Bargain window opens in top suburb

Deborah Quigley says she's had a frustrating year and getting rid of her home in Kohimarama will help give her closure. Photo / Martin Sykes

It's the chance for one investor with cash on hand to move into the exclusive Eastern Suburbs at a bargain price.

A three-bedroom leasehold property in Kohimarama goes up for auction at the Home Show on Sunday and is expected to sell for about a third of the price of other leasehold properties on the same street.

Part-owner Deborah Quigley put 7 Geraldine Place on the market a year ago and has not yet had any interest.

But on the bank's orders, she must find a buyer by the end of the month.

Bidding is expected to start well below $100,000 and some say they would not be surprised if the house went for as little as $50,000.

Real Estate agent David Jones, from Century 21, said other leasehold properties in the area had sold for between $180,000 and $240,000.

But because of a combination of falling property prices, the owners' marriage break-up, the bank forcing the sale, and the poor condition of the house, the property would be be lucky to fetch half that.

"It's going to be the cheapest entry into the area in a long while," Mr Jones said.

A freehold option will also be available to buyers on Sunday. This is tipped to be about $500,000, but could be as low as $400,000.

A freehold buyer could decide to extend the existing house or to develop the land and build two new houses on it, Mr Jones said.

Nobody lives in the house at present, so it is a little musty and there is evidence of water damage, while strips of grey paint on the exterior have peeled from the corrugated iron.

Property Know-How's Christine Neil, who gave Ms Quigley's house a spruce up on television show Close Up last Friday, said the property "has got some great potential".

To prepare the house for auction, Mrs Neil's team resurfaced the kitchen and gave the inside walls a lick of paint.

Mr Jones said it was looking "magically better", but there was still work to be done.

Ms Quigley said she was attracted to the house's location and abstract design when she and her former partner bought it seven years ago.

It was built of corrugated iron 30 years ago, and was a radical piece of architecture at the time, she said.

But now, without even considering the hard-to-remove cobwebs, exposed putty and peeling exterior, the necessary repairs - such as the downstairs bathroom and rotting deck - are likely to cost about $50,000, or the possible value of the house itself.

The past year had been "frustrating and devastating at times", Ms Quigley said, and she just wanted closure.

Mrs Neil said a lot of investors were trying to snap up cheap properties, and vendors were getting confused and scared.

"People are floundering," she said.

Mrs Neil said that right now, it was important to prepare a property for market - she will be demonstrating how at the Home Show.

An open home will be held at 7 Geraldine Place, Kohimarama from 2.30pm until 3.15pm and visitors will receive a free pass to the Home Show so they can attend the auction at 3pm on Sunday.