Property goes for 'life-changing' sum after auction battle
The St Albans home sold for $634,000 at auction. Photo: Supplied
A Christchurch homeowner "struck it lucky" after a bidding war for her three-bedroom unit netted $634,000 - $124,000 above its RV.A Christchurch homeowner "struck it lucky" after a bidding war for her three-bedroom unit netted $634,000 - $124,000 above its RV.
The cross-lease property on Westminster St in St Albans was sold at the Harcourts Gold auction room last week,
oneroof.co.nz
reported.
Six first-home buyers and one investor battled it out for the property.
The auction kicked off at $400,000, with the property announced on the market at $597,000 and selling after 50 bids,
OneRoof
reported.
Vendor Deena Barteling told
OneRoof
the result "absolutely exceeded her expectations".
"I think I struck it lucky," she told
OneRoof
"I was overwhelmed and absolutely stoked. It was an amazing, amazing outcome."
Barteling told
OneRoof
she was downsizing to a new apartment in the city and said the extra money would take some pressure off.
"I did budget for the worst-case scenario and then got the most amazing surprise on the day, so I feel really grateful," she told
OneRoof
She bought the Westminster St property 24 years ago.
"I will cry when I move out, but I feel like I’m handing it to someone who also loves it, and she had an instant feel for it when she walked in the door."
Harcourts Gold listing agent Lydia O’Loughlin told
OneRoof
the property struck a chord with first-home buyers.
"It had a great feel about it."
Photo: Supplied
She said the price, location, and large backyard were popular features.She said the price, location, and large backyard were popular features.
"On the first open home we had queues of people waiting to get in while we were unlocking and setting up the property."
People turned up 15 minutes before it was due to start, she told
OneRoof
. O’Loughlin said they had to push Barteling out the door so they could let people in.
The open home the following Saturday was even crazier.
O’Loughlin told
OneRoof
they greeted 90 people in just 30 minutes.
The next day she enlisted her entire team to help deal with the crowd.
O’Loughlin also made the unusual move of holding open homes during the week, and by the time the property went to auction, more than 100 groups had viewed it.
She said none of the first-home buyers who attended the auction had been to one before.
"I genuinely wish I could sell a house to every one of them. They were lovely young couples."