How to Profit from Fire Sales in Ireland | Pathfinder International

Friday, September 21, 2012

Dear Reader,

I wrote on Wednesday about the collapse of Ireland’s real estate bubble. Today you can buy property in Ireland at up to 80% less than peak prices. The easiest way to find those fire sales is at a property auction.

British group Allsop held their first property auction in Ireland in April 2011. That first auction opened the doors to the fire sale market in Ireland. Properties sold with big discounts - up to 80% less than in the boom years.

Allsop holds its next Irish fire sale auction on October 3. It’s their biggest auction to date, with 127 lots.

Lots are listed with a maximum reserve. That’s the highest reserve price on the day of the auction. Sometimes a bid of less than the maximum reserve is accepted on auction day. But some properties sell for substantially more than their maximum reserve.

The 127 lots are a mixed bag – pharmacies, a hotel, town homes, pubs and a grand historic town home in one of Dublin’s finest Georgian squares. The maximum reserve varies widely too, from as little as €15,000 right up to €850,000.

So which of the 127 auction properties is worth considering?

I mentioned on Wednesday that Ireland has a glut of marginal properties that you should avoid. And with commercial properties and residential apartments across the country lying empty you need to choose carefully and buy in prime locations.

That’s the tough part. You can certainly buy well and profit from these fire sale deals. But to do that you need to know and understand the Irish property market. And that’s where Ronan McMahon comes in.

In his latest dispatch for members of his Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) group Ronan picks just three lots of the 127 on offer. He then explains why they make sense, based on his own experience in the Irish property market.

For example, he writes about this landmark pub. It’s in his home town of Cork. In the past, he frequently had lunch there. That gives him an insider edge on how you can maximize the rental yield on this property.

And Ronan’s experience as a landlord in central Dublin means he can pinpoint one potential rental property out of the dozens on offer at the auction. He tells you the type of tenant the property currently attracts, and how you can get a more upscale tenant who will pay more rent.

Ronan’s dispatch is only available to Real Estate Trend Alert members. They can also access his primer report and analysis of the Irish market to get them up to speed.

Watch this new video to find out how you can become a Real Estate Trend Alert member and immediately access Ronan’s reports.

Margaret Summerfield