Starter Homes: Four Cork properties on the market starting at €190k

From its position high up on the fifth floor, No 640 The Kingfisher, The Sanctuary, in Jacobs Island, offers scenic views across the Mahon Estuary to Rochestown, Hop Island, and Passage West.

“It has everything you could want in a Jacob’s Island apartment — water views, a south facing balcony, a high B1 BER, and well-maintained owner occupied accommodation,” Garry O’Donnell of ERA Downey McCarthy says, seeking offers of €300,000 for the two-bed property.

Since buying the 2006-built apartment three years ago, the owner has upgraded the gas boiler and done some redecoration, bringing colour to the living area.

No 640 also includes a kitchen/diner, which has a timber floored living area, with patio doors at one end, and a kitchenette, with grey and cream modern units at the other.

There’s also a bathroom and two timber floored bedrooms, one with an en suite.

Outside the patio doors, in the living area, there’s a balcony with a glass balustrade and extensive estuary views.

“The apartment is situated in a secure, well-maintained development and has one underground parking space,” Mr O’Donnell says, adding that it’s located close Mahon Point shopping centre and to the Blackrock greenway.

Attractions for first-time buyers include the fact that it’s eligible for a green mortgage, which investors will like it because it’s been owner-occupied, so it doesn’t have a rent cap and has the potential to earn €2,000 rent a month.

VERDICT: A well-kept, well-located apartment.

The owners of 3 The Mills in Ballyvourney have given a colourful makeover to their 1940s-built three-bed mid-terrace home.

Painted blue on the outside, the property now has sunshine yellow doors and an upgraded kitchen with green and white units with patterned splashback tiles.

Guiding the property at €190,000 John O’Mahony of OM2 auctioneers says it’s a stylish home which has been both enhanced and extended.

Accommodation includes a sitting room, a kitchen/diner, a hallway/utility space, a bathroom and a bedroom/office. Upstairs there’s a bathroom and two bedrooms.

VERDICT: Affordable and colourful.

The fact that there are very few three-bed semis in Douglas with a guide price as low as €295,000 is making this one at 44 Glenview in Grange look especially attractive to first-time buyers.

“Eight people came on the first day of viewings and six the next,” reveals Johnny O’Connor of Barry’s Auctioneers, noting that within a few days of viewings, online bidding had reached €305,000.

He says the 1980s-built property is owner-occupied and very well-maintained. “It’s situated in a quiet cul de sac overlooking a large green area and is within walking distance of all amenities in Douglas,” he adds.

It has 84 sq m of accommodation which includes a small single-storey section housing a ground-floor bathroom and a small utility area. The front the house has a timber-floored sitting room with alcove units and, at the rear there is a kitchen/diner with fitted units and built-in corner seating.

Upstairs the house has a bathroom and three bedrooms. To the rear, it has a long sloping garden with a patio and gravel beds planted with a variety of shrubs as well as a set of steps leading to a shed. Some neighbours have built extensions at the rear so it seems possible that the new owners of this one could do so too.

Located around 1.5km from Douglas village, Glenview is within a 10-minute walk from SuperValu and Aldi in Frankfield.

The Property Price Register shows just one sale in Glenview in the last four years — that of No 29 which sold for €245,500 in July.

VERDICT: Guide price and location will make it popular

A two-bed ground-floor apartment with sea views, at 65 Carleton Village in Youghal, might do nicely for either a young couple or a downsizing one.

With a guide of €195,000, it’s on the market with Absolute Property, who say the modern 2000-built property is well maintained, and has a B3 BER.

VERDICT: An affordable seaside home.