An elderly owner who joined forces with a renovator to flip his long-term home has sold it for at least $300,000 more than what anyone was prepared to pay for it in its original condition three months earlier.
The $1.325 million sale price for the Glenfield Road home, in the Auckland suburb of Glenfield, was also well above what the pair needed to break even, leaving them with an extra $90,000 each in their pockets.
Harcourts listing agent Deb Talbot-King said the impressively renovated Glenfield Road home had attracted a lot of attention after it passed in at auction in mid-December and an asking price of $1.3m-plus was put on it.
Read more:
Start your property search
- 57 broken windows, 40 bourbon cans: Derelict shell now asking nearly $3m
- Cheap, but is it worth it? What life is like in NZ’s most affordable housing market
- Can your driveway help pay off your mortgage?
Suddenly there was a rush of interest with 24 groups going through the property in four days, she said.
“I was just inundated with calls... One purchaser asked to view it on Saturday night at 8pm.
The home attracted interest from first-home buyers, second-time buyers, young couples and professional couples. Some people who had viewed it in its original condition also attended the open homes again just to see the before and after and had been really impressed, she said.
"It really opened the doors up when that price went on it. It was pretty exciting and we were stoked to get five offers and there actually were another two interested parties but the timing wasn't right for them."
Within a week of the unsuccessful auction, the four-bedroom, one-bathroom property went into a multi-offer situation and was sold unconditionally to a local family just days before Christmas.
Before: The kitchen was tired, dark and pokey. Photo / Supplied
After: A new kitchen was installed and a wall was knocked out between the kitchen and lounge to create a large open-plan living area. Photo / Supplied
Glenfield retiree and homeowner Harvey was ecstatic with the result, she said, after following his dream of seeing his long-term home returned to its former glory before handing the keys over to the new owners.
“He’s particularly stoked it is going to a young family who will make lifetime memories in their new home just like Harvey did for 37 years.”
Immediately after the sale, Harvey went out and bought some bubbles to celebrate the result with his family and Talbot-King just as they did when he and Simms Projects owner Jared Simms embarked on the project two months earlier.
After only receiving lowball offers mainly from property traders earlier in the year for his three-bedroom home in original condition, Harvey decided to partner with former real estate agent and builder Simms to flip the home.
Before: The bathroom was functional but needed improving to bring it up to buyers' expectations. Photo / Supplied
After: The old bathroom was ripped out and transformed into a modern space with an inviting shower unit and vanity. Photo / Supplied
At the time of listing the property in November, Harvey told OneRoof that one of the motivations for flipping the house himself was that he believed it was too good a house to be bought by a developer and be bowled.
Under the agreement, Harvey retained ownership of the home and Simms carried out and funded the renovation, which cost $144,000 excluding Simm’s own time. They then split any additional profit above what they previously agreed the house would have sold for in its original condition.
Over eight weeks, Simms completely overhauled the home to turn it from a dated 1960s home to a light and bright, open-plan house that left Harvey speechless when he saw the transformation. Simms even cleverly created a fourth bedroom out of a laundry.
Simm said it was a great result because they had needed $1.14m to break even and they had nabbed $185,000 above that. Both he and Harvey and his family were “rapt” with the outcome.
The highest offer was $1.35m, he said, but they opted for the lower offer of $1.325m because it was unconditional and had a shorter settlement. The keys change hands next week.
“We ended up going with that because it was a sure thing and a shorter settlement. We were happy to take a cut knowing it was a certain thing.”
Simm already has two more dated homes in New Lynn and Northcote Point lined up to refresh this year and is looking for more.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Glenfield
