Starter Homes: Four Cork properties for sale under €300k

Buyers can choose from homes across St Luke's, Bandon, Jacob's Island and Upper Glanmire, writes Trish Dromey

535, the Heron, The Sanctuary, in Jacob’s Island

Bandon, Co Cork
€245,000
Size	100 sq m (1,076 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
BER	pending

Revamped, remodelled and redecorated, No 2 Church Street in Bandon is on the market guiding at €245,000.

2 Church Street, Bandon

Don Brennan of Sherry FitzGerald Brennan Busteed says the three-bed, end of terrace property is affordable enough to appeal to a first-time buyer and central enough to attract a downsizer: “The house has been rewired, replumbed, and fitted with new windows, a combi boiler, and new kitchen units,.” 

Accommodation includes a sitting room, a kitchen- diner, a utility room and a modern shower room while the first floor has three bedrooms. An on-street property, it has a paved back garden.

2 Church Street, Bandon

VERDICT: Affordable and very central.

Jacob's Island, Cork
€295,000 to 300,000
Size	76 sq m (820 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	2
BER	B3

The increase in sales of rental properties by investors in recent weeks is throwing up opportunities for first-time buyers who now have the option of buying either of these two-bed apartments at the Heron, The Sanctuary, in Jacob’s Island.

No 535 is a fourth-floor property with a guide of €300,000, while number 528, directly beneath it on the floor below, is an identically laid-out property with a guide of €295,000. 

Seán McCarthy of ERA Downey McCarthy says both properties are well maintained and well-presented and that the additional €5,000 for No 535 is accounted for by the fact that it is on a higher floor and has better views.

Both apartments have open plan kitchen/dining/living rooms with views of Mahon Point as well as a bathroom and two bedrooms including one en suite. Both have a front balcony and a B3 BER.

Mr McCarthy says that Jacob’s Island, located within a short walk from Mahon Point and close to the Link Rad network, is arguably one of the best apartment complexes in the city.

“We have sold six or seven properties there in the last year with around half of them being bought by first-time buyers and owner occupiers,’’ he says, noting that Jacob’s Island properties continue to attract investors.

Recent sales in The Sanctuary include that of No 549 a sixth floor two- bed apartment which sold for €285,000 in February.

VERDICT: Jacob’s Island apartments tend to be popular.

St Luke's, Cork city
€195,000
Size	53 sq m (570 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	E2

Although Adelaide Cottage on Gardiners Hill in St Luke’s is a restoration project, it is set to attract interest because of its affordable €195,000 guide price and its close to city centre location.

Situated on Adelaide Place, within a 15-minute walk of MacCurtain Street, it’s a tiny two-bed detached cottage with a small garden and 53sq m of living space.

Nicole White of Keane Mahony Smith believes that with a little love and attention the 1980s-built property could once again be turned into an attractive home.

VERDICT: Needs a great deal of work but has potential.

Upper Glanmire, Co Cork
€275,000
Size	102 sq m (1,097 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	3
BER	B3

The type of property that a young buyer might consider to be both affordable and desirable, No 87 Ros Árd in Upper Glanmire is a three-bed, mid-terrace house with a guide of €275,000.

Kevin Barry of Barry Auctioneers says it has all that a first-time buyer could look for — including 102 sq metres of living space and a B3 energy.

“It was built in 2005 and is very well maintained and tastefully decorated,” he says, noting that it has been a rental property.

Accommodation includes a front sitting room with a fireplace, a guest WC and a kitchen/ dining room with fitted units at the rear. The upper floor has a bathroom and three bedrooms including one at the rear with an en suite shower room.

Located in a terrace of five houses, No 87 has parking at the front and a lawned garden with a lean-to shed at the rear.

“Ros Árd is a popular development located within easy reach of amenities including schools and sporting facilities,’’ says Mr Barry, adding that there are forest walks and leisure areas in Glanmire.

Via Blackpool, it’s just an eight km drive from the property to the city centre and the Dunkettle Interchange is a little shy of 12 km away.

Recent sales in Ros Árd — a mixed development of 131 properties, include that of No 3, a three-bed semi which exceeded its €295,000 guide in March and sold for €315,000.

Sales in 2022 included that of No 99, a two-bed mid terrace house which went on the market with a guide of €215,000 and sold for €235,000.

VERDICT: Looks just right for a starter home.