Downtrading: Sea views and elegant proportions

A two-bedroom apartment with uninterrupted views of Dún Laoghaire Harbour is for sale through agent Hunters at an asking price of €385,000.

The 80 sq m (861 sq ft) property is on the second floor of a four-storey purpose-built apartment block, Cool na Mara, constructed in the 1970s. The block comprises 12 apartments. Each comes with lift access, a designated car space, a useful storage unit for bins and access to a communal roof terrace.

Number eight has two double bedrooms and a somewhat open-plan living area, where a glass wall separates the kitchen from the livingroom/diningroom. You can see the sea from the bedrooms and from the livingroom.

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The livingroom has a fireplace as one focal point, but it is the Juliet balcony that will tempt you with the prospect of whiling away hours watching the world go by.

Dated

The decor throughout is somewhat dated, but most of the upgrading is cosmetic. As it stands, the property has a D2 Ber rating, but its boiler could do with being replaced, which would take a large chunk out of the €20,000 the estate agent estimates it would take to completely modernise the space.

It should also increase its energy rating. The apartment has decent storage, including built-in mirrored wardrobes in each bedroom.

Unlike many new-build apartments, this one doesn’t have proper private balconies, a shame given its vistas, but you do have access to a communal roof garden.

Number 11 Cool na Mara, a property of a similar size but on the top floor, came to market last summer for €575,000 and has since had its asking price reduced to €495,000. A sale has recently been agreed at just below this asking price.