A Wellington townhouse marketed as “not for the faint-hearted” has been bought, completely renovated and re-sold five months later with the owner pocketing a $225,000 profit on the way.
A rundown 1980s two-bedroom house on Black Rock Road in Newlands that sold in November for $385,000 was snapped up under the hammer this week for $610,000 after a complete transformation.
Ray White listing agent Ben Atwill said the vendor had bought the property in an “as is, where is” condition with the intention of flipping it.
The earlier listing described the property as “not for the faint-hearted”, adding, it was “a wonderful opportunity for those with the skills required to bring this home back to its former glory”. The photos show ripped wallpaper in every room and holes in the walls.
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But the experienced investor saw the potential and bought in her team of builders, painters, plumbers and electricians to repair and rejuvenate the home.
The extensive work included a new modern kitchen with appliances, tiled bathroom, separate laundry, insulation, heat pump, new carpet and a full rewire and replumb.
The dated colour scheme has been replaced with a crisp white décor and marble-look tiles in the bathroom and kitchen bench top.
Before photo: The wallpaper in the kitchen was ripped and insulation could be seen coming out of a hole in the wall. Photo / Supplied
After photo: A new kitchen with a tiled splash back became the new focal point of the house. Photo / Supplied
“They did a beautiful do-up job,” Atwill said.
The owner had renovated it to a level that she would want to live in herself, he said, even choosing the same tiles for the bathroom that she had recently installed in her own luxury home.
“What other investor / developer / flipper would ever put an amazing tile into a $610,000 house?,” he said.
The Black Rock Road house is the tenth house he has sold in about eight years on behalf of the experienced investor with properties ranging from cheaper $500,00 to $600,000 homes to high-end multi-million-dollar homes.
“She’s not shy of doing a big, big project if it’s got some gains there.”
Some experienced investors are back in the market and buying properties which other people would usually stay away from, he said. They had good bones but often needed heating, insulation, new joinery and almost always needed new kitchens and bathrooms.
"I think most purchasers would be happy to do a lick of paint and maybe some more aesthetic focused bits and pieces, but when you are asking someone to rewire, replumb and go through all of that.”
Before photo of the bathroom. Photo / Supplied
After photo of the bathroom. Photo / Supplied
In his experience it was also difficult for first-home buyers to get funding to do the renovations so they wanted turn-key-ready homes.
All but one of the eight registered bidders for the Black Road house were first-home buyers.
Bidding started at $550,000, went into negotiations and re-opened at $610,000 which is when it was announced on the market and sold at that price to a retiree wanting to downsize.
“The one active bidder blew everyone else out of the park.”
Atwill said the vendor was extremely happy with the result and was already eyeing up her next project.
The Black Rock Road property was among five of six properties to sell under the hammer at Ray White Wellington’s auction rooms this week.
Ray White auctioneer Ben East said buyers were definitely taking confidence in the transparent method of sale which was a welcomed change from the veiled approach of tender or deadline.
“Vendors were able to make informed decisions by witnessing the market and what it was prepared to pay prior to selling.”
Last month an Auckland investor made $350,000 in less than four months after renovating a three-bedroom home on Marewa Road in Greenlane. The property was bought in November for $1.15m and after a major transformation sold for $1.5m.
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