The roof is no longer attached to the walls, and the backyard is overrun with weeds, but this central Wellington bungalow is attracting plenty of would-be buyers, despite a current rateable value of $540,000.
Interested buyers cannot even look inside the 1930s three-bedroom house in inner-city Mt Cook, after Wellington City Council deemed it was dangerous and earthquake-prone late last year.
But the 296-square-metre section it sits on in Wallace St is flat, next door to a bus stop and dairy, a short walk from Wellington High School, and zoned for Wellington College.
Listing agent Everard Aspell said he had received dozens of inquiries about the house within only two days of listing it.
"At this stage, it's about 90 per cent who want to bowl it, and 10 per cent who are thinking they might be able to restore it," he said.
"To me, it looks like a pull-down job, but you never know what someone with architecture experience might be able to do.
"It would be nice to see it fixed up. It's a nice bungalow, but it has just been let go."
The house is a Californian bungalow, a style that was popular in New Zealand from the 1910s to 1930s, and Aspell believes it has a redwood timber exterior. The current rateable value (RV) is $540,000, with the land alone valued at $380,000.
"It's only been two days and I've had a lot of phone calls and quite a few showings," he said.
"The turnover rate in Mt Cook is quite high, so it's quite rare for a house to go on the market after 50 years."
The seller is an elderly woman who had lived in the house since 1966 but had vacated late last year.
With its paint-chipped exterior and backyard overrun with weeds, the 296sqm property would require a lot of love to ...
The property remains fully furnished, untouched since it was abandoned in December.
"I wouldn't have a clue what exactly is in there, but they have told me there's a lot of stuff," Aspell, of the Ray White agency, said.
The fact that he could not show potential buyers through the house did not bother him, as it had helped streamline the viewing process.
"It saves a lot of time. It really is 'what you see is what you get'."
He said the owner had no expectations on how much the property might sell for, but he believed many people would see the potential in the site.
"Under the council regulation, you're allowed to put up one unit as a right, and two units with resource consent, so there's a lot of scope."
The property is set to be sold by tender on March 31.
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