Tuesday 25 April 2017

Let's move to Ireland: country homes to do up


I'm taking you to Ireland today, while we still can.
Also, I was reminded in a tweet from Wreck reader Hazel that southern Ireland is pretty fabulous, and cheap, but I hadn't covered it. She sent me the property, above and below, in County Donegal by way of example.
It is handsome and definitely not a wreck, looks like someone has already started updating it. But it's the price - just 150,000 Euro for a big detached, stone-built house in the suburbs - that makes it really interesting.





The detached property is about a mile from the town centre of Ballybofey. There's an impressive hallway, three good-size reception rooms and a small kitchen downstairs; three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs.
Outside is a yard area, detached garage and a good-sized garden.



On the market through Paul Reynolds/Property Partners at 150k Euro, more here and here.
One the even-cheaper-but-more-of-a-wreck side of the equation, is the cottage below, in the County Kerry village of Kilgarvan.


It looks to have been empty for sometime and, given that agent describes one of the two downstairs reception rooms as a "bedroom" (with a look in the corner - yuk...), looks like it's last occupant may not have ventured upstairs for a while either.




Certainly some of the three bedrooms are in a bit of state:



Outside is a small but sweet garden with lovely views and the village location makes it attractive, even on the wet Irish day the photos were taken.



On the market at 40,000 Euro (yes, 40k!) via Gallivan/Property Partners. More here.
But if space and views are more your thing, the property below (my personal favourite) comes with 20 acres of land, gorgeous mountain views and a part-finished project.


Meenala is just outside Gortahork, in Donegal, about 30 miles from Letterkenny.
Basically a derelict, three-room original cottage with a new-built and part-finished big extension.
The open-plan kitchen/living room extension has marble floors, a wood burner, oil-fired central heating and double-glazed windows, new bathroom, and an unfinished mezzanine.



Outside, as well as those 25 acres, is a big new garage and older original buildings.




All that for 125,000 Euro. Imagine what you'd pay for the same space and views in Tuscany?
On the market through Paul Reynolds/Property Partners, more here.


Incidentally, buying property in Ireland is not that much different to buying one in the UK, i.e. painful, slow and costly but mostly worthwhile ; )
There are plenty of guides online, including here and here.

Tuesday 18 April 2017

Three detached Welsh 'wrecks'


Three Welsh wrecks for you today. First the detached cottage above and below, up for auction next week (and my prompt for picking Welsh properties).
Definitely a wreck, and lovely because of that. Actually not so sure about the lovely... how about we go with charming?
Two reception rooms and kitchen downstairs, two bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. Plus dilapidated attached stone barn, and a third of an acre of land. Bonus!
Nice rural location in the hamlet of Sarnau, about seven miles from Welshpool, in Powys.
It looks like someone's had a go at doing some work on it. You'll want to find out how far they got and why they stopped.



And whether this stream running in front of the house had anything to do with the 'why they stopped'. See the gap under those concrete blocks?


Up for auction via Morris, Marshall and Poole on April 27th, with a guide price of £125k. More here and here.
Also on the 'big job' side of wreck-buying, is the farmhouse below, at Llandeilo, Carmartheshire. It does, however, come with a  whopping 27 acres of land!


Two reception rooms, kitchen and loo downstairs; three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs. And a rather enthusiastic attitude to decor throughout...


Outside is an attached garage/workshop, plus the land - which includes around 14 acres of woodland and 13 of pasture.



On the market through Evans Bros with a  guide price of £215k. More here and here.
Finally, JJ Morris has this detached village house in Wolfscastle, Pembrokeshire on the market at just under £190k:


No internal pictures and the agent's details don't give any clues to the renovation need (unless you take the fact the sale includes a static caravan in the garden as a sign of the house's habitable state...), but a good size and in a nice village green location, with a pretty garden out back. More here.



Tuesday 11 April 2017

Two large townhouses to renovate


Couple of big old townhouses for you today. One in coastal Norfolk, one in Bristol.
The Georgian terrace above and below is in the pretty seaside town of Wells-next-the-Sea, around 30 miles from Norwich.
The three storey property is Grade II-listed and has three bedrooms, plus a gorgeous attic room. It needs renovating and updating (which makes the price tag a tad steep at almost £400k) and parking looks like an issue - there are double-yellows down both sides of the street.
However, inside is lovely with panelled doors, exposed floorboards, and sweet period details.






The kitchen leads out onto an overgrown but reasonable-sized garden, and the bathroom is upstairs - always a bonus in an old house.







The property, at 19 High Street, is on the market with a guide price of £399,950 through Belton Duffey. Details here and here.
The handsome detached townhouse below is up for auction at the end of this month (on April 25th).


The house, on Hill Street in Bristol, has a kitchen and two large reception rooms downstairs, three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.





There's a good-sized garden at the back and a drive and garage to the side. The whole thing needs renovating and updating and is likely to go for more than the auction guide price of £200k.
On the market through Maggs and Allen, details here and here.