It may not be the flashest home on the block, but this Great North Rd villa in Avondale sold for close to $2m recently. Photo / Supplied
It may not be the flashest home on the block, but this Great North Rd villa in Avondale sold for close to $2m recently. Photo / Supplied
A century-old Auckland villa known to some as a "ghost house" for its tumbledown appearance has sold for almost $2 million at auction.
That's given the owner of the three-bedroom home at 1664 Great North Rd in Avondale a healthy pile of cash to retire north to Dargaville with.
Yet it's also presented a new problem.
Exactly how will the former antique-dealer move his paintings, model boats and emporium of collectibles ranging from naval telescopes to typewriters out to his new house.
"It's gonna be a big move, I've accumulated a lot of stuff," the man, who did not wish to be named, said.
"We estimated we'll need about 25 trailer loads plus a couple of trucks."
Luckily for him, developers moved to snap up the property at auction last month.
That meant the developers not only splashed out $1.8m - or $595,000 above council valuation - for the villa, they also gave the man and his partner a six-month settlement, meaning the couple could take their time moving out.
The man said he didn't know what the new buyers' plans were for the property or when they would build.
But it was clear from the start, they had no interest in the house and were instead eyeing the 756sq m block with its zoning for apartment blocks up to six storeys high, the man said.
In fact, the couple were so confident no one was interested in their house that they didn't even allow prospective buyers inside to have a look.
Buyers had to instead contend themselves with simply looking around the yard.
And the tactic worked. Having considered selling the home for the last 10 years, the couple said they were "more than happy" with the price they got.
They had expected a selling price more in the range of $1.5m.
"We feel we might have timed the market at its peak," the man said.
It's an even more tidy sum, when you consider the man paid $23,500 for the home back in 1979.
Yet despite the seemingly small price, it hadn't been an easy buy. The man said that back then his weekly mortgage payments were $40, while his total income was just $45.
It may not be the flashest home on the block, but this Great North Rd villa in Avondale sold for close to $2m recently. Photo / Supplied
He had to take in boarders to help with the repayments.
"People were commenting that that's what happens when you buy a house and neglect it for 40 years. Hopefully someone will buy it and love it."
Another commenter then wrote that they saw the "old man" at the house during lockdown doing the garden and that they hoped he was alright.
"They said, 'I hope nothing happened to the old man'. He didn't like that comment," she said, pointing to her partner with a laugh.
Still, now it's the couple having the last laugh. Their home might not be the hottest on the block but at least they've saved money by not doing it up over the last 15 years they had lived in it.
"A lot of people say they made money on their house, but they've spent a fortune doing it up, haven't they, he said.
And while the home may have unconventional touches - like a hole in the floor the couple use as a cat flap by pushing a board back and forth over it when they want to let their pet in and out - the house is beloved and loaded with charm and character on the inside.
