Run-down Stockton cottage sets off bidding frenzy and sells for almost $900k

A run-down gun barrel cottage in Stockton held by one family and leased to the same tenant for 35 years has a new owner for the first time after selling via an online auction.

The auction of the two-bedroom house on 505 square metres at 105 Douglas Street drew six registered parties who starting the bidding at $800,000.

A total of 17 bids were placed before the property was sold for $898,500 to a young family who plans to renovate the property.

It went nearly $50,000 above the reserve of $850,000.

The median house price in Stockton is $1.1 million.

Despite being in original condition and left in a dilapidated state, the property’s location and price point drew strong interest with 68 enquiries.

Listing agent Jessica Molan from Movable said the property had been leased to one tenant for the past 35 years.

The house was leased for $200 per week.

“There are a lot of these run-down cottages in Stockton and this one has been in the family forever - I believe it originally belonged to the owner’s mother, so it has been in the family for a very long time,” Ms Molan said.

“We actually had it rented for the last 35 years and the tenant didn’t want anything done to the home, so the owner didn’t make any improvements to the property.”

Ms Molan said the listing attracted a mix of buyers in the market to renovate or knockdown and rebuild.

“The people who bought it are going to renovate it and hopefully take it back to its former glory because it had a lot of nice features,” she said.

“It was the typical gun barrel with two decent sized bedrooms and living, but it had been let go.”

It capped off a busy week of auctions across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie with 39 auctions scheduled in the week ending March 24.

CoreLogic recorded an auction clearance rate of 75.9 per cent from 29 preliminary results, with 22 cleared auctions and 7 uncleared.

Auction volumes are expected to drop this week due to the Easter long weekend.

Auction results in Lake Macquarie included a renovated four-bedroom home at 105 EK Avenue in Charlestown listed with Matt Thompson at Presence Real Estate.

The auction drew seven registered bidders and the property sold for $1.070 million.

A five-bedroom home at 9 Desreaux Close in Eleebana listed with Nelson Woods and Anthony Di Nardo sold at auction for $1.38 million.

In Belmont, LJ Hooker Belmont agent Steven Georglas’ listing of a three-bedroom home at 50 Deane Street drew six registrations and sold for $60,000 above reserve for $720,000.

Suburbs of Newcastle experienced strong auction activity.

Creative Property listing agent Lucas Gresham’s auction of a semi-detached two-bedder in original condition 106 Mitchell Street in Stockton drew six parties, with the bidding starting at $725,000 before it was sold for $860,000.

Two of the biggest auction results of the week were recorded in Tighes Hill and Carrington.

A renovated four-bedroom house at 50 Union Street in Tighes Hill listed with Lyndall Allan at Salt Property sold at auction for $1.775 million.

In Carrington, a three-bedroom townhouse in the Dockside development at 42/1 Forbes Street listed with Graeme Brownlow at Walkom Real Estate sold for an undisclosed sum understood to be in excess of $1.8 million.

This article was originally published on view.com.au.