An Auckland couple who turned up at an on-site auction of a quirky property, thinking it was an open home, walked away with the house in their possession half an hour later.
They bought the three-bedroom run-down villa on Cardwell Street, in Onehunga, for $830,000 - more than $700,000 below the 2021 CV - as a do-up project for their son to live in.
Sumich Real Estate owner Mark Sumich, who marketed the property and called the auction, told OneRoof that the Cardwell Street sale was a spur-of-the-moment buy.
“Remarkably, the [buyers] happened to come that day, they didn’t even know it was auction day. That’s the nature of it these days, it can evolve that way when you do on-site auctions.
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“It wouldn’t happen in an in-room auction, that’s the magic of on-site,” he said, adding that with two bidders the price quickly moved off a $750,000 starting base and after a small adjournment, the hammer came down in seven or eight minutes.
The property was a deceased estate, and was one of four properties whose sale proceeds are to benefit three Kiwi charities.
The owner of all four homes passed away leaving instructions that any proceeds from the sale of his estate should be given to the Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul and Fred Hollows Foundation.
Two homes were sold in December for around $800,000 each, while another, in Browns Bay, on the North Shore, goes to auction on Sunday.
He said the villa buyers are ‘hobbyists’ who live in the next-door suburb and “like to keep an eye out on things”, so know they are up for a huge job of re-piling, re-wiring, plumbing and renovating. The highest recent sale on the street, $1.7 million, shows there is good opportunity for an “upside”, Sumich said.
“It’s a mother and father who want to do it up for their son. All the proceeds go to the charities. We were thrilled.”
Images of the colourful house will live on for a few months, Sumich said, as three fashion designers, including the queen of colour, Trelise Cooper, had already scheduled photo shoots in the vibrant rooms – a fitting finale to the estate’s gift to Auckland.
The interior of the house is a riot of colour and unusual design. Several rooms have pressed tin walls in eye-popping hues of bright red and lime green and are furnished with floral Axminster carpets. At the back is a washhouse in original condition complete with a boiler and old concrete tubs, and in the backyard is a chook house and aviary.
On the upside, there are vintage windows and doors, a fireplace and the very attractive corbels and trims on the front of the house.
The villa has a 2021 CV of $1.575m and sits on a 538sqm section. Photo / Supplied
Green patterned walls, a pink ceiling and a floral carpet leave a lasting impression. Photo / Supplied
The listing made no bones about the house needing more than just a nip and tuck: “A top to bottom overhaul is well overdue. So before you indulge in drawing room high tea fantasies or scandalous political parlour salon-sessions, please do your research."
Sumich told OneRoof: “In my 36 years in real estate, I’ve never seen anything like the interior. It’s quite extreme. But Cardwell is a very popular street.”
OneRoof records show the property has a CV of $1.575m, most of which is for the land.
The background of the villa and its owner is hard to come by, but Sumich understands the owner did live there spasmodically. “Apparently he was quite the character, there were chickens in the backyard,” Sumich said.
Another property that's part of the estate, a three-bedroom house at 820 East Coast Road, Oteha, Auckland, goes to auction on February 26. Photo / Supplied
The agent's listing describes the Oteha property as a "substantial 1970s home in need of urgent help". It has 2021 CV of $1.37m. Photo / Supplied
The fourth property in the deceased estate is a three-bedroom 1970s brick and tile house on 981sqm at 820 East Coast Road, in Oteha, on Auckland’s North Shore. The do-up has a CV of $1.37m and goes to auction on Sunday.
