24/19 Orchid Ave, Surfers Paradise will be sold at a no-reserve auction
It could sell for less than the price of your morning coffee, but this beachside apartment is hiding a $53,900-a-year financial black hole.
The renovated Surfers Paradise unit is headed to a rare no-reserve auction where the hammer could legally fall at $1, but the buyer will inherit annual holding costs that outstrip the property’s maximum rental income by nearly $15,000.
Located at 24/19 Orchid Ave in the Ocean Pacifique building, the one-bedroom apartment carries mind-blowing holding costs including $49,000 body corporate fee, $2,900 for council rates, and $2,000 for utilities.
Beach views with a massive catch
Selling agent Sam Tahana, of Ray White Malan + Co, said the exorbitant strata levies were partly tied to ongoing maintenance and management issues.
“The building is run-down, it needs work to the pool and the balustrading among other issues, and it has been like that for a while,” Mr Tahana said.
“A significant portion of the body corporate fees goes to admin and caretaker fees.”
With rental appraisal at $750 a week or $39,000 annually, the incoming owner will be slugged with a minimum out-of-pocket shortfall of $14,900, without factoring in mortgage costs.
Property records show the vendors have made multiple failed attempts to exit the market since purchasing the unit for $420,000 in October 2024.
The owners bought it as a holiday rental prospect
Cheap … but perhaps not so cheerful
The colourful beachside pad was listed with an asking price of $515,000 just five months after changing hands, before being up for rent at $750 a week. Another sales pitch was launched by December 2025, this time with the asking price slashed to $459,000.
“It was the owners’ first investment and they wanted to flip it and Airbnb it before all this happened, but they are sick of the internal politics and they just want out,” Mr Tahana said.
It’s now gone to a last-ditch no-reserve auction on June 4, meaning the property must legally be sold to the day’s highest bidder, regardless of how low the final bid lands.
“I’ve told the vendor of all the risks involved and they agreed to it,” Mr Tahana said. “If someone puts in a $50 bid and no one else bids, then that’s what they will sell it for.”
There’s one bedroom and one bathroom but no car space
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Historically, investors could use negative gearing to offset an annual loss against their personal taxable income. But if 2026 federal reforms restricting these deductions are passed, the incoming owner will be forced to absorb the full out-of-pocket loss with no tax shield.
Despite the grim financial metrics, the prospect of a cut-price coastal asset was generating unexpected inquiry, Mr Tahana said.
“The long and short of it is, there are three massive selling points: one, the view; two, how cheap it could be; and three, the location, being so close to the Esplanade and the beach.
“I didn’t think investors would touch this thing, but there has been some inquiry from interstate buyers looking at it as an Airbnb and then to use it themselves when they fly in.
“And then funnily enough, owner-occupiers too, which just baffles me,” he said.
PropTrack data shows the median unit price in Surfers Paradise has jumped 13.7 per cent to $613,750.
One-bedders in the building next door are selling for $550,000, the agent says.
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