A four-bedroom bungalow whose owners no longer want the second mortgage and a 150-year-old pub stacked with "old school memorabilia" are among the properties being sold at auction this week.
The renovated bungalow at 42 Blockhouse Bay Road, in Avondale, Auckland, is for sale as the owners try and get rid of one of their mortgages after their daughter no longer needs it.
“... this angelic 1900s, Avondale villa has leaped into the 21st century to provide a mindful environ that represents modern functioning living down to a T!,” Harcourts salesperson Glen Foster says in the listing ad on OneRoof.
"Our vendors can't sustain two mortgages."
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Foster told OneRoof the owners had bought the property for their daughter to live in about 12 years ago while she was studying, but now she has moved back home to Nelson and it is now surplus to requirements. "He just wants it sold."
About $150,000 has been spent renovating the property which includes a new kitchen, bathroom, new carpet, new roof, and painting inside and out, he said.
The property, which sits on a 600sqm site, has a CV of $1.225 million and is being pitched by the agent as a 'must buy' and 'must sell'.
Foster said there has been a lot of interest in the property, which goes to auction tonight.
Also looking to off-load are the owners of the Towai Hotel, in the Far North. They have set their sights firmly on returning to a life on the farm, and have declared that whoever buys the land and buildings can get the business for free.
The eight-bedroom hotel includes a separate self-contained managers' quarters, commercial kitchen, bar and dining room plus garden bar with 1.8716ha.
But while the owners of the Towai Hotel are effectively just selling the buildings, it will also come fully furnished and includes all the plant and equipment to run the pub with the business thrown in.
Watch live stream of this week's NZ auctions below (live stream not available in app, click here to view)
Ray White Whangarei listing agent Alex Smits said traditional pubs like this didn’t come up too often.
“It’s a historic journey. It’s a traditional old school pub with old school memorabilia on the walls and the rooms are old school – it's got a real character.”
Its walls could tell many stories including how the hotel was relocated in the late 1800s away from the railway tracks to its new location on 3827 on State Highway 1 and remained open and serving customers during the three-day journey, he said.
The current owner bought the pub five years ago and set about rebuilding the business both before and after Covid and it has started to establish itself as a pub for people travelling along the main thoroughfare to stop in for a bite during the day, while being the local watering hole for the Hukerenui, Towai and Maromaku farming and lifestyle communities at night.
He is now keen to return to his farm in Mangawhai so has put the pub on the market.
Just a 35-minute drive from Whangarei, Smits said it could appeal to a foodie or somebody who enjoyed pub life and wanted to build a home and income.
But those looking for the charm of yesteryear without a business thrown in may instead be charmed by the 1900s bungalow in Avondale, in Auckland, also for sale.
The historic hotel for sale at 3827 State Highway 1, in Towai, Far North. Photo / Supplied
The pub is full of rock 'n' roll memorabilia. Photo / Supplied
A picturesque three-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow on 30 Atarangi Road, in Greenlane, Auckland, is on the market for the first time in 35 years and will also go under the hammer at a Harcourts auction on Wednesday.
Harcourts listing agent Julie Davis told OneRoof that character homes are very popular because they look lovely and have great street appeal.
“Some people want new houses, some people like the old character ones,” she said.
“On this one we’ve had a real mixture of people through – it is very pretty; it does look nice so that helps.”
Some of the older homes also offered buyers the opportunity for people to add value by upgrading the bathrooms and kitchen while still keeping the beautiful features of the home, she said.
And while some people are drawn to character homes, Davis said, they also look at what each suburb offers and also consider location, school zones and affordability.
A larger four-bedroom, two-bathroom bungalow with pool in a double grammar zone is also being auctioned off next week and is a deceased estate.
A character home that is to go under the hammer at 30 Atarangi Road, in Greenlane, Auckland. Photo / Supplied
A stylishly dressed bungalow at 138 Slater Street, in Richmond, Christchurch. Photo / Supplied
But pretty character homes are not just reserved for the North Island and a three-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow at 138 Slater Street, in Richmond, Christchurch is also going up for auction on Thursday.
The recently renovated home is “aesthetically on-trend with a vibe that offers ethereal beauty ", according to its Ray White listing.
Meanwhile a Northland property also broke a record of sorts last week with a dairy farm on Kokopu Road in Kokopu attracting 18 bids and selling under the hammer for $5.5m - the biggest auction result for Ray White Whangarei and Tutukaka this year.
The Northland branch also sold one of its cheaper properties on the same day with a property on Raumanga Valley Road selling for $305,000.
Ray White Whangarei and Tutukaka director Allan Sykes said there was a lot of interest and activity at last week’s auctions and it shows there are still plenty of purchasers out there looking for the right property and a great buy when one comes up.
A three-bedroom home on Buckingham Crescent in Papatoetoe also attracted 15 bids and sold at a Harcourts auction for $807,000, while a central Auckland apartment marketed by City Sales in a building that is having remediation work carried out on it was snagged for just $70,000.
