13 McBride Avenue, Mervue, Co. Galway

13 McBride Avenue, Mervue, Co. Galway is up for sale, by auction, with O’Donnellan and Joyce in Galway. Advised minimum value, E100k. Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, that seems to be almost as low as it goes in Galway. To my eye, this house looks like it was inherited in the late ’90s and used as a student let thereafter.

Outside, the porch looks rickety. The neighbours have changed theirs, and it’s right on the property line, which limits what can be done with the porch on this one. Otherwise the front of the house looks relatively ok. Windows and roof seem fine, though I can see that a few of the neighbours have changed their windows, and this style/age of house isn’t known for its insulation value so there’s probably a bit of ugrading to be done there. The garden is overgrown, and the plants up the sidewall would need to be taken care of.

The sitting room carpet is pretty spectacular, but it’s also removable. No visible cracks or peeling wallpaper. I see no plugs or radiator in the room though. The photos give me no feel for the downstairs layout. The sitting room is at the front, the dining area is at the back. What’s with those two lights on the wall in the dining area? Seems very strange, both in location and fitting style, was it used as a bedroom? Is that door off the lino area into the kitchen? Is the dining area/kitchen an extension out the back. I’m assuming that the unit in the old chimmney breast is the central heating.

Upstairs none of the three bedrooms seems to have a double bed, but it looks like two of them are big enough. The bathroom makes me cry.

Let’s see, overall, a decent site with possibilities to extend. The house might be in good nick, that’s not much use when you have a tiny kitchen, a messy downstairs layout and a probable need to rejig upstairs. E100k seems a little steep.