- An Avondale townhouse is being sold with a $1 reserve after tenants left it in disrepair.
- The owners spent over $50,000 on renovations to make the property move-in ready.
- Ray White’s Dushen Mallimaratchi said the $1 reserve shows the owners’ motivation to sell quickly.
A million-dollar Auckland rental property is being sold at auction with a $1 reserve because the owners are so fed up with how badly tenants have treated the townhouse.
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The listing agent for the four-bedroom townhouse at 28 Pecan Place, in Avondale, told OneRoof that the owners had decided to get out at whatever the cost.
A renovation costing more than $50,000 was carried out on the home including installing a new kitchen.
Dushen Mallimaratchi, from Ray White, said he advised the owners at the end of last year to sell the house “as is, where is”, but they didn’t feel comfortable doing that given the poor state of the property.
Instead, they spent more than $50,000 on renovations, which included new flooring and a new kitchen, upgrades to the bathrooms, and a new coat of paint.
Mallimaratchi said the $1 reserve showed how motivated his clients were to sell the house and exit the Auckland housing market.
“They are willing to take the risk and whatever the market decides on the day, that’s what it will sell for.”
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The vendors, who live outside of Auckland, bought the house off-the-plan in 2005. The property has an RV of $1 million, and while Mallimaratchi noted that other properties on the street had sold for around $900,000, the $1 reserve meant it was “fair game for everyone”.
Mallimaratchi has had experience with $1 reserve auctions but this one was different in that it was move-in ready.
Ray White Manukau co-owner Tom Rawson said $1 auction reserves weren’t usually about the type of property, but more the type of owner.
Owners who opted for auctions were motivated and wanted a cash unconditional deal done quickly, he said, rather than waiting for a slightly higher price that might be conditional on a house sale that may never happen.
No one has lived in the home since the renovation was completed at the end of last year. Photo / Supplied
“They believe there are enough people in the market that they will get what it’s worth. It could be $2 – it won’t be $2 though because you will quite happily buy it for $5 and I will pay $10 and that’s the start of the auction,” Rawson said.
“People often say that auctions will bring out the true market value, but then there’s some buyers that will wait and want to pay more afterwards subject to them getting more for their house.”
In 2023, a burnt-out property on Roscommon Road, in Auckland’s Clendon Park, was marketed with a $1 reserve and ended up selling for $661,000 in a hotly contested auction. Earlier this year, a leaky penthouse on Morningstar Place, in Auckland’s St Lukes, had a $1 auction reserve and sold under the hammer for $52,000.
- 28 Pecan Place, in Avondale, Auckland, goes to auction on March 25
