Three property sales worth nearly $40 million have been inked this month in Auckland’s blue-chip suburb of Herne Bay.
And while the value of these three deals don’t match the four-property, over $60m shuffle his agency did in the same suburb a year ago, Ollie Wall of Wall Real Estate said the transactions fell into place through a variety of methods – and happened fast.
Sales of the three properties – which were marketed by Wall, his father Graham and brother Andrew – are due to settle in early November.
“Each one sold within two weeks,” Wall said.
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“We took a different approach to selling each property – off-market, negotiation and a tender based on what we thought would achieve the highest price for each particular house.”
The string of deals started with a very private negotiation for a modern architect-designed waterfront property that hadn’t been on the market for over seven years – despite multiple approaches to the owners. Wall couldn’t disclose the street or exact price, but said it was over $20m.
“We have a massive list of people looking for Herne Bay waterfront, very specific about wanting modern and architect-designed, not a villa. This house alone we’ve had five people in the last two years ask us to try, and finally the owners said ‘we’re ready’.
“People look at the CVs of these waterfront properties and know they mean nothing. The numbers don’t take into account there might be only one of these sales a year, if that, so the stats have nothing to base [their algorithm] on.”
Wall said three buyers with $20m budgets looked at the property, most of them already familiar with the extensive updates it had had since it last sold for $11m.
Ignoring the $12.5m CV was a given.
The Marine Parade buyers then listed their Argyle Street property, which had an offer within two weeks for over $7m. Photo / Supplied
“The only factor is the price wasn’t going to be low,” said Wall.
The Walls then sold the successful buyers’ property, a grandly restored four-bedroom mansion on Marine Parade, Herne Bay, for a price “well in excess of $11m”, Wall said.
The property, which had been sold by New Zealand yachting legend Dean Barker and his wife Mandy in 2013, had since been extensively renovated and had a CV of $10.4m.
And, to complete the domino, the Walls listed the buyer of Marine Parade’s house, on Argyle Street, just around the corner. This time it was sold by tender process.
Wall had earlier told OneRoof that was not their usual sales method, but there had been quite a bit of competition for similar houses, so a tender would allow every buyer a chance.
However, by the second week of marketing the owners accepted an unconditional offer and the deal was done, well before the November 3 closing date.
“We had said tender if not sold prior, so an offer needed to be good enough to stop the tender.
Graham Wall, centre, with his sons and fellow Wall Real Estate agents Andrew and Ollie. Photo / Fiona Goodall
“It shows how much competition there is in that bracket. We had four other groups that were genuinely interested, so now they’re back out looking,” he said.
Wall said the Argyle Street house, which has a CV of $5.6m sold for over $7m to a family moving across from Ponsonby.
The north-facing four-bedroom home on Argyle Street was extensively renovated two years ago and sits on a flat site with the desirable pool, a flat lawn, with multiple living spaces and an office.
“We’re always humbled when someone we’ve dealt with on the buyers’ side of a transaction invites us to represent them in selling.
“It’s even better when it happens three times in a row,” Wall said.
Buyers with budgets of over $15m are now checking out Ollie and Graham Wall’s latest listing, a five-bedroom mansion known as Windermere house on a 1652sqm site at 10 Percival Parade, St Marys Bay.
The 650sqm house has had extensive upgrades, only recently completed, by top architect Andrew Patterson, with interiors by Rufus Knight (well known for his stylish Auckland apartments and retail) and a garden by Suzanne Turley Landscapes.
It includes a new pool house and garage, six bathrooms, a library, and scullery and retains the original wraparound verandas and unlimited views of Auckland city and the harbour.
