.