A two-bedroom brick and tile 1940s house in Auckland's Three Kings sold for $1.35 million this week in a furious auction that racked up 144 bids.
The price was just $10,000 shy of the home’s 2021 CV.
Ray White agent Miranda Ritchie, who marketed the house on Fearon Avenue with Jared Hards, said that right from the beginning interest was high in the house, which was on the market for the first time in 40 years. The neighbourhood is full of similar state houses, some owner-occupied, some still state rentals.
“We had 75 groups through, that’s much higher than usual. Because it’s in a single house zone, there were no developers, it was genuine home buyers or traders who could see potential.
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“Although it’s only two bedrooms, it has quite a big footprint [138sqm] and people could see the potential to add a third bedroom or do more. Some people were even looking at taking the house off and building new,” Ritchie said. The neighbourhood was sought after by younger buyers priced out of nearby Sandringham or Mount Eden, and the house had escaped flooding that was present in other parts of the suburb in the summer storms, she added.
The house had an original-condition kitchen and bathroom, but a roomy living room, separate dining room and sun room big enough for a pool table, as well as a garage and shed which added to its appeal.
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She said that buyer feedback for the home, which sits on a 721sqm section and has a CV of $1.36m, had been around $900,000, with a few pre-auctions offers around that level.
However, the 10 bidders who turned up at the auction had other ideas, with the third bid pushing past that number within seconds. The home was declared on the market at $1.05m and then things got interesting as three or four bidders fought for 17 minutes, mostly in increments of $1000, before the hammer finally came down.
“There was a lot of bidding excitement in the room,” Ritchie said. “A lot of giggling and laughter. Our vendor was watching remotely on screen, and she said there was screaming and shouting at her end.
Buyers could see the renovation potential in the two-bedroom house on Fearon Avenue, Three Kings, because it had unusually large rooms. Photo / Supplied
“It’s an incredible result for our vendor, she’d been there 40 years.”
The agent added that the buyers, who own a business locally, had only seen the place on Sunday, picking up papers on Monday and bidding on Tuesday.
“I’ll be touching base with a lot of the neighbours, there are a lot of buyers with sizeable budgets now.”
Ray White chief auctioneer Sam Steele, who called the auction, said it was certainly an extraordinary result.
“There was a really broad range of interest. One of the buyers commented that Fearon Park area is one of those hidden gems, it’s quite sought after by those in the know.
“No one knows what they’ll pay until someone else tries to take it away from you,” he said,
“The owners were brave setting a low reserve, it gave the auction a momentum and really kept the bidding going.”
The auction is a taster of the next giant auction being held by the Ray White Manukau, Manurewa, Mangere and Mangere Bridge offices scheduled for next week.
Dubbed The Day, the full-day event will put 58 properties under the hammer.
It follows the first one the company held in July when 57 properties went under the hammer in almost nine hours. Thirty-eight properties sold under the hammer for close to $32m with more than 250 bidders – a mixture of first-home buyers, traders and investors.
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