Termites and a collapsed floor didn’t deter buyers from this dilapidated house

It had termites, and potential buyers were forbidden from inspecting the home due to it being deemed unsafe.

However, that didn’t deter 10 registered bidders from competing in an online auction to secure a dilapidated cottage in Belmont North.

The 727-square metre property was sold on behalf of the public trustee.

Listing agent Troy Reeves, of Altitude Real Estate, oversaw the sale of 16 Master Street which drew more than 120 enquiries throughout the auction campaign.

The bidding commenced at $400,000, which is well under Belmont North’s median house price of $892,000.

Eager first-home buyers on the hunt for an affordable renovation project were among those who enquired about the property.

“We had a high enquiry level, a lot of those were ambitious first-home buyers who came to have a look at it and said ‘Oh, no, it’s too far gone,” Mr Reeves said.

“The price point clearly attracted people.

“Anything sub $600,000, there’s not much available at that price on the coast any more between Caves Beach and Newcastle.”

The online auction drew 10 registered bidders but it came down to two buyers going head-to-head after it hit $500,000.

The property, which had been uninhabited for two decades, found a buyer who was willing to pay $522,500 for the run-down three-bedroom home.

“When you went to the house you could see it had been vacant for many, many years,” the agent said.

“There were no internal shots because it was considered too dangerous to go inside, so it was boarded up, but I did take a look inside and could see a lot of termite damage and missing tiles.

“When you walked down the side of the house, you could see either the kitchen or bathroom sink had fallen through the floor.

“It had a lot of issues.”

Although it was a prime contender for a knockdown rebuild, Mr Reeves said the purchaser hopes to renovate the existing house.

“Surprisingly, the buyer is going to try to retain the house,” he said.

“He is a local guy who is a chippy by trade and he does charity work overseas in third-world countries to help them learn skills in building, so it has gone to someone who sounds like a genuinely good guy.”

The agent said the result fell in line with his expectations.

“Looking at it as a block of land in that location, I was thinking $500,000 to $550,000,” he said.

“If it sold for $550,000, ultimately it’s a $600,000 block of land by the time you clear it, so that’s about where it sat.”

According to CoreLogic, house values in Belmont North have increased 73 per cent in the past five years.

Prices in the Lake Macquarie suburb have recorded an uptick of 13.3 per cent in the last 12 months.

“There are plenty of homes nearby that are worth between $1.3 million and $1.8 million, so that gave buyers confidence that spending the money wasn’t going to be over-capitalising,” the agent said.

“Although it was sold at $522,500, ultimately we needed a buyer with a budget of around $1 million by the time you did something with it.

“The price point attracted a lot of people but narrowed it down to those who could afford the total costs associated with it.”

This article originally appeared on view.com.au.