Builder transformed this €295,000 dinky Cork city home from a wreck to a smart urban pad
Trendy new kitchen at 32 St Finbarr's Terrace, Greenmount
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Greenmount, Cork City |
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€295,000 |
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Size |
62 sq m (667 sq ft) |
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Bedrooms |
2 |
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Bathrooms |
1 |
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BER |
C1 |
ABOUT a decade ago, when building contractor Alan Horgan was working in the Greenmount area, he spotted what looked like a good business opportunity – a doer-upper house that was up for sale.
It wasn’t in great shape, but the price was good and he had the nous to do it up himself.
“I was working on a house across the road when I spotted it in 2013. I paid €47,500 for it but I let it sit there for a long time as I was too busy to do anything with it,” Alan says.
Eventually, when it looked like he might never find the time to restore No 32 St Finbarr’s Terrace, he put it back on the market, only to withdraw it again when he couldn’t get the price that he was looking for. It was the impetus he needed to set in motion his original plan for No 32 and he went at it with gusto, basically knocking the entire structure, with the exception of the street-facing wall.
“The front wall of the old house was left in place and re-plastered on the outside,” Alan says “It was dry-lined on the inside with four-inch Kingspan insulation.
“Behind this wall, the house was totally rebuilt to include metac high grade insulation in joists and six-inch Kingspan insulation in the roof on the first floor.” Alan adds that the main roof is slate to the front and fibre glass to the rear.
Internally, a new kitchen was fitted off an open-plan living room and a half-storey was added overhead.
The first floor has two double bedrooms and a family bathroom.
The renovation, done in his free time in between the business of earning a living, resulted in “practically a new build, newly insulated, with zoned central heating”. (central heating is gas and there’s a combi boiler).
The restoration of No 32 into a brand-new out-of-the-box house proved to be a good move: Alan rented it out and it generated rental income of €2,800 a month. It’s worked well too as an AirBnB too, he says.
Location is tops for the compact three-bed (62 sq m): it's a short stroll from the city centre, from UCC and the Bon Secours Hospital. It’s close to the Lough nature reserve too.
Given its convenience, quality finish and rental potential, Alan, who is based at 4A Glasheen Road, reckons an investor will snap it up, with obvious student rental potential this close to UCC. However as the guide price is €295,000, an investor could expect competition from owner/occupier first time buyers, or someone looking to trade down to a city base, or a buyer in search of a low maintenance, lock-and-leave pad (there is no maintenance, outback has a small courtyard, big enough for a table and chairs, and some artificial lawn).
Selling agents are John Moynihan and Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald and they say it’s in “fantastic condition”.
“No 32 is an opportunity to purchase a well-located home or investment property in a sought-after residential area,” the agents say.
