- An iconic boatshed at 6083 Portobello Road, Dunedin, sold for $188,000 at auction.
- Auctioneer Grant McLean used a jandal to close the sale after lively bidding.
- Owners Lynne Collier and Bill Maslen sold the fully furnished shed to focus on house renovations.
An iconic boatshed was sold at the slap of a jandal yesterday for $188,000.
Start your property search
The good-humoured auction of the brightly painted boatshed at 6083 Portobello Road, in Broad Bay, Dunedin, took place on site and under the sun.
Ray White auctioneer Grant McLean extolled the delights of the property as he fielded bids dressed in a spiffy Panama hat and board shorts.
Bidding kicked off at $80,000 and rose to $186,000 before pausing for a brief round of negotiations. McLean returned to the "floor" to announce that the property was on the market at $187,000.
A nautical theme has been adopted inside and outside the boastshed in Broad Bay. Photo / Supplied
A short scrap between the bidders pushed the price up to $188,000, at which point McLean asked for his "little hammer" to bring the auction to a close.
After looking at his surroundings, McLean changed tack and asked his co-listing agent, Jordan Arnold, to hold the gavel. "I'm going to go full jandal," he said, as he grabbed one of his flip-flops and slapped his hand three times. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to sell ourselves a boatshed."
It was an enjoyable end to a fun afternoon that saw McLean stray into risqué territory as he described the shed's attributes to buyers.
Discover more:
- Brad Pitt's West Auckland crib has finally sold - but who's the buyer?
- Tiny town where houses cost less than $200,000 and everyone is welcome
- Wartime couple's one and only home for sale after more than 70 years
"We have this beautiful boatshed set up for relaxation. The dining table, the chairs, the day-bed. Because we all get a little sleepy-tired every now and then, ladies and gentlemen. Or, you know, why not? A little afternoon delight. There you go, I said it, they live-streamed it - I'm not scared."
McLean told OneRoof before the sale that the "sheds generally get good attention. We market them like they are a $1m house.”
He said there were about 40 of them dotted around Dunedin, but few made it to the open market.
Another boatshed on Portobello Road sold under the hammer earlier this week for $230,000. Photo / Supplied
6083 Portobello Road was a standout, he said, for various reasons, including the fact that it could be connected to the power, wastewater and septic systems, he said. “So you could put a bathroom, shower and kitchen into it.”
He told OneRoof that he last sold a boatshed on Purakaunui Inlet, 30 minutes north of Dunedin, for $95,000 in April 2022. The 16sqm shed with 10sqm of decking attracted 10 bidders.
A second boatshed with electricity and a shower on Portobello Road, in Broad Bay, went to auction on Wednesday this week after being in the same family for 30 years. The auction opened at $150,000 and closed with a winning bid of $230,000.
The owners of 6083 Portobello Road told OneRoof earlier this week that they hadn’t even been looking for a boatshed when they stumbled across it 13 years ago while scrolling through property listings.
Lynne Collier told OneRoof that when she saw the shed “I was like, ‘Oh My God’, so I shot around to see it and bought it one hour later”.
Lynne and her husband, Bill Maslen, lived nearby and knew they couldn’t muck around. “They are pretty popular, and if you don’t do it when you see it, you miss out.”
Lynne told OneRoof it had been the perfect day bach (the council does not permit boatsheds to be used for accommodation or used for commercial purposes). “The minute you walk in, it’s just so relaxing.”
Friends and family have also used it, and the couple have hosted countless family gatherings and Christmases there (it can fit 20 people at a squeeze).
The shed is arguably the brightest in Dunedin’s Harbour. People were always stopping to take photos of it, Lynne said. “It’s photographed all the time,” she said. “It really pops, doesn’t it?”
Lynne said the couple had decided to sell the shed so they could focus their attention on their house renovation. The shed was sold fully furnished and included everything from the old wooden steering wheel on the wall, a day bed and two boats: a hand-made wooden kayak called a Pea Pod and a near-new Mercury Inflatable worth around $10,000.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Dunedin
