A fed-up owner desperate to rid himself of his Auckland townhouse which had been severely damaged in the floods burst into tears of joy when it sold for a better-than-expected price of $145,000.
The Cotesmore Way property was picked up in “like brand new” condition after being fixed for the third time for leaks, and more recently flood damage.
The owner initially listed the three-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse in July when it was still part of a building site and fenced off to everyone.
The leasehold property was being sold ‘as is, where is’ with the owner telling OneRoof at the time of listing it that he was tired of what seemed like endless repairs.
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The damage from the floods over Auckland Anniversary weekend was so bad that all the residents in the 41 block of townhouses were given a week to move out of their homes in March. This left the owner scrambling for somewhere to live and meant he lost the income from renting out the ground floor of the townhouse while it was remediated.
Complications with the title meant the original auction had to be put on hold so by the time it was ready to be auctioned this week most of the repairs had been completed.
City Sales sales manager Scott Dunn said there was a big difference in the condition of the property now compared with a few months ago, which would have made it more attractive to purchasers. It is also the end unit and a two-level configuration providing more living space.
“It’s ‘as is, where is now’, but ‘as is, where is’ now is almost completely finished. Before people could only go and look at the outside, security guards weren’t letting people in.”
The Cotesmore Way townhouse is "like brand new" and most of the remediation has been completed. Photo / Supplied
The flooding at Beach Road at the bottom of Parnell near the townhouses. Photo / Tom McCondach
Those gates have now been removed, he said, and it is ready for people to move in. The rental appraisal is about $800 a week.
Dunn said the townhouse might still require a CCC for some of the remediated areas which included a significant part of the ground floor, but this was all disclosed to prospective buyers.
The Cotesmore Way auction is the most impressive auction he has witnessed for a few years both in terms of people in the room and the sheer number of bids thrown out.
It opened at $20,000 with five people bidding until it reached $100,000. The property was announced on the market at $101,000 leaving just two people going hammer and tong for it until it finally sold for $145,000 after a total of 55 bids.
The new owner was an investor who already owned a townhouse in the complex.
Dunn was on the phone with the out-of-town owner when the hammer went down and said he was so happy he was in tears.
City Sales salesperson Ainsley Lewis stated in the listing that it would only suit cash buyers, adding “you won’t need much of it”.
But exactly how much may have surprised both the vendor and agent because the sale price was at least $44,000 more than the reserve.
The sale comes as leaseholds and remedials, which are usually so hard to sell because they are complicated, continue to be in high demand and are flying off the shelf because they are cheap and investors can afford to pay cash for them.
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