This D4 house has been valued in a way that could replace contentious guide prices. Orna Mulcahy, Property Editor, reports
One of Dublin's best known estate agents has already introduced a new formula to replace controversial guide prices.
The move comes as the Government is considering setting up a new regulatory authority for the housing market, because of widespread criticism of auctioneering practices and the much discredited system of guide prices.
A report submitted to the Minister for Justice last month, by a working group which spent a year examining the profession, recommends the establishment of a new statutory Auctioneers and Estate Agents Regulatory Authority which would control licensing, regulation and the provision of information to consumers.
On the issue of guide prices, the report recommends that the only price that a seller be allowed to publish in relation to a house for sale, either by auction or by private treaty, would be an advised minimum value, "the auctioneer's true opinion of value at the commencement of the marketing campaign, as given in writing by the auctioneer to the seller on an obligatory basis".
Colliers Jackson-Stops has begun its auction season by introducing "advised minimum values" (AMV), in the expectation that other agents will have to adopt a similar approach when the Government acts on the report. With guide prices an emotive issue, the Minister will be eager to be seen to act quickly on the recommendations of the group.
Up to now, auctioneers have used guide prices to let potential buyers know what a property is likely to make at auction. However, the guide price method has become seriously discredited in recent years, particularly at the upper end of the market where properties regularly sold for anything from 10 to 100 per cent more than the pre-auction guide.
With an AMV, the auctioneer will be obliged to notify vendors in writing of the suggested valuation, and issue the same price to interested parties as part of the marketing campaign.
However, though AMVs may well become the standard formula, they will not eliminate the sometimes serious differentials between the expected price and the price paid under the hammer. With property prices still rising, mortgage rates at a 50-year low, and many buyers prepared to pay top dollar for homes as part of their pension plan, auction results, as well as private treaty sales, have become more unpredictable than ever.
Peter Kenny of Colliers Jackson-Stops is kicking off the sales season with an impressive Victorian semi-detached house on fashionable Raglan Road in Ballsbridge, which will be auctioned on October 6th. The two-storey over garden level house, number 4, carries an AMV of €3.5 million, which seems modest compared to the estimated €9 million paid by businessman Denis O'Brien for the house next door in 2000. Mr O'Brien's property is a far larger detached house with a superb interior and important frontage onto both Elgin and Raglan roads.
Number 4 is a more modest house that's set well back from the road with good off-street car-parking. Granite steps lead to the front door which opens into an elegant L-shaped hallway. The total floor area of around 241sq m (2,600sq ft) includes two fine interconnecting reception rooms, four bedrooms, and a series of rooms on the ground floor that could be converted into a self-contained apartment. The kitchen is currently at hall level with a nice view of the back garden, and there is also a guest cloakroom leading off the hall.
There is planning permission for a substantial extension to the side and rear of the house. There's a 60ft walled back garden behind the house and plenty of space to the side. The walled back garden is a reasonable size. Like many Dublin houses coming on the market, number 4 has been "staged" for its auction campaign with walls freshly painted, pale carpets laid, and towels and bed linen to freshen things up. However, it's clear that further work will have to be done to make it the super smart city home you'd expect at this address.
