{"id":154851,"date":"2025-10-31T07:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T07:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/154851\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T07:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T07:32:09","slug":"how-an-insane-profit-on-a-sale-helped-a-couple-move-home-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/154851\/","title":{"rendered":"How an \u2018insane\u2019 profit on a sale helped a couple move home \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

About two years after securing her first home, Stacey Hawkes found herself on the other side of the housing crisis<\/a>. She was someone selling, as opposed to trying to buy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the first couple of weeks we had 80 viewings, and it was sold within four weeks,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Throughout the process some of those hoping to purchase her house were contacting her directly, hoping to cement their chances, she recalls, describing it as \u201cabsolute chaos\u201d.<\/p>\n

After 84 bids, the three-bed house in a new estate in Blarney, Co Cork<\/a>, was sold in 2023 for \u20ac425,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, the value of the house isn\u2019t worth \u20ac425,000. For the material, I wouldn\u2019t pay for that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The house was ultimately bought by a property management company which intended to rent it out, she says, despite the couple hoping to sell to a young family like hers as she \u201cknew the struggle\u201d.<\/p>\n

She had bought it in 2021 for \u20ac315,000 after a \u201cnightmare\u201d year-long search with her husband Kieran.<\/p>\n

The couple had moved in with his parents in order to save for a deposit due to \u201cextortionate rent\u201d in Cork city, and were offered the house after another buyer fell through.<\/p>\n

They ultimately used the Help-to-Buy scheme<\/a>, which provides a refund on income tax of up to \u20ac30,000 to first-time buyers of new-build properties, though this had to be repaid as they sold the house within five years of purchasing.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Is it really worth this much?\u2019: How costs spiralled on a couple\u2019s derelict home renovationOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Ms Hawkes, who works as an SME consultant, describes the profit made in just two years as \u201cinsane\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not expect it. My dad\u2019s a builder, and he did not expect it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old from Gortnahoe, Co Tipperary, never planned on leaving Cork, having moved there at the age of 19, but says services are not keeping pace with new housing developments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t find childcare. I tried everywhere within a 30-mile radius,\u201d she says, adding that she was searching for childcare 18 months in advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a brand new estate and there was a montessori across the road, and I couldn\u2019t get the kids into it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy, they\u2019re building the houses, but the infrastructure isn\u2019t there to keep up with it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The couple resorted to moving in with her parents in Gortnahoe near the end of her second pregnancy, having to change hospital and \u201cupheave\u201d their jobs.<\/p>\n

Ms Hawkes and her husband subsequently became aware of a house nearby, which was owned by a man living in a nursing home. It had been vacant for several years.<\/p>\n

\"StaceyStacey Hawkes: ‘They\u2019re building the houses, but the infrastructure isn\u2019t there to keep up with it.’ Photograph: John D Kelly Photography <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re almost waiting for someone to die, which is awful. <\/b>That\u2019s the scenario people are dealing with, they\u2019re just waiting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The house went on sale about two hours after she gave birth to her second child.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the best day of my life: my child was born, and the house came up,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The couple purchased the house for \u20ac275,000 before spending an additional \u20ac150,000 to get it into a \u201cliveable state\u201d, using the profit made from the first sale.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Couple apply to build log cabin after failing to find rented home within \u20ac1,600 monthly budgetOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went from a three-bed semidetached to a four-bed on an acre of land,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

They availed of the \u20ac50,000 Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant scheme, which is available for homes vacant for two years or more, though this meant works had to be completed within 13 months.<\/p>\n

The entire house had to be \u201cgutted\u201d, she says, with the help of her father.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have been able to do it without having a dad in construction with contacts. I\u2019m very privileged and lucky to be in that situation, but not everybody is,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While she never wanted to leave Cork, she describes her move back to Gortnahoe as \u201cthe best decision I\u2019ve made\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I shouldn\u2019t have had to make that decision, I should have had the option,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re not really creating an environment that makes it easy to stay in the country, or stay in the cities.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018There\u2019s no other option\u2019: Leitrim woman\u2019s commute went from six minutes to six hoursOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Ms Hawkes recalls paying \u20ac300 in rent for her first room in a two-bed apartment in Cork city centre at the age of 19.<\/p>\n

By 2018, before moving in with her husband\u2019s parents to save for their first house, they were paying \u20ac1,250 per month for a two-bed apartment in Rochestown, which they shared with a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of my friends, grown adults with kids, have had to move in with their parents to save for houses in Cork \u2013 it\u2019s standard now,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Single friends in their 30s, meanwhile, are borrowing significant sums from parents and grandparents to get on the property ladder, despite having upwards of \u20ac40,000 in savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a few friends that are trying to buy now in Wicklow and Dublin, and the houses are \u20ac570,000 at a minimum for the exact same house I had in Blarney,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s incomprehensible. I was just lucky that I bought at the right time.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About two years after securing her first home, Stacey Hawkes found herself on the other side of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,18,24080,8752,19,17,1658,8754],"class_list":{"0":"post-154851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-help-to-buy","11":"tag-housing-crisis","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-property","15":"tag-vacant-property"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115467619206446499","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}