A block of shops suffering fire, smoke and water damage is the latest property to be snapped up in a literal fire sale.
The block on Gloucester Road, in Manurewa, Auckland, sold for $750,000 plus GST. It is one of a number of burnt-out properties to have scored results that in some cases have surprised even the agents involved.
Last week’s auction, held at Ray White South Auckland, attracted seven registered bidders who were mainly builders looking to either repair or redevelop the site.
The auction for the block of three commercial shops on a 951sqm corner site opened at $400,000 before going into negotiations when bidding paused at $680,000.
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But while the negotiations were underway, another investor offered the owners $750,000 which Ray White listing agent Tom McCartney said was enough to get it on the market and sold.
Read more:
- $1 fire-sale home in South Auckland ends up selling for $661,000
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McCartney said the successful buyer, who owns a number of investment properties, plans to repair the building.
The vendors had owned the property since 1998 and didn’t have the time, resources or energy to go through a rebuild after it was damaged in a fire last year so put it on the market.
McCartney said the fire-damaged properties had achieved good results on auction day, which he put down to buyers seeing that there was a real reason for selling.
There were seven people bidding on the fire damaged shops on Gloucester Road. Photo / Supplied
This three-bedroom fire-damaged home on Roscommon Road, in Clendon Park, Auckland, had a $1 reserve. Photo / Supplied
“People that are buying can see there’s genuine motivation there for the owners to be selling and they are not going to be wasting all their time doing their due diligence and then all of a sudden the owners are not realistic about selling.”
Ray White South Auckland has already had three fire sales so far this year compared to just one last year.
Last month a burnt-out house on Roscommon Road, in Clendon, attracted competitive bidding when it was called at auction and sold for $661,000.
The home had been owned by an elderly couple for more than 30 years when a fire ripped through it last year. They could not afford to rebuild it so decided to sell.
Ray White salesperson Adrian Chhour, who marketed the Roscommon Road home, believes advertising the property with a $1 auction reserve helped attract interest and get the best price for the vendor.
There were 32 registered bidders including bargain hunters, developers, investors and other cashed-up buyers who helped push the price up.
“They weren’t actually expecting that much. They were blown away to be honest – even I was blown away.”
A fire-damaged house at 31 Snells Road in Snells Beach in Rodney is also for sale with a list price of $769,000.
The three-bedroom home with sea views has an RV of $930,000 and is being marketed at those with a “vision”.
“Selling as is, this property is a blank canvas for a complete internal refit or demo and build your new dream home,” the listing ad by Harcourts agents Sarah Howlett, Stanley Zhang and Rachel Simpson said.
“We have been given clear instructions from our owners to move this property on,” it added.
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