Sydney auctions: Hoarder home full of junk sells for millions
A shock auction has set jaws dropping after a hoarder home needing millions in repairs sold for way more than the recent price for a similar-size, renovated home on the same street.
An uninhabitable hoarder’s house in Paddington filled with junk and requiring millions in repairs has sold at auction for a whopping $3.85m.
It’s a higher price than the circa $3.5m recently paid for a similar-sized fully intact terrace a few houses down with modern finishes, records showed.
The former hoarder home on Windsor St was reported to have once been filled with floor to ceiling furniture and stored items.
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It took the family of the original hoarder owner nearly four years to clean into a more presentable condition, although listing images revealed much of the interior was still crammed with items.
Tracey Butcher, whose father Donald had collected the items, told the Sunday Telegraph in the weeks before the auction that he “held onto everything”.
“It was just one of those things. He grew up in the depression,” she said.
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Selling agent John Cannizzaro of Montano Group said the general consensus from those who inspected the home in the lead up to the auction, mostly builders, was that repairs would cost $1m-$2m.
Most of the seven registered bidders were professional builders but they were outbid by a family, who were given the keys after a final bid $25,000 higher than the underbidder’s best offer.
The family were reported to be planning a renovation and are considering giving the home to their teenage children when they become adults. The price was $400,000 over reserve.
Auctioneer Clarence White said it was a “fascinating” result.
“I honestly never thought it would go that high,” he said. “It’s completely dilapidated, full of junk. It needed a renovation from front to back.”
Mr White said the appeal for buyers was all in the footprint of the home. “Buyers were paying for the scale and location. It’s one of Paddington’s best streets. Maybe even the best.”
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Mr Cannizzaro said it was hard to determine what the home would be worth when renovated. “Paddington can be quite political with prices. It’s actually impossble to know at this point,” he said.
Originally published as Sydney auctions: Hoarder home full of junk sells for millions