An absentee owner who paid $640,000 for an Auckland apartment three years ago could take a massive hit when he sells it at a $1 reserve auction later this month.
But Ray White listing agent Uros Bojovic said the owner just wants to move on and was willing to take a loss.
“He lives overseas in Australia and he’s literally like: ‘I don’t care what I sell it for. I genuinely don’t care what it sells for, I just want it gone’.”
The two-bedroom corner apartment is on the eighth floor of the near-new Lakewood Plaza overlooking Rainbows End in Manukau City, which was only completed in 2020.
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It was netting a rental return of between $650 and $700 a week until a main water pipe burst, impacting all the levels.
Bojovic said the contractors have been working their way down fixing the building and expected the entire complex to be completed within about three months.
This particular apartment has just been fixed and is ready for a new occupant, he said.
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He believed it would suit first-home buyers or investors wanting a good rental yield. “You pick that up for $200,000 or $300,000 – $650 a week rent is pretty good return.
“I believe because it was a water mains, not an actual leak from outside coming in, I don’t see why there would be an issue (with getting insurance or finance) since it’s been remediated, but if there are certain banks that do have issues with it that sort of across the board and we can’t really control that.”
The owner had taken the brave decision to list his property with a $1 reserve because there were about 12 other apartments for sale in the complex and all were being sold either with a fixed price or by negotiation, he said. Most of them had also been for sale for more than 30 days, he said, which is why his seller wanted to make his apartment stand out.
“He’s like at the end of the day I just want to show the market that I’m serious about selling.”
The apartment is only four years old and has just been fixed after a leaky pipe damaged the entire building. Photo / Supplied
Residents have access to the complex's gym and indoor swimming pool. Photo / Supplied
Asking prices for the two-bedroom Lakewood apartments currently listed for sale on OneRoof range from $529,000 to $655,00 with many of the asking prices below that which the owners paid for initially.
Another two-bedroom apartment in the same complex, which is being marketed as a sub-penthouse, and, according to the listing is "selling below cost" with an asking price of $655,000. OneRoof records show it last sold for $730,000 in October 2021.
“Motivated Vendors Loss, Your Gain!,” the listing by Ray White agents Chongde Tang and Na Yu added.
The complex is within walking distance of the Manukau transport hub, close to AUT, Westfield and minutes from the motorway. Residents have access to an indoor pool and gym in the complex and the apartment itself comes fully furnished.
And it's not entirely impossible for an apartment to sell for $1. In July last year, a troubled apartment on Carrington Road, in Mount Albert, that went to auction with a $1 reserve sold under the hammer for just $1.
However, most of the $1 reserve auctions tend to attract a lot of buyers – many seeking bargain hunters – and end up selling for significantly more.
At the end of last year, Bojovic marketed an uninhabitable South Auckland house in a $1 reserve auction which, after 40 bids, ended up selling it for $1.425 million.
Bojovic told OneRoof at the time that the sale of the George Street home had well exceeded the vendor’s expectations as earlier offers had been between $800,000 and $900,000.
- The $1 reserve auction for 709/8 Lakewood Court is on March 26
