Cottage in Ranelagh for €220k. Wha?

Looking to live in Dublin's hottest postcode but with only a tiny budget at your disposal? Then number 8, Colliers Avenue could be right up your street.

Buyer beware though. When the agent describes it as “a quaint cottage full of character and charm” they mean tiny. At just 25sq m/270sq ft, what you see the minute you enter number 8 is literally what you get. Enter a tiny porch through the front door and you’re into the main reception, comprising kitchen/living/ dining in one small space.

It does have the warming atmosphere of an open cast iron fireplace though. A double bedroom located to the rear is lined with shelving and takes in natural light from a window and skylight overhead.

There’s a shower room of this. The owner has created storage where possible, and a creative buyer could make this a very homely pied-a-terre without a whole lot of investment. The outdoor space comprises an internal courtyard which the agent helpfully suggests is “ideal for planting”. Indeed.

The location itself is fantastic, right on the edge of Ranelagh village with its bustling restaurant and pub scene, and only 20 minutes walk to the city centre.

Collier's Avenue is a small cul-de-sac beside Sandford Park School. Many of the houses on this row of whitewashed cottages have been cleverly refurbished, including number 4, which went on the market a few weeks ago, also through Sherry FitzGerald seeking €525,000. Very tastefully refurbished in 2008, it was doubled in size to 86sq m, hence the sustantial difference in asking prices between it and number 8.

Most of the original cottages along the avenue measure about 34sq m, making number 8 one of the smallest. Number 5 is listed as sale agreed. Measuring 54sq m it was asking €350,000 through DNG. Number 18 at 34sq m is asking €275,000 through Hooke & Mac Donald.