Buyer snaps up a bargain -- and tenant

A MAN snapped up an upmarket family home in one of Dublin's most affluent suburbs yesterday for a 'bargain' price, but there's just one catch -- there's a sitting tenant living in the basement.

Number four Lower Prince Edward Terrace, Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock, sparked a bit of a bidding war. There was standing-room only at Colliers Jackson-Stops on Pembroke Street where more than 40 people gathered for the auction.

A man in his 30s eventually won out -- clinching the house for €785,000 -- despite the fact that it comes with two tenants.

One of them is still living in the basement.

Prince Edward Terrace is in a highly attractive location in Blackrock. Number 11 -- a smaller house along the same stretch, with a smaller garden but in better condition -- is on the market for €1.8m.

Agent Peter Kenny described No 4 as "not for the fainthearted". Bidding opened at €600,000, with the house eventually selling at €785,000.

The 418 sq m period property -- an executor's sale -- came on the market recently with an asking price of €800,000 and requires complete renovation.

The previous owner, Maude Walker, died 20 years ago and left the top two floors and the contents of the house to John P Doyle for his lifetime.

He died in January this year and the house came on the market in September.

The buyer of No 4 intends to renovate the property to make it a family home.

In addition to the estimated €500,000 renovation costs, a sum of €53,900 will have to be paid in stamp duty.

And there is the added problem of two protected tenants.

The basement is let to an elderly tenant, who pays a weekly rent of €45.71, and a garage at the rear of the house is let to a car valet company for a monthly rent of €190.

The successful bidder, who does not wish to be named, was grinning from ear to ear when the gavel came down, and when asked for a comment, he replied "there's lots of work to be done".

Little is known of the elderly gentleman who lives downstairs, but the buyer seemed to be genuinely happy with the arrangement.

- Yvonne Hogan

Irish Independent