Harcourts Real Estate agent Carl Wilson said the dilapidated pre-1914 property at 126 O’Hara St in Invercargill had received plenty of attention.
"I knew when I listed it, that it could appeal to a renovator, but it would be a very, very courageous person who took that on ...
"The bones were OK. It needed to be re-roofed, re-clad. It needed everything you can think done to it.
"Those houses were all built out of heart rimu. It was just Rolls-Royce wood.
"But something that’s been let go that much, you just don’t know what’s in behind or underneath that.
"It was a solid old girl. It’s a shame in a way it’s being pulled down ... but you’ve got to be practical sometimes."
The relatively borer-free but abandoned and derelict property had been in the same family for decades, but needed to be sold as part of an estate.
Vandals had broken into the house to strip out copper piping and the hot-water cylinder, he said.
"I made it quite open to everybody interested. The bidding would start at $100,000 and that would be the reserve."
Mr Wilson believed a clear section may have achieved a higher price.
The old real estate saying of buying the worst house on the street certainly fitted, he said.
He understood the level quarter-acre (1011sq m) section would be used to develop two or three townhouses like those on a section directly opposite.
"Invercargill tends to implode rather than explode. That’s why you’re seeing these big sections being snapped up."
Buyers and developers were starting to move away from the south versus north Invercargill location aversion.
South city had seen a lot of property development in recent years where newly developed properties were selling for up to $700,000.
Mr Wilson was unsure when the building would be demolished, or how that would happen.
"I’m sure a lot of people on the street are going to be quite pleased when it’s gone."
By Toni McDonald
