Smart gimmicky $1 Blacktown reserve Valentine's Day auction sells for $565,000

Smart gimmicky $1 Blacktown reserve Valentine's Day auction sells for $565,000
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

The Blacktown, Sydney vendor - who advertised a $1 reserve price ahead of today's auction - secured $565,000 on his investment property.

Vendor Neil Tyagi purchased the four bedroom 1960s Blacktown home 11 years ago, for $310,000 in November 2004, reflecting 6% annual price growth.

It was $5000 more than what he wanted - $560,000 - when it was initially listed unsuccessfully in early November last year.

The opening bid was, no surprise, $1, then jumping to $30.

The eventual buyer first bid at $400,000. There were 35 registered parties, with around 14 managing a bid, in what proved to be a marketing masterstroke by the relieved selling agent Raj Bhandari who said he didn't want a "textbook auction."

With 384 of the results reported, Domain Group's APM put the preliminary clearance rate at a strong 83.2 per cent, up from the revised 81.2 percent of the prior Saturday.  The Blacktown suburb's median house price sits at $537,000, according to CoreLogic RP Data, up 3.8% annually on the $355,000 median in 2004, so an above trend growth price was secured at the auction.

"It is a high risk," the agent proffered about the stunt, adding he hoped there would be over 100 in attendance.

The taxi business owner and vendor Neil Tyagi suggested the $1 reserve was intended to inject some fun back into auctions, although the NSW Fair Trading sent a stern letter advising it must be sold.

"Buying a property should be fun. I wanted to do something different, and I've never heard of a property setting a $1 reserve. Sydney home buyers attend so many boring textbook auctions. I want the auction of my home to have a lively, exciting atmosphere that everyone will enjoy and remember – not just the lucky buyers on the day," he said.

Starr Partners Fairfield auctioned the property.

Agent Raj Bhandari throught "with a reserve of just $1, bidding on the day is likely to start out low and pick up quickly."

"We are confident with our marketing and sales strategies and know that there will be plenty of competition on the day to help the vendor achieve an optimum result," he said pre-auction.

Some industry players suggested the $1 dollar disclosed reserve was underquoting to get buyers in, which Raj Bhandari said misrepresented the listing motive. Other suggested unless surrendered, it was possible despite the reserve, for the vendor to place a vendor bid at a price that could see the property passed in.

"This is the first time in NSW that the home is going to auction with a $1 reserve," Raj Bhandari said.

"It means that after the first bid of $1.00 the home will be out of the hands of the vendors and into the hands of the bidders.

"The home will sell to the highest bidder on the day, no ifs no buts."

At busy 230 Blacktown Road has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a double garage, and is set on a 571 square metre block.

The property is currently rented at $440 per week. It was first available for rent at $425 a week in late 2012.

A nearby three bedroom brick house on 575 square metres fetched $568,000 late last year.

Its late 2004 purchase price came as the Sydney boom was flagging out west, it having been listed at $395,000 in early 2004.

The 2004 listing agent Con Koulendianos advised Property Observer it was a "pretty flat time."

"Prices had hit a wall and didn't really recover until 2009," he said.

Now selling at Rouse Hill, he said many Blacktown vendors have relocated there over recent years. The current vendors have relocated to Quakers Hill.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

Editor's Picks