- A penthouse in Parnell sold for $3700 at a $1 reserve auction, despite a $1.5 million RV.
- The buyer must pay $86,991.57 annually in body corporate fees and ground rent.
- The sale allowed the vendors to move on, with the reserve set to show motivation to sell.
A penthouse apartment with an RV of just over $1.5 million fetched just $3700 at a $1 reserve auction on Thursday.
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Three phone bidders competed to take ownership of the leasehold apartment in the popular Mirage complex on The Strand, in Auckland's Parnell.
The lucky buyer got a two-bedroom pad with near-360-degree views over the city, over Rangitoto, for less than the price of a new iPhone.
Tom Rawson, director of AT Realty South and Central, which includes Ray White Wynyard Quarter, said the sale was unlike other $1 auctions his agency had run because of the additional costs involved.
“In our previous dollar reserves, we will have every Tom, Dick and Harry looking for a bargain, whereas this property carried other complexities.”
The new buyer will have to pay the body corporate fees and ground rent, which total $86,991.57 a year.
The outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, spa and sauna give the Mirage complex a resort-like vibe. Photo / Supplied
“It didn’t have a massive settlement cost. It was more ensuring that the buyer had enough funds available to keep up with the outgoing costs.”
Bidding opened at $1, jumped to $2, and then halted as the buyers considered their options. “At one stage, we did think it was going to sell for $2, but it did increase immensely from there,” Rawson told OneRoof.
The auctioneer managed to get almost a dozen more bids out of the buyers before swinging the hammer down at #3700.
Rawson said the bidders had done their homework and all wanted to live in the apartment rather than rent it out.
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The sale meant the vendors could move on with their lives.
One of the vendors told OneRoof last month that setting the reserve at $1 had been a “really tough decision”, but they had done it to show the market how motivated they were to sell.
Katrina Jenner said her father had died several years earlier, and the penthouse was one of the final pieces of the estate that needed to be sorted.
She said her father and his wife had loved living in the 232sqm resort-like apartment because it gave them the freedom to travel and entertain.
Ray White agent Gabriela Galateanu’s listing on OneRoof had pitched the property as the chance to “buy a true penthouse in Parnell without paying a multimillion-dollar freehold price tag”.
The apartment had the best views in the building, she said, and came with five carparks, including two in a lock-up garage.
Residents also have access to a swimming pool, an indoor lap pool, a gym, a sauna and spa, plus a private garden with an outdoor BBQ area and tennis courts.
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