Agent Gunther Behrendt from Ray White described this WWII-era cottage in the Brisbane, Australia suburb of Dutton Park, 25km from the Central Business District, as “the worst house on the best street.”
He didn’t even opt for “renovator’s delight” in the marketing, instead skipping the usual patter to say “there’s no way to sugar-coat this”. The house is structurally unsafe to enter, with rotting timbers and a caved in floor, but it was “a huge opportunity for the savvy purchaser”.
But knocking it down requires council approval because the property pre-dates 1946. It belonged to one of the city’s longest serving firefighters, who lived there from the 1950s until 2005 and died recently.
But it seems interest in the 427sqm site at 50 Deighton Road was high, with Behrendt telling Domain.com.au that “I’ve never a seen a response as great as this. We are off the charts.”
There were 25 bidders at Saturday’s auction and the property sold for $AUD 668,000 (£308,000, $480,000) – $AUD 168,000 above reserve. Just six properties within a 500 metre radius have sold for more in the last 12 months.
It just goes to show that Sydney and Melbourne are not the only places in Australia with a hot property market.