A three-bedroom apartment in the former Auckland railway station is to be auctioned with a $1 reserve, making it the cheapest reserve for an apartment in the iconic block in more than five years.
The central city apartment is the largest of three properties in the Grand Central building being auctioned off by two separate agencies this week as the owners decide to quit being landlords in the 1930s heritage building.
The owner of the 41sqm apartment at 206/26 Te Taou Crescent is auctioning off the apartment with a $1 reserve in a bid to show buyers he is both motivated and realistic, and doesn’t want “moonbeams” for it, Ray White listing agent Dominic Worthington said.
The owner now lives in the South Island and has decided that after five years he doesn’t want to be an absentee landlord anymore. He has set a $1 reserve for Thursday’s auction to show people he has no preconceived sale price and doesn’t want “moonbeams” for it.
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Worthington said the apartment offered a better deal than some other units in Grand Central that have previously sold under the hammer because the reserve was lower and the apartment was much bigger.
The last Grand Central apartment to be sold with a $1 reserve was more than five years ago. In June, a studio apartment in the same building was advertised with a $5000 reserve and sold under the hammer for $36,500 after attracting four bidders and more than 40 bids.
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Worthington said an investor wanting something “cheap and cheerful” and looking for a modest return or a mum and dad wanting to buy something for their kids to live in while studying next year were the main target market.
“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.”
The apartments provided affordable accommodation and tenants were usually students or service workers, he said.
It was renting for $480 a week, but there was also an independent rental appraisal of about $620, which he said could be achieved after some renovations.
“It’s not like walking into a magazine, it needs a bit of TLC – but it’s nothing that paint and carpet can’t fix.”
The leasehold property has ground rent of $7408.60, operational expenditure of $14,107.73 and council rates of $1474.95.
This three-bedroom apartment for sale at 206/26 Te Taou Crescent, Auckland, is in need of some TLC. Photo / Supplied
Another landlord who has owned two apartments since the building’s conception in the late 1990s is retiring and selling both a studio and a two-bedroom apartment in Grand Central. Both have car parks.
While no reserve has been advertised, City Sales manager Scott Dunn said the owner had told him to make it clear to buyers that she was realistic about selling them both at Wednesday’s auction.
“The vendor is coming in from outside Auckland so she will meet the market.”
City Sales agent Lucy Piatov’s listing described them as some of the most affordable in Auckland CBD, and the vendor had confirmed the reserves would be low.
The listing added: “Stratum in leasehold means you’ll pay pennies for double-digit returns.”
A two-bedroom apartment is being sold with a low reserve at City Sales' auction room on Wednesday. Photo / Supplied
Also on the slate is this studio apartment. Photo / Supplied
An impressive heritage feature of the Grand Central apartments is the grand marble and gilt columned foyer of the 1930 building designed by William Gummer. It was transformed into residential apartments more than 20 years ago initially as student accommodation for Auckland University.
The apartments have kitchenettes, but tenants also have access to the communal commercial kitchen, laundry, outdoor BBQ and games area. There’s also a concierge at the front of the building to service the 230 or so apartments.
Dunn said these types of cheaper apartments usually only appealed to investors and there was often a lot of competition for them. “They are probably not of a size or a situation they would suit many first-home buyers or families, but they are very popular with tenants ... I would consider it budget accommodation.”
He told OneRoof last month that leaseholds and remedials, which were usually so hard to sell because they were so complicated, were also flying off the shelf due to people being able to afford to pay cash for them.
- Click here to find more apartments for sale in Auckland Central
