Andrew Crowhurst, centre, calls the auction at 19 Hopkins St, Corio, with help from penciller Stephen Thomas, left, and selling agent Edmund Hapsburg.
A Corio house was snapped up for just $340,000 on Saturday. But it’s not the price that will bring welcome relief to neighbours.
The three-bedroom house at 19 Hopkins St is buried amid an overgrown garden that hides all sorts of items collected by the former resident had hoarded over the years, including five cars parked on the block.
And inside the house is not much better, with Internet House Sales agent Edmund Hapsburg offering just one hour during the campaign for potential buyers to inspect “to the front door only”.
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Auctioneer Andrew Crowhurst said the transportable home was erected on the site in the 1960s. It has a three bedrooms, one bathroom a living room and a kitchen
“This one has been of interest to the neighbours. Obviously, they’d love to see the site cleaned up,” he said.
“There is a lot of stuff inside the home. It does need to be cleaned out, which Edmund has made you aware of.”
A notice of possession was placed next to the gate of the property at 19 Hopkins St, Corio. The overgrown garden hides items collected by the hoarding previous resident, including five vehicles.
The buyers were among of five groups to bid for the 671sq m property at Saturday’s auction.
But the opening offers even caught the seasoned auctioneer off guard as bargain hunters were looking to turn back the clock to a prices not seen in decades.
Bidding opened at $175,000, but Mr Crowhurst politely chucked several times as bidders increased the price by as little as $1000.
“Let’s go at $175,000,” he said after taking the opening bid, “It’s probably 10 years since we’ve taken a bid like that.”
A notice of possession was placed next to the gate of the property at 19 Hopkins St, Corio. The overgrown garden hides items collected by the hoarding previous resident, including five vehicles.
After a series of small bids that took the price to $188,000, the eventual buyer entered the race at $220,000.
Mr Hapsburg had set the price guide at $325,000 to $357,000 for the 671sq m block.
But the property was called on the market at the vendor’s $300,000 reserve.
The vendor, Pelican Investments, had taken possession of the property in July, placing a notice on the front fence.
The owner, who had died in hospital several months ago, had been a hoarder for many years, even fronting court in 2018 after he promised to clean up the site after ignoring City of Greater Geelong clean-up orders issued in a fire prevention notice.
A notice of possession was placed next to the gate of the property at 19 Hopkins St, Corio. The overgrown garden hides items collected by the hoarding previous resident, including five vehicles.
The buyers are going to clear the block and demolish the house, which will be welcome news to the neighbourhood.
“We’re going to knock it down and build some townhouses,” the buyer said.
“It’s cheap. I think the land value was $397,000 in the technical valuation.
“A lot of people with properties like this get scared and also it is hard to get bank finance with things like this – especially in the current market where they’ll come in and say we’ve got no equity here.
“If there was a house could you rent it at $350 a week and if the buyer defaults they can sell the house.”
Houses recently sold in the surrounding streets had achieved anywhere between $460,000 up to almost $600,000 in the suburb where the median house price is $485,000, according to PropTrack.
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