Starter home: Ballinlough, Cork €250,000

Trish Dromey on an affordable Cork city three-bed detached home.

Sq m 77 (831 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

BER: D1

AS a detached, modern, three-bed property in Ballinlough with a guide of €250,000, Laurel Cottage is almost guaranteed to get good viewings.

Pointing out that it’s now become difficult to find a three bed semi-d in the popular Ballinlough area for less than €300,000, Mark Gosling of Behan Irwin & Gosling says he is expecting this to attract the attention of both investors and first-time buyers.

Built in the early 2000s on an infill site by Cork Constituion and Murphy Transport, and near where a new homes development is awaited on the old Eir site, Laurel Cottage has 831 sq ft of living space, has been used as a rental property and is said to be in excellent condition.

Accommodation on the ground floor includes a laminate floored living room, a kitchen/dining room with oak shaker style units as well as a shower room and a laminate floored bedroom with a built-in wardrobe.

Upstairs there is a bathroom and two bedrooms with Velux windows. Fitted with gas central heating the property has a D1 energy rating.

To the front, enclosed behind a low wall is a parking space for one car and to the rear, behind a high wall and double gate there a second yard which has a shed and space for two cars or for sitting out.

Located on the Ballinlough Road, close to the Churchyard Lane end, Laurel Cottage is within a short walking distance of public parks, Cork Constitution, Páirc Uí Rinn and the Silver Key pub and is just over 2.5km from Cork City Hall.

VERDICT: Well located, affordable and likely to be highly rentable