The sale was handled by a little known estate agency Joseph Estates which is based in Rathgar. The building was advertised for sale on its website and also on property website Daft.

Joe Tierney of Joseph Estates said the house attracted “quite a few inquiries and viewings” since it went for sale at the beginning of this year.

http://www.josephestates.ie/?p=217

there's a reason why Joseph Estates are "little known"

The cost to repair it would be huge but still the site value alone must be work the 485k even in this market ... I wonder did Joseph himself buy it ?

Indeed, rich EAs. If it was a NAMA property there'd be apoplexy!

ya refurb would be extremely high but even still ... 485k. This is prime city real estate. Even if it costs 600k to do it up its worth it.

"The property itself is in a poor state of decorative repair and condition however from we have been informed that building itself is structurally sound."


I'd have had a crack at that. It has been standing since 1750. Hardly about to go.

The sense of security more frequently springs from habit than from conviction, and for this reason it often subsists after such a change in the conditions as might have been expected to suggest alarm. The lapse of time during which a given event has not happened, is, in this logic of habit, constantly alleged as a reason why the event should never happen, even when the lapse of time is precisely the added condition which makes the event imminent. A man will tell you that he has worked in a mine for forty years unhurt by an accident as a reason why he should apprehend no danger, though the roof is beginning to sink; and it is often observable, that the older a man gets, the more difficult it is to him to retain a believing conception of his own death.

Merrion Square prices cut by half

Two four-storey over basement Georgian houses with development possibilities on sale for €2 million each

TWO GEORGIAN houses on the north side of Dublin’s Merrion Square are to be offered for sale at €2 million each – less than half their value before the collapse of the property market.

Lisney is handling the sale of the four-storey over basement buildings which might well be converted back into residential use, given that they can be bought at substantially less than many period family homes in south Dublin. There are car parking facilities at the rear of both properties.

Number 9 Merrion Square, which is being sold on the instructions of receiver Tom Murray of Friel Stafford, dates from 1760 and has an overall floor area of 552 sq m (5,942 sq ft).

It has been in office use in recent years, but according to Michelle O’Flynn of Lisney, it has “great potential” to be converted back into a private family home, should the new owners wish to do so.

Like most houses on the square, it has a number of well proportioned rooms complete with original period features. “This is undoubtedly one of the more impressive period buildings to have come on the market in recent years,” she says.

Ian McCormack, also of Lisney, is equally confident that he will find a buyer for number 15 Merrion Square, which is also is good condition and is close to Holles Street maternity hospital.

It is slightly smaller than the other Georgian, with a floor area of 502sq m (5,403sq ft). Here again the rooms are in good condition, with the third floor laid out as a self-contained apartment with superb views over Merrion Square and much of the city.

Like the other Georgian, number 15 has a rear access off Denzille Lane where there is parking for seven cars. There is obvious potential to build mews houses at the rear of both properties, just as most of the neighbouring owners have already done.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/com ... 54703.html