- A Christchurch trader sold a fire-damaged home for $360,000, making $8000 less than what he paid.
- The vendor had no insurance and sold it “as is, where is” after plans were scuppered.
- The new owner, a developer, plans to replace the burnt home with two new dwellings.
A Christchurch trader who paid $368,000 for a junk-filled home last year took a hit in the auction room this week, after selling the same property for $8000 less.
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A fire had scuppered the vendor’s plans for the house on Estuary Road, in South New Brighton, forcing him to offload it at a loss.
Harcourts listing agent Harsh Singh told OneRoof that the vendor didn’t have insurance, having bought the property “as is, where is”, and because developing the 759sqm site had not been part of his plans, he relisted it.
The property was only suitable for developers and builders after a fire destroyed 70% of the home. Photo / Supplied
At a Harcourts auction on Thursday, three buyers turned up to bid on the burnt-out shell. The tussle started with a bid of $70,000 and quickly escalated to $210,000 before the auction paused for lengthy negotiations. The property came back into the room at $360,000 and sold for the same price, inclusive of GST.
Singh said the vendor had taken a “little hit” on the house, but was pleased it had sold. “We had three bidders, and that means that’s today’s market price, so they were like ‘Ok, let’s move on’.”
The new owner is a developer who has plans to replace the burnt home with two new dwellings.
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Singh said the property had a much smaller buyer pool than last time, when six buyers fought over it, because the fire damage had left it suitable only for developers, builders and land-bankers.
While the house was filled with junk inside and out when it was listed for sale last year, this time there was only charred timber framing.
“It was more for the developers. It was not for someone who can buy a property and do a renovation.”
The sale price was below the vendor’s initial expectations when he listed it for sale with a different agency last year and advertised it with a fixed price of $380,000.
When the vendor picked it up last year, the listing on OneRoof described the property as “not for the faint-hearted” and warned buyers would need hard hats to view it. “The lawns and gardens are overgrown, the yard has car bodies, there’s even a caravan, someone’s junk is another man’s treasure, so be sure to check it out,” the listing said.
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