Three to invest in: Allsop auction has 240 lots

Allsop’s auction is back with a big line-up for its first outing of 2016. Last year it sold more than 1,500 properties, with a success rate of 85 per cent across all of their auctions.

On February 25th, more than 240 lots are up for auction with a combined reserve of €31 million, 181 of which are residential. A fifth of the properties are in Dublin and a number of options are available in popular investment areas such as Donnybrook and Rathgar.

While the bidding process can be over in the blink of an eye on the day, buyers should be mindful that given the nature of the sellers involved, normally banks or receivers, the process is not always straightforward or quick.

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College View, Ballymun, Dublin 11Lot 62, reserve €480,000- €520,000

In spite of the fact that the binding contract signed by buyers upon winning a given lot at auction will usually state a closing date just weeks from the auction day, it is not unheard of for some sales to take months to close, depending on the seller. That said, many sales close quickly and the vast majority of the slower ones close eventually. Allsop's commercial director Robert Hoban says that "over 95 per cent" of sales close.

These are some of the properties available at the upcoming February auction:

College View, Ballymun, Dublin 11: Lot 62, reserve €480,000-€520,000

First launched in 2004, two-bedroom apartments in College View cost from €275,000 upwards with valuable section 23 tax relief available to buyers. One decade and a huge price cut later, apartments at the development are a more attractive investment proposition than ever.

Six two-bedroom apartments are available in a single lot, three of which are situated on the first floor, with the remaining three on the second floor. Each apartment extends to approximately 66sq m (710sq ft) and the complex is conveniently located near to DCU and Dublin Airport.

Fourteen apartments have traded hands in the development in the last year, each selling for about the €100,000 mark, while there is one apartment on the market currently seeking €120,000.

The current rent roll for the six apartments is €58,800 per annum, however there is scope to increase this. The current rents achieved by the apartments range from €750 to €1,000 a month, whereas the most recent two-bedroom apartments to have rented in the development were asking at least €1,100 a month. At that rate, the six apartments could potentially rent for €79,200 per annum upwards.

181A Rathgar Road, Dublin 6: Lot 21, reserve €350,000-€380,000

Built to the rear of 181 Rathgar Road, a renovated period house that is also up for auction guiding €880,000, this mews property extends to 111sq m (1,195sq ft) and offers the opportunity to potentially acquire a good-sized home in this coveted area for a relatively low price.

Inside the attractive semi-detached mews house, the ground floor contains an open-plan kitchen cum dining room, a WC and a living room. Upstairs there is a master bedroom with en-suite bathroom along with two additional bedrooms, a family bathroom and a hot press. The property’s attractiveness is further enhanced by its BER rating of B2. There is off-street parking to the side of the house for at least two cars and a small garden laid out at present in gravel.

The house is subject to an existing tenancy at a rate of €33,600 per annum, which is in line with current market rates.

85 Trinity Square, Townsend Street, Dublin 2: Lot 1, reserve €140,000

In the heart of Dublin city, Trinity Square is a development of 104 apartments. Number 85 is a ground-floor one-bedroom unit extending to 47sq m (506sq ft). Internally, a standard one-bedroom apartment in the scheme usually comprises entrance hall, kitchen cum living room, bedroom, bathroom and a hot press. The apartment features electric heating.

The property is subject to a tenancy at a current rent of €750 a month. When that tenancy lapses, a more realistic rent for the property would be in the region of €1,200 a month or more.

In 2004, a one-bedroom apartment in Trinity Square would have set a buyer back about €260,000. More recently, in 2015, a one-bedroom apartment sold for €165,000 and was subsequently advertised for rent asking €1,450 a month.