An entry-level lifestyle property on the outskirts of Hamilton that enticed would-be bargain hunters with a $1 reserve has netted its brave owners $830,000.
The property on Cemetery Road, in Whatawhata, sold under the hammer in a crowded auction room on Monday after six bidders put their hands up hoping to purchase the property for a bargain price.
The auction for the do-up had initially been planned for mid-October but the date was pushed back by more than a month and the property finally went under the hammer on Monday afternoon and sold after more than 40 bids.
The auction opened at $1 at auctioneer Robert Tulp’s encouragement because “it’s not something that happens every day”.
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The $1 reserve auction was the first in more than a decade where a property in or surrounding Hamilton had been sold that way.
A $2 bid was then quickly made before buyers tried to secure the property with the price jumping from $325,000 to $500,000 in the single biggest bid during the auction.
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Tulp told the crowd that if it had been a traditional auction the opening price would probably have started at around $735,000, adding it was still good buying at that level. Bids shrunk to $1000 by the time it reached $825,000, and the hammer went down on $830,000 after the new owner secured it with a $3000 bid. The property, which had previously been described as having “wear and tear”, sold for $130,000 less than its $960,000 RV.
LJ Hooker Hamilton listing agent Aaron Davey said his vendors were happy with the result which had exceeded their expectations.
“I think you just have to believe in the process and remove the price and let the market determine the value which is exactly what happened today.
“There’s always that element of people hoping they will get it for nothing, but I think at the end of the day the market value was established.”
Davey said the new owner appeared to be from Hamilton and planned to move in.
The property attracted a mix of buyers with some looking at bowling the house and others planning to renovate it, he added.
Davey told OneRoof at the time of listing the property that the out-of-town owners had been renting out the property and did not want to be landlords anymore so had decided to meet the market.
The kitchen had been recently renovated, but the property still needed work. Photo / Supplied
A sleepout attached to the triple garage had a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Photo / Supplied
The property last changed hands for $700,000 in 2018, OneRoof property records show, indicating the owners still made a $130,000 profit in five years.
It had a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home, an older shed that was historically a stables and tack room, and another garage with a sleepout that had a kitchenette and toilet on the 8442sqm section.
A new kitchen had been installed several years ago, but he said there was still a lot of work to be done.
Last year a property on Te Pahu Road, in Whatawhata, on a 18,091sqm section sold for $650,000, while another on the same street with a 5033sqm section sold for $735,000, according to OneRoof-Valocity data.
It’s the second time a property in the Waikato has sold in a $1 reserve auction this year. In October, a storm-damaged home on the Thames-Coast Road, in Thornton Bay, sold for $370,000 with people wanting it for its land value only. The high-profile auction attracted 43 registered bidders and was bought by Coromandel locals Jonathan and Kathy Peet who plan to holiday on it before eventually building a small home for their retirement.
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