It was up for grabs for as little as $1 but a high-profile beachfront home in Thornton Bay ended up selling for $375,000 at a packed and lively auction this afternoon.
The result was a welcome one.
As late as only a couple of days ago, just a handful of people had registered to bid at what was believed to be the Coromandel’s first-ever $1 reserve auction.
But a warning from the listing agent that buyers had to be "in it to win it" brought out the crowds and online bidders, some overseas, to the Harcourts auction on Saturday.
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A total of 40 bids were made during the 10-minute-long auction, with bidder No.4 taking the prize after some strong competition from others in the auction room.
There were 43 registered bidders, but only 12 people managed to get their hands up to place a bid. By the time the auction reached $131,000 there were just four bidders left fighting for it.
The lucky bidder walked away with a Thornton Bay property that was a high-profile casualty of the extreme weather that struck the Coromandel over Auckland Anniversary weekend. The storm caused a slip above the property that knocked the house off its foundation.
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Homeowner Dennis Raines, 95, had been sleeping inside and had not heard the slip or the house creaking from the pressure. He was whisked away to safety after a local handyman checked on him. His home of 27 years was red-stickered and deemed uninhabitable.
The elderly owner had not received enough insurance money to fund a rebuild so had purchased a unit in Thames after being evacuated.
He and his family have instead decided to sell the property on Thames Coast Road, which had an RV of $560,000, an “as is, where is” basis with a $1 reserve.
Harcourts listing agent Steven Bridson said Raines’ sons Clive and Neil attended the auction on behalf of their father and were very happy with the end result, which had been above his initial appraisal of between $150,000 and $350,000 in July.
Inside the packed auction room. Photo / Supplied
The brothers shook hands with the purchaser immediately after the auction and all had a glass of celebratory champagne together.
The new owner was from Hikuai and planned to clear the site almost immediately. They would park their motorhome or caravan on it in the short-term before eventually building a home on the site to live in directly across from the sea, Bridson said.
The under-bidder was a phone buyer from the Waikato who had unsuccessfully tried to secure the property with a couple of last-minute $500 bids right at the end.
Bridson said it was a great result and the family could now move on with some extra money in their pocket.
Neil told The Valley Profile last week that the situation had been very stressful for his dad who had not returned to the property.
The family were now looking forward to getting closure, he added.
Bridson told OneRoof on Wednesday that while there had been huge interest in the property, only a “handful” of buyers had registered to bid. “At the moment, it’s kind of like you’ve got to be in to win.”
A large slip knocked the house on Thames Coast Road off its foundation during Auckland Anniversary weekend. Photo / Supplied
The property is directly across from the beach and is attracting interest from people wanting to clear the site and park their motorhomes or tiny homes on it. Photo / Supplied
He said one of those who had expressed an interest in the property wanted to clear the site and use it as a base for their motorhome. He also had a Kiwi buyer in France who planned to bid online.
Bridson said that in his 18 years of calling properties at auction, this was the first one he had done with a $1 reserve.
“I’ve done a quirky auction before with a marketed low reserve ... I’ve also had other bits and pieces where the tractor is included or the boat is included.”
OneRoof understands this is the only $1 reserve auction in Thames-Coromandel.
In the Waikato, there’s only been one property sell with an advertised $1 reserve, which was when Lodge real estate agent Trevor Palmer decided to auction off his three-bedroom, one-bathroom rental property on Rhode Street in Frankton in 2012. The risky tactic paid off for Palmer who ended up selling it under the hammer for $232,000, which was within the estimated market value at the time.
A second property at 160 Cemetery Road, in Whatawhata, was due to be auctioned with a $1 reserve earlier this month, but the auction was postponed and a new date is still to be confirmed.
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