Auckland man struggles to sell his $1 Mt Roskill home

Iliyas Adam has put his Potter Avenue, Mt Roskill house on Trade me with a $1 reserve.

While modest homes are selling for millions in Auckland’s booming property market, one man is struggling to sell his house for $1.

In September, Iliyas Adam listed his house in Auckland’s Mt Roskill for $1 on Trade Me in the hopes someone would take it off his hands.

More than a month later, Adam said he was still looking for someone to remove the ex-state house, with a rateable value of $155,000.

Adam said there had been confusion and negative feedback over his decision to list the house for a buck.

Iliyas Adam put a $1 reserve on his Mt Roskill home more than a month ago; he’s yet to find a buyer.

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He has lived in the house on Potter Ave for the past 14 years and now hopes to make way to build a new house for his retirement on the site.

The catch to the $1 deal is whoever buys the house needs to remove it from the site.

He said it would be a shame to demolish the house if it could be used by someone else, but if it didn’t go to a new home by mid-January, Adam would call in the demolition crews.

Demolishing the house would set him back about $3300.

The three-bedroom brick and tile house features all the trimmings – native timber, brick cladding, kitchen, bathroom, hot water tank and stove.

The hot-water cylinder alone would be worth at least $50 if taken to a demolition yard, so there are profits to be made, he said.

Astute investors will know a brick house is best left unmoved or cladding removed before relocation so the house isn’t entirely without its drawbacks.

A HOUSE FOR A BUCK

The hot property market has put the power in the seller’s hands and Adam isn’t the only one bold enough to ask for just $1 for their biggest asset.

According to Trade Me, the average sale value of Auckland houses during the past three months was $918,153.

The $1 reserve is not a new phenomenon but thanks to Auckland’s booming property markets and the Christchurch rebuild, it’s gaining steam.

Michael and Phyllis Thom listed their home for $1. Photo: John Kirk-Anderson

Last year, Christchurch couple Phyllis and Michael Thom listed their uninsured, red-zone home for $1.

A fortnight later the house sold for $10,500.

In 2014, a seller put his 1082sqm Gisborne lot, valued at $120,000, up for sale with a $1 reserve.

A similar trend popped up during the recession.

A Westport couple listed their six bedroom historic home for $1 in 2009, a million dollar home on Auckland’s North Shore was given the same treatment to quickly make way for new developments in 2008, and less than a week earlier a three-bedroom West Auckland home with a $1 reserve sold at auction for $395,000.

The same is happening across the ditch at the moment, with Sydney’s out-of-control property market.

In February, a Sydney house with a $1 reserve sold at auction for $565,000 (NZ$621,800).

Barfoot Thompson director Kiri Barfoot said putting a $1 reserve on a house was a risky move.

“I think they like the publicity that comes with it.

“The theory is, the more people that turn up to the auction, the more money you make.”

Barfoot said the $1 reserve function on Trade Me was suitable for kids’ toys and low-value consumer goods “but definitely not for houses”.

“Why would you risk your biggest asset by putting a $1 reserve?”

Barfoot said she advised sellers to set an appropriate reserve, even if they had to lower it.

 – Stuff

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