MADRID — It’s hard to imagine that the property on the corner with the whitewashed windows and the potted plants flanking the front door was ever anything but a three-bedroom family home.

All that remains of its former life as an Irish pub is a faded red Coca-Cola crate propped against the wall. The graffitied metal shutters have been thrown away, the bar where beer was served has been replaced with kitchen units, and the storage area at the back has been given a window and a new lease on life as an en suite master bedroom.

Earlier this year, Isaura Fernández, 37, and Oscar Manrique, 38, bought the property for 180,000 euros, or $198,000, — half the asking price for the apartments they had viewed in this residential neighborhood in Madrid, a few stops down the metro line from the city center.