Gorsefield, which was sold for €740k six months ago, is back on the market after getting a lick of paint, new windows and a new kitchen, along with and bit of landscaping with a €610,000 price increase. I can only describe the refurb as ‘all expenses spared’, with them keeping the old kitchen as a utility room for the sake of not getting rid of it, despite the fact that having two large kitchens in a house of this size is absolutely ridiculous, didn’t change some of the floors, wardrobes look the same, and all of the fittings are of cheap quality by the looks of it. 610k for a few months and a few grand’s work, not bad. It is “architecturally refurbished”, though. 
In my opinion 740k was cheap for this house in this part of Killiney. And although the new owner didn’t spend much on updating it does look like a more attractive home. For me the large utility room is a selling point - great for all your appliances, as a laundry/ironing room, and for general storage. It’s something that trader-uppers usually look for after spending years in a house with no decent laundry/drying room. And at 2500sq ft the house is plenty big to require a decent sized utility room.
Doubt they will get 1.35m but can see them getting just under the 1m so still a decent potential profit.
Well spotted.
Fairplay to them trying to flip and they probably will but no way someone paying 1,3 mill would be expecting a fit out this basic.
So assume a 1 million sale. Paid 740. Spent maybe 100k tops. Profit 160k. Still pretty good. Unless it back fires. There’s a couple of house on Vico been languishing around this price for a while…
I don’t like the layout of this house at all.
Bedrooms off the entrance hall, one bedroom is beside a living room (TV noise), you have to walk through the utility room to get to 2 bedrooms, one of which is beside a kitchen (pots and pans, radio and general noise)
No thanks
Lovely views but in all fairness the house itself most closely resembles a mobile home, both before and after the refurb.
well spotted SoCoDu. Personally I would be willing to pay some money to get rid of the pink colour on the outside of the ‘before’ version - some money but not €600k.
I personally like good light and lay out of these 1970s houses, but hate the draughtiness and crap heating. External insulation would have sorted this out and also improved the façade but they were too tight to do this.
Market reaction to this one will tell a lot about the bounciness of a certain feline IMO.
BER still D2 after a refurb? Blah.
And why did they paint it nursing home green?
Still a fab house (well, location/vista) it’s just obvious that they only really did half the job an owner-purchaser would have done.
I think they’ve done a very nice job but I don’t think anyone will pay 1m for this. You never know though. Also they might not be intentionally flipping either, circumstances could have changed. As I said before I really like this house, but not enough to move to killiney
By the way, I think the original purchase price was good value
Perfect, I’ve always* wanted 2 kitchens!
*by ‘always’, I mean ‘never’ and that it would be a pain in the balls paring it back to a useful utility room and an annoyance leaving it and knowing it was just a defunct kitchen/not quite right utility room.
I tend to agree with you. What troubles me is that many buyers don’t appear to be doing their homework, thinking critically, doing a few internet searches and seeing through makeovers like this one! How could anyone be foolish enough to pay so much more for a cheaply done refurb that they could have achieved themselves with relatively little effort and far less money? Maybe noone will be that foolish. I find it hard to believe that it will sell at anywhere near this price.
I must have lower tastes than everyone else but I wouldn’t see this as a cheap refurb. Beautiful new windows and floors where needed (living area). And the kitchen and bathroom both look like good quality to me. Ok floors & wardrobes in bedroom not replaced but don’t look like they needed to be. New deck/landscaping really makes the most of the plot and the views. In the best part of Killiney with fab views. They made a beautiful open plan living area out of a warren of rooms. The only thing missing is a playroom for a family home. I think this would be worth 1m to a lot of families looking in the area at the moment - that said I think this particular part of Killiney is the nicest part of the country to live in.
Wooden decking in a 1.35m house? Does not compute.
Really? - never quite got the subtlety of a wooden deck only suiting cheap homes. Must be my lower tastes again 
Maybe it is worth close to €1m, but the asking price is €1.35m.
Yes think they are being overly ambitious there. But I’m guessing that they probably paid around 60k - 80k on refurb so they stand to get a decent enough profit if they do sell for 1m and don’t make the mistake of holding out for asking.
It’s the garden equivalent of self-greasing biodegradable linoleum.
I enjoyed the IT’s article on it today: irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/rooms-with-a-view-for-1-35m-1.1332612
Translation: the owner decided ‘Fcuk it, why bother making meaningful improvements to the house when I can sell it quick to some eejit’, despite the fact that he, being an architect, had no issues with “lengthy construction work and planning difficulties” when he added a third floor to his home on the same road, and in more recent times applied to add a fourth floor.
So much room for improvements after you’ve effectively just paid him 610k extra for his ‘improvements’!
I also enjoyed the fact that they mentioned him buying it for 740k and now seeking 1.35m, I didn’t think they would.
I agree with you alex about the landscaping, the views and the decking! Where I think decking makes perfect sense is if you have garden where there is uneven height/sloping away from the house, making it function a bit like a balcony. Also when the garden is large so it isn’t overwhelmed by loads of wood. In this case I think it improves the viewing area from the house and they interestingly use a mix of wooden railing and glass boundaries, presumably to avoid blocking views from the house. Though children will have the glass wrecked with finger prints and mud in minutes. 
But I agree with Socodu about the craziness of 610,000 euro for the improvements!
Ahh - now I just feel like Hyacinth Bucket.