- Auckland home with a $1 reserve sold for $763,000 after attracting 35 registered bidders.
- The fed-up owners spent over $50,000 on renovations, but wanted out of the Auckland market.
- Ray White’s Tom Rawson noted the auction’s high interest, highlighting the effectiveness of a low reserve.
A million-dollar Auckland home listed for sale with a $1 reserve has sold under the hammer to an investor for $763,000.
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The owners of the four-bedroom townhouse on Pecan Place, in Avondale, had wanted to sell no matter the cost and gambled on an ultra-low reserve.
Bidding on the rental property, which has an RV of $1m, kicked off at $1.50 at Ray White Manukau’s auction room today and quickly jumped to $400,000. All up 27 bids were placed on the home.
Ray White Manukau co-owner Tom Rawson said it was a lively auction with 35 registered bidders, nine of whom put their hands up in the room.
Homeowners and investors were interested in the newly-renovated property. “It was kind of frantic and there were bids coming from all over the show,” he said.
The $1 reserve auction attracted 35 registered bidders at Ray White Manukau's auction room. Photo / Supplied
“We are averaging between three to five bidders (an auction) so to have 35 is a standout. And that’s exactly what the $1 reserve does – it shows the intent.”
Rawson said it was “pretty cool” to see a father-daughter duo at the auction, with the daughter yelling out a $700,000 bid on his behalf.
He added: “There were lots of people who had hoped it would go for a lot less, but it’s a pretty good result nonetheless.
“There are people that will know that the $1 reserves will fetch somewhere near market value so they don’t bother and there are others who go, ‘Hey, you’ve got to be in to win’.”
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Listing agent Dushen Mallimaratchi said earlier this month that the vendors wanted out of the Auckland housing market, telling him their tenants had treated the townhouse poorly.
He had advised them to sell the house “as is, where is”, but they didn’t feel comfortable doing that, given the poor state of the property.
Instead, they spent more than $50,000 on renovations, which included new flooring and new kitchen, upgrades to the bathrooms, and a coat of paint.
The vendors, who lived outside Auckland, bought the house off-the-plan in 2005.
Rawson said his agency was about to auction a luxury lifestyle property with a $1 reserve. The owners of the Whitford home, which has an RV of more than $4m, were making the move to show people they were motivated to sell.
The owners spent more than $50,000 renovating the property, adding a new kitchen. Photo / Supplied
No one has lived in the home since the renovation was completed at the end of last year. Photo / Supplied
Rawson told OneRoof earlier this month that owners who opted for $1 auctions typically wanted a cash unconditional deal done quickly.
“They believe there are enough people in the market that they will get what it’s worth. It could be $2 – it won’t be $2 though because you will quite happily buy it for $5 and I will pay $10 and that’s the start of the auction,” Rawson said.
“People often say that auctions will bring out the true market value, but then there are some buyers that will wait and want to pay more afterward subject to them getting more for their house.”
In 2023, a burnt-out property on Roscommon Road, in Auckland’s Clendon Park, was marketed with a $1 reserve and ended up selling for $661,000 in a hotly contested auction. Earlier this year, a leaky penthouse on Morningstar Place, in Auckland’s St Lukes, had a $1 auction reserve and sold under the hammer for $52,000.
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