Starter Homes: Four Cork properties on sale starting at €210,000

First time buyers can choose from homes across Douglas, Blackrock, Carrigaline and Youghal, writes Trish Dromey

Mon, 29 May, 2023 - 09:27

Trish Dromey

Youghal, Co Cork
€240,000
Size	94 sq m (1,011 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	3
BER	B3

During covid lockdowns the owners of 39 Parklands, Raheen in Youghal took the opportunity to redecorate their home and put in timber wall panelling.

With grey panels in the kitchen, hall, and sitting room, and blue ones in the main bedroom, the 2008-built three-bed end-of-terrace house is attractive, modern, and affordable, with a guide of €240,000.

VERDICT: Would that we could all have spent time in lockdown so productively.

Douglas, Cork city
€335,000
Size	85 sq m (914 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	1
BER	C1

The gravelled, statue-filled back garden at Rahan, 5 Westview in Douglas, is not what you typically expect to find in a 1980s built suburban semi.

Enclosed by high ivy covered walls and dominated by a flowering lilac tree, the south facing garden has, according to Rose Property Services, been carefully tended and planted by the owners for several decades.

Taking great care of the house and garden , they have extended it over the years with a front porch and a sunroom at the rear. “In recent years they fitted an expensive KUBE kitchen — opting for bright yellow units to make it colourful,” says auctioneer Mark Rose, quoting a guide of €335,000.

Accommodation includes a long, open-plan living room/dining room, with a set of double doors at the rear opening into a sunroom, which serves as an everyday eating space. Off the dining room is a small, brightly coloured modern kitchenette.

The upstairs has a tiled shower room and three bedrooms, including a small one which has been fitted out as an office.

Situated in a cul de sac of around 30 houses off the South Douglas Road, the house is a little over 2km from the South Mall in the city centre and around 2.5km from Douglas village.

“The house and garden are immaculately kept and the cul de sac location is quiet, mature, and convenient,” says Mr Rose.

VERDICT: A Douglas property with an attractive garden — it’s certain to attract good attention.

Blackrock, Cork city
€210,000
Size	47 sq m (505 sq ft)
Bedrooms	1
Bathrooms	1
BER	E1

Few properties in the Blackrock Road area are as affordable as 10 Dunraven Downs, a one-bed ground floor apartment with a guide of €210,000.

Agents Jeremy Murphy Auctioneers say the 1980s built apartment is well maintained and would make an ideal first time buy. Accommodation includes a bedroom, bathroom, and living room with a kitchenette.

In a block of eight apartments with communal gardens in a cul de sac off Blackrock Road, it’s around 2km from the city centre.

VERDICT: Affordable and convenient.

Carrigaline, Co Cork
€295,000
Size	92 sq m (990 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
BER	C2

For its €295,000 guide, No 21 Willow Glen, Heron’s Wood in Carrigaline seems to offer all that a young couple could look for in a first home.

A three-bed end-of-terrace house, it was built in 2005 and thoroughly redecorated by current owners who moved in around six years ago. “They put in a new kitchen and bathroom, replaced the flooring in most of the rooms and re-painted,” says Garry O’Donnell of ERA Downey McCarthy, adding that they also landscaped the back garden and put down an Indian sandstone patio.

Offering 92 sq m of bright, modern living space, the property has a timber-floored living room connected by an archway at the rear with a tiled kitchen-diner with high gloss cream units and a breakfast bar. Off the hallway there’s a guest WC while upstairs there’s an upgraded bathroom and three bedrooms with built-in units and semi-solid oak flooring. To the rear the property has a good-sized garden with a sandstone path and patio, a trellised climber covered wall and a Steeltech shed as well as gravelled beds and a lawned area.

Overlooking a central green area, the property is one of 27 houses in Willow Glen, a cul-de-sac estate located around 2km from shops in Carrigaline and 8km from Douglas village.

“It has attracted immediate interest from first-time buyers,” says Mr O’Donnell noting that the property has the potential to fetch rent of €1,800 a month and could also appeal to investors.