Starter Homes: Four Cork properties for less than €350,000

An easy to keep modern two-bed home in the ever popular Mount Oval development, No 9 Kilbrody is expected to appeal to a variety of buyer types.

A mid terrace, mid 2000s built house with a guide of €340,000,it’s guaranteed to attract young buyers in search of a first home as well as older ones looking to downsize, says Kevin Barry of Barry auctioneers. “And because it has been owner occupied and doesn’t have a rent cap, it’s also going to appeal to investors,” he adds.

The well-kept 80 sq metre house comes with a B3 BER rating and a south facing garden at the rear. Rooms accessed from the front hallway include a guest WC and a spacious carpeted living room which has a narrow window at the front and patio doors at the rear. There’s also a tiled kitchen with timber fitted units.

On the upper level the house has a bathroom and two carpeted bedrooms with built in wardrobes, including one en suite. If an owner occupier buys it, they will probably want to do some decorative updating.

The garden at the rear is enclosed by walls and has a patio, some lawn and a corner shed. The house has a small railed front patio and one designated parking space.

Located within a short walk from shops in Mount Oval village square, the property is around three km from Douglas Village and five km from Mahon Point.

VERDICT: Two-bed townhouses like this one tend to be especially popular with downsizers.

Modern and well-kept with a decent amount of space for a three-bed duplex, 17 Blackrock Mews, Convent Road in Blackrock is new to the market with a guide of €295,000.

“It’s a 113 sq metre apartment which was built in 2007 and has a B3 BER,’’ reveals Eileen Neville of Lisney Sotheby’s noting that current owners, who are now moving abroad, have taken good care of it since buying it in 2017.

Selling points include a good sized roof terrace as well as its location by the Eden development in Blackrock where properties are always sought after, she adds.

Accessed by a staircase, the property has a private entrance on its lower level. Accommodation includes a spacious open plan living area which doubles up as a home office and has large windows and door opening onto a roof terrace.

Adjoining the living space, is a kitchen with modern cream gloss units and there’s also a guest WC.The top level has a bathroom and three bedrooms including one with an en suite.

Located within a five minute walk from Blackrock pier and the newly redeveloped marina promenade, the apartment is 2.5km from Manon Point Shopping Centre.

“We are already getting a high level of interest from first time buyers and because it’s been owner occupied and doesn’t have a rent cap we also expect to attract investors, says Ms Neville.

There only seems to have been one sale in Blackrock Mews last year. This was of a two-bed ground-floor apartment at No 10 which came on the market with a guide of €295,000 and sold for €323,500.

VERDICT: This one may very well exceed its guide price too

House hunters in the East Cork area may be interested in taking a look at this three-bed semi 18 Dun Orga in Cloyne – a new market arrival with a guide of €250,000.

It would make an excellent starter home, says Ed O’Donovan of Sherry FitzGerald O’Donovan explaining that the 2002 built ex-rental property has been repainted for sale and is in very good condition.

Offering 90 sq m of living space, it has a sitting room with a fireplace, a kitchen /diner with modern grey units and three bedrooms (one en suite) and a bathroom upstairs.

Located close to shops in Cloyne, it’s eight km from Midleton and ten km from Ballycotton.

VERDICT: Affordable for a modern three-bed semi.

Despite being in need of modernisation, this three-bed mid-terrace house at 67 Wilton Court has - owing to the popularity of its location - been attracting extremely high levels of interest.

“We go an opening bid of the €295,000 guide price and have since booked another 30 viewings,’’ says John Barry of Frank V Murphy Auctioneers.

Built in the 1970s, it has 107 sq metres of accommodation which includes an attached garage which seems ripe for conversion.

VERDICT: The Wilton address is a big draw.