A relieved owner of a pair of leasehold apartments in the former Auckland Railway Station building showered the real estate agents with hugs after they sold for a combined $46,800.
The vendor made good on her promise of setting low reserves, but with three people bidding on each apartment she need not have worried as both sold for well over the reserve.
The two-bedroom apartment in the Grand Central building, known for providing budget accommodation, saw three bidders battle it out in mainly $500 bids. The auction opened at $20,000, it was announced on the market at $26,500 and sold for $29,000 after the new owner secured it with a bold $1500 bid.
The smaller shabbier studio apartment in the same building attracted just as much attention with three bidders also fighting for it. Bidding opened at $5000 and after a few strong bids in increments of $1000, dropped down to mainly $100 bids.
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The auctioneer announced the property on the market at $10,000 and after a total of 49 bids it sold for $17,800.
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The new owner of the studio plans to live in it as he already rents in the same complex. He had also bid on the two-bedroom unit but was outdone by an investor.
The two-bedroom unit had a weekly income of $440 and the studio returned $350 a week. Each apartment also came with a car park returning $449.50 each a month.
The vendor had owned them since the 1990s and had been serious about meeting the market so she could retire.
City Sales sales manager Scott Dunn said there was competitive bidding on both, and the apartments sold for “way way more” than what the owner had been expecting.
“Our vendor hugged everybody on the way out of the office today.”
The studio apartment in Grand Central was bought by a resident in the building for $17,800. Photo / Supplied
City Sales salesperson Lucy Piatov, in her listing, described the apartments as some of the most affordable in Auckland CBD.
The listing added: “Stratum in leasehold means you’ll pay pennies for double-digit returns.”
A third three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Grand Central at 206/26 Te Taou Crescent is to be auctioned on Thursday at Ray White City Realty with an advertised $1 reserve.
The apartment is returning $480 a week, but Ray White salesperson Dominic Worthington said there’s potential to add value by making improvements with some paint and new carpet. An independent appraisal put the weekly rent at $620.
Worthington said the South Island owner had set the low reserve to show buyers he was serious about selling.
“You’re going to buy this, have it managed, you don’t either need to see them or look at them – the manager down there is in situ and they take care of all the day-to-day running of the place. You put it on your credit card and you forget about it.”
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