- A quirky shoebox-shaped Wellsford house has sold for $399,000 after attracting unusually strong interest.
- It began as a 1930s water tank before becoming a two-bedroom home.
- Commercial zoning discouraged bank lending, leaving two investors competing after first-home buyers struggled.
A shoebox-shaped house on Wellsford’s main street has been snapped up for just under $400,000.
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Raine & Horne agent Jon Standbrook told OneRoof that the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house on Rodney Street had been one of his most popular listings – and had sold faster than any other property on his books.
Standbrook said the house had been the talk of the town, and not just because of the $399,000 price tag. Locals wanted to know why the unusual-looking property had been plonked in “the middle of a car park or what looks like a car park”.
He believes the property began life in the 1930s as one of Wellsford’s water storage tanks. It was later turned into a house, with the concrete walls cut so windows could be installed and fibre cement planks added outside to make it more attractive.
The vendor, a commercial property investor, picked up the property at a mortgagee sale, along with a block of retail shops tenanted by a gift shop, hairdressers and other businesses.
The two-bedroom home was off-limits to most first-home buyers. Photo / Supplied
The lounge is downstairs, with the bedrooms and kitchen upstairs. Photo / Supplied
The home, which sits on a freehold 468sqm section, wasn’t Healthy Homes compliant when the vendor bought it and, because it was “of no consequence or use” to him, he decided to offload it, Standbrook said.
“It attracted more attention than any other listing we’ve had this year, and as a consequence it landed in a multiple offer,” he said.
First-home buyers who make up a “significant portion” of buyers in Wellsford flocked to the listing, but they soon found that the banks weren’t willing to lend.
“Because it’s zoned commercial but with residential rights, it just makes it that much more difficult for a first-home buyer to be involved. Banks are a lot more [cautious] about what they’re lending [on]. So for a first-home buyer, that would have been quite difficult without a fairly significant deposit.”
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That left mainly investors in the race, and two made offers. “There were obviously other interested parties. The vendor selected the one he felt was appropriate and it went unconditional.”
Standbrook told OneRoof that he was a fan of the property. “I was fascinated. I looked into the history, and I could see that for someone it would be a really quirky, fun building.”
He added: “Wellsford is going to go through its growth phase with the motorway, the upgrading of the waterworks, and the development of the northern end. It’s got a lot going for it, and when you’ve got a property like that in the middle of town, [that’s] pretty cool.”
Standbrook believes the new owner will make changes to the house, perhaps building a garage and fencing the property.
At the time of writing, there were 47 properties for sale in Wellsford, with prices ranging from $349,000 for bare land to $1.849m for a lifestyle property at 1137 Port Albert Road.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Wellsford
