RTE Cheap Irish Homes contestant has said she’d buy a “mansion” in her home country for the same price as her budget for a house in Ireland.
Presenter Maggie Molloy was back on air for season five of the hit show tonight as she takes on a journey to find Ireland’s most reasonably priced properties.
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The Wexford native and building engineer Kieran McCarthy helped Claire Hassett search for an affordable home that does not need a lot of work in tonight’s episode.
In tonight’s episode, Maggie made her way to Castlepollard to meet Colm and Margie MacNamee.
After living in South Korea for eight years, the couple, who have a 15 month old daughter Aurora and a dog, were on the hunt for a family home in Ireland.
With a top budget of €220,000 they were hoping to find a three bed house with a garden that doesn’t need a lot of renovation within a commute of Castlepollard, Westmeath.
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Longford native Colm explained how tough the property market is saying: “I had expected things to be difficult because I was aware of what was going on in Ireland but on returning here, it became very clear, very quick, that things were not good.”
Margie, who’s originally from the Philippines, admitted: “I actually had no idea how hard it is to get a house.”
Colm said they wanted something that isn’t a “complete doer upper”.
The mum-of-one said that she could get a “palace or mansion” with “servants” in the Philippines for their budget.
Maggie first brought the pair to a three bedroom house in Ballinasloe, Galway, that was priced at €200,000.
The pair were happy with the size of the three storey home but found some damp spots on the ceiling and it had a lot of work that needed to be done.
They scored it a seven out of ten.
Next, they headed off to Ballymahon, Longford, to view a house with a guide price of €175,000.
The home was ready to move into and modern looking.
Colm said: “I wasn’t expecting to be this impressed.”
Finally, they drove to just outside Aughnacliffe, Longford to look at a well maintained detached dormer house that cost €220,000 in a countryside setting.
‘PHENOMENAL’
Maggie said: “The setting is phenomenal.”
Margie loved how it was fully detached and said: “It’s really nice and modern.”
The couple gave the home a 9.5 out of ten.
However, when it came down to a decision, the pair decided to go with the cheaper house rather than the one they liked the best.
Colm explained: “House number two was really nice and fits in with our budget
“House number three was easily our favourite, fantastic property.
“Ideally, we’d love to get house number three but realistically house number two would fit into our budget better.”
Maggie urged the pair to go for their favourite home and told them to call house number three’s agent and “suss it out”.
