A three-bedroom house surrounded by skips and scaffolding has sold under the hammer for $1.136 million.
The elderly owner of the Glasgow Road property, in Papatoetoe, Auckland ended up walking away with $136,000 more than she or their agent had expected after neighbours and other interested bidders scrapped it out in the auction room.
The house, which was billed as looking for an adventurous buyer by Barfoot & Thompson agent Parry Singla, sits on a 806sqm section in the middle of an industrial park and is zoned for business and light industry. Its neighbours include a rubbish skip business on one side and a scaffolding business on the other.
There are now just two properties on the street near Manukau Supa Centre that are permanent residences.
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Competition for the property was intense, with the auction kicking off with a bid of $800,000 and quickly pushing towards $1m, when it was announced on the market
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A flurry of bids then pushed the price up in $1000 increments to $1.13m, before the eventual buyer blew the competition away with an extra $6000.
Singla said most of those bidding on it were wanting it for a business such as a car dealership or a home-based business. There were also two investors.
Of the eight registered bidders at Wednesday’s auction, at least four were neighbours fighting against each other for the 809sqm site.
Singla said the price surpassed both the owner’s and even his expectations. “As you can see the bids were left right and centre – it was crazy.
“The owner – she's over the moon. She didn’t expect that much, even I didn’t expect that much. I was only expecting $1.05m or so.”
The house was full of items making it tricky for people to view some of the rooms. Photo / Supplied
Singla said it is a good price, especially as a neighbouring property sold for about $1.3m at the peak of the market. The Glasgow Avenue property had a CV of $1.23m. “The house was run down; the land was cluttered.”
The photos show items stacked up to the ceiling in the lounge and several shipping containers on the front lawn.
It had been marketed as a “perfect canvas” for entrepreneurs, creatives, and those with a vision.
The "as is, where is" Clarence St villa had been in the same family for 70 years. Photo / Supplied
Meanwhile an “as is, where is” villa on Clarence St in the heart of Devonport also sparked a bidding war with two people fighting over it from when the auction opened at $1m until it sold under the hammer for $1.212m - $761,000 below its CV.
Bidding paused at $1.12m for negotiations and almost 20 minutes came back on the market at $1.2m.
Auctioneer Craig McNair told the auction room that on the vendor’s instructions the next bid had to be $10,000 or more, and it was, before plunging down to just $500 bids.
“You know you’ve tried to get everything out of it when you go into $500 bids at the end.”
McNair said it was a very emotional sale as the home had been in the same family for 70 years.
“There were lots of memories and the kids had been brought up there and become adults and now it’s time to let go – it was one of those tough ones.”
Both bidders planned to renovate the house, he said, but he was unsure of their plans after that.
“They definitely want to add to the property and joosh it up.”
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