Modern Ballsbridge townhouse in walk-in condition

Dublin 4: €1.3m: When the Cosgrave brothers built the large Shrewsbury development around 15 years ago a number of the houses were snapped up by canny investors.

In the intervening years owner-occupiers have moved into the redbrick development attracted by the Dublin 4 location - it is accessed off Shrewsbury Park, a cul-de-sac off Merrion Road - by its quiet residential feel and by the security offered by its electric gates.

It is a particularly appealing proposition for buyers trading down from older, high priced larger houses in the surrounding areas and, as this house, number 52 (a three-bedroom end-of-terrace) is in walk-in condition, it should have particular interest to that segment of the market. In all, there is 129sq m (1,395sq ft) of living space, so it is a good-sized house.

It is for auction by Lisney on February 8th with an advised minimum value of €1.3 million.

Number 52 has two double bedrooms and one single. The main bedroom has a full-sized en suite that is larger than the family bathroom and more pleasant because it is against the gable wall and so has a window.

Downstairs there is a good-sized livingroom to the front - with a bow window - and a smaller reception room to the back. This had French doors out onto the decked area of the garden. The smaller houses in Shrewsbury have only one reception room.

The current owners bought eight years ago and did some upgrading, particularly in the bright eat-in kitchen where they installed new cream-painted timber units with a polished granite worktop.

There are double doors opening out from the kitchen onto the deck and there is also a decent utility room and a downstairs toilet.

The overall decorative style is neutral and the current owners have installed the sort of extras that buyers like, including oak flooring in the livingroom, tiling on the hall floor, radiator covers and built-in bookcases. The only thing new owners might want to do is update the bathrooms but only because bathroom design has come on so much in 15 years.

The back garden is seven metres long - a decked patio just outside the house, the rest in lawn, shrubs and trees.

There is a small front garden with off-street parking for one car though on-street parking doesn't appear to be problem. The current annual service charge is €460.