It was listed with an asking price of $49,000, but buyers looking to snap up a bargain one-bedroom apartment in a posh Auckland suburb will have to keep looking – although maybe not for long.
The smart-looking home in the vibrant Beaumont Quarter development, in Freemans Bay, has a CV of $750,000, is surrounded by some of the city’s most expensive homes, and comes with a shared heated indoor swimming pool, spa and gym.
The catch was it’s a leasehold property, and as such, the buyer would have to pay ground rent.
The apartment hit the market in May but soon after the vendors changed tactics and added an eye-catching spiel to the listing: “Massive price drop – vendor requires action.”
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The Ray White listing agents’ marketing blurb on OneRoof continued: “Leasehold cheapie in Beaumont Quarter – this property must be sold. Now priced at $49,000 – this is not a mis-print!”
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“The ideal opportunity on offer to avoid having a mortgage, by using your extra cash to buy this super leasehold apartment,” the listing added.
The property had proved popular on OneRoof, attracting thousands of views and hundreds of enquiries.
OneRoof reached out to the Ray White listing agents for comment, but they declined to provide further details about the Fisher-Point Drive property. And in a stunning turn of events the property was sold before OneRoof was able to publish its initial story.
The property was in the large Beaumont Quarter housing complex, which comprises several blocks of houses, townhouses, units and apartments, and has a mix of both freehold and leasehold properties.
Listing photos showed the compact apartment in a tidy condition with a private courtyard.
The Fisher-Point Drive unit is in the Beaumont Quarter. Photo / Supplied
On the market with a $49,000 reserve is a two-bedroom apartment at 411/8 Ronayne Street, in Auckland Central. Photo / Supplied
Bargain-hunters could try another larger two-bedroom, two-bathroom leasehold apartment on the other side of the city.
City Sales sales manager Scott Dunn said there were a number of leasehold properties on the market at the moment including a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the other side of the city which could also be picked up for a low price when it goes to auction next week.
The apartment at 411/8 Ronayne Street is being advertised with a “super low declared reserve” of $49,000. Buyers will have to take into account the ground rent of $4350.36 per annum, a body corporate levy of $4328.71 and rates of $1770.17.
There is no car park with the apartment, but owners did have access to the complex’s pool, gym, sauna, and tennis court.
It is one of four leasehold apartments being sold by the same owner.
Dunn said a large number of buildings on Ngāti Whātua land were due to have their ground rents renewed next year. “People will be concerned.”
He said a key consideration when buying a leasehold property was not just the cost of the property, but also how much the ground rent was and when the next rent review was due.
“There are several different kinds of leasehold [properties] in Auckland. Some of them will be valued much, much higher than others,” he said.
"The closer they get to a rent review – most of them are reviewed every seven years but not all of them - the more people’s concerns grow about what will happen. There are many instances where the ground rent has doubled and this has completely crippled people financially.”
Despite the restrictions, Dunn said they had plenty of buyers for them, particularly investors.
“What people need to do is take a look at those outgoings and that influences the price they are willing to pay for the property. They might say, ‘Hey those outgoings are very very high’, and we say, ‘Does that change what you are willing to pay for the property?’ and invariably it does.”
