- A neglected Wellington home in Stokes Valley sold for $342,500 at auction, below its RV of $560,000.
- Bayleys Wellington’s Grant Henderson noted high demand, with 35 bids for the Logie Street house.
- Flippers and investors showed renewed confidence in do-up properties, with several selling at auctions nationwide.
A neglected Wellington home covered in black mould and thick grime was a magnet for six seasoned flippers, who battled it out at auction hoping to nab a bargain.
Start your property search
The auction for the deceased estate in Stokes Valley on Thursday opened at $100,000 and finally sold under the hammer for $342,500 – well below its RV of $560,000.
It was one of several rundown properties to have caused a stir in auction rooms around the country this week.
Bayleys Wellington had two do-up properties on the block yesterday and both sold after some competitive bidding.
Bayleys Wellington general manager Grant Henderson said the Logie Street house had been in hot demand with a total 35 bids made.
“The bids came in thick and fast and that was good to see. That was exciting.
“People just saw the opportunity. You know $324,500 to get a three-bedroom house in Stokes Valley is still great buying and if you are physically able to do work and you spend $100,000 on that it would come up great.”
He said it was nice “easy coin” for the right person as once renovated it could easily fetch around the high $500,000s, he said.
The Logie Street home was empty for many months after the owner of 25 years died. Photo / Supplied
All the bidders on the Logie Street home, which had been neglected after the owner of 25 years fell ill and later died, were property traders looking for their next project to do up and flip. The owner paid $112,000 for it in 1999 and the family had decided to sell the estate without doing any work to it even cleaning it because they just “wanted it gone”.
The listing photos showed rusty appliances, mould in the kitchen and bathroom, holes in the living room and peeling wallpaper. Outside, the paint was flaking off the weatherboard and the roof appeared to be in poor condition.
These types of property traders were always looking for the next project to buy, Henderson said, so they could give their team of plasterers, builders and painters work to do and not lose them to other clients.
“The guys who are out there are seasoned campaigners looking to keep that momentum going and I think that’s where we are with the flippers.”
While there had been first-home buyers ready to roll up their sleeves and do it up if it did not sell, they were unable to bid cash unconditional.
Discover more:
- Liquidation sale of crumbling Otago estate with dark past
- House built and owned by 40 Kiwi tradies heads to auction
- Tony Alexander: Big surprise in my last real estate poll of 2024
Meanwhile, an untouched 1900s triple-bay villa with original features on Ohio Road, in Aro Valley, ended up being snapped up by owner-occupiers who beat off three other homeowners and flippers.
The auction opened at $300,000 and after a total 17 steady bids paused for negotiation at $650,000. The auction then resumed and the property was announced on the market and sold for the same price.
“We did have some flippers in Ohiro Rd, but they weren’t the people who were going to pay enough money. The people who wanted to live in it and make it their family home, those are the ones that paid the money.” Henderson said while the property, which had been rented out for 20 years, would likely be a big and costly renovation, it could be worth between $1.1 million and $1.2m once completed.
“Because it was such a character property everything you touch costs a lot of money. Whether it was weatherboard – those big 10-inch boards – so everything on that property costs a lot to get it where it should be. So it’s a labour of love for somebody. Someone will go we just love the style of dwelling, we just love what it offers – something like that.”
Henderson believed the prices for both Logie Street and Ohiro Road properties were fair.
A homeowner who paid $650,000 for a rundown villa on Ohiro Road, in Aro Valley, plans to do it up and live in it. Photo / Supplied
An entry-level do-up property in Melville also struck a nerve with flippers in Harcourts Hamilton’s auction room yesterday and eventually sold to an investor for $590,000. The Crescent Court property, which was marketed by Shaun Crosby as “detonate or do-up”, was only on the market for a week when the auction was brought forward.
The listing photos showed wallpaper missing from the walls and curtains hanging off the tracks.
Harcourts Hamilton co-owner Campbell Scott said there were seven bidders in the room for the ex-rental property ranging from traders, investors, builders to first-home buyers and flippers.
Scott said the development market and flipper market in Hamilton had stopped for a few years, but buyers for these do-up properties seemed to be feeling more confident again.
“Buyers for this type of property are going to see they are not going to burn their hands by purchasing it, adding value to it and then selling it in what is an improving market.
“We’ve seen several examples over the last few months of people buying them with the intention to flip.”
In Christchurch, a four-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow on a 671sqm section on Wilsons South Road, in St Martins, was also bought as a flip yesterday. The auction was brought forward after two weeks on the market and sold after one bid for $700,00.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Wellington
