Two neighbouring houses have hit the market for sale at the same time.
TV renovation champ and serial renovator Jono Frankle snapped up a three-bedroom, one-bathroom brick-and-tile home at 5 Corsair Crescent in Mangere for $750,000 in May when it was sold at a $1 reserve auction.
While he was waiting for his purchase of the property to settle, the weatherboard home next door at number 3 was put up for sale in a mortgagee auction.
“It’s definitely the first time I’ve done side-by-side renovations. It wasn’t part of the plan,” he said.
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“When the next door house came up I guess I knew my numbers and it was a mortgagee sale, which obviously comes with a lot of risk as a buyer.”
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Part way through the renovation of the brick home at number 5, Frankle brought in another builder to get stuck into number 3 after paying $736,000 for it.
He said the biggest saving in doing the renovations so close together was in the commute between jobs as they could literally hop over the fence.
“I think it made for a more seamless renovation and might have saved some costings, but probably just more a matter of time for everybody.”
Both properties were in a similar condition, but just needed slightly different types of renovation to bring them up to scratch, he said.
The kitchen in the brick and tile house at 5 Corsair Crescent before Frankle's team arrived. Photo / Supplied
A brand new kitchen and bathroom was installed. Photo / Supplied
The layout of number 5 was tweaked so the master bedroom was bigger, a fourth bedroom was added and the kitchen was opened up to create an open-plan flow. A new kitchen, bathroom and flooring were also installed. “It’s pretty much brand new inside.”
Among the biggest jobs for number 3 was painting and repairing it.
“It was almost beaten up. A lot of tidying up of the walls. A lot of the exterior – the weatherboards – needed time and love to bring them back to life.”
The large front deck was also replaced as the old one would have failed the building inspection.
Each renovation took about six weeks and cost about $100,000.
While it’s possible the two properties, which both have four bedrooms and one bathroom each and are on sections of about 700sqm, could be competing for the same buyer pool, Frankle did not think this would be the case.
“We’ve got very similar colours (interior), but you’ve got quite different houses.”
He thought number 5 might suit either first or second-home owners after an indestructible brick and tile property, while number 3 had an outside utility room and a large deck that could appeal to a larger family.
The lounge in 3 Corsair Crescent before the makeover. Photo / Supplied
New paint and carpet was installed in the lounge to create a fresh modern look. Photo / Supplied
However, both properties could also be bought by an investor looking for future development potential.
The weatherboard home at 3 Corsair Crescent with an RV of $1.03 million is being sold at auction on October 1, while the brick home at 5 Corsair Crescent with an RV of $1.075m is priced by negotiation.
Frankle said he had opted to sell them by different methods so he didn’t exclude any buyers.
“Whether it’s buyers that have conditional offers in or the cross-over between the two – it’s just trying to make sure we have the opportunity for all buyers to get access to the properties.”
Ray White listing agent Tom McCartney said Frankle had done a great job of upgrading the homes. The first open homes for number 3 were held out at the weekend and people who turned up to look at that also popped next door to view the other one, he said.
McCartney said in the past having two houses for sale side-by-side was advantageous because they would have attracted developers, but in the current market the buyers were likely to be home buyers or investors.
Because the houses were quite similar and were in a similar price range with buyer feedback being above $800,000, he said they would likely attract a similar buyer type.
“The advantage is that there’s a good possibility that a home buyer will be buying it and then another home buyer next door will be moving in as well so you have the opportunity to be in the same boat and have a good sort of neighbourhood relationship.”
While no one had shown interest in buying one and having a friend or family member buy the other, McCartney said it was definitely something they would welcome.
- 3 Corsair Crescent, in Mangere, goes to auction on October 1; 5 Corsair Crescent, in Mangere, is priced by negotiation
