‘P Lab’ marketing attracts considerable interest

‘Former P Lab goes under the hammer’ is not the usual marketing headline, but such brutal honesty seems to be working for two South Auckland real estate agents, with open homes busy and interest in their latest listing intensifying.

Julie Harris and Kim Vaireka of Century 21 Gold Real Estate in Manurewa have been tasked by overseas vendors to sell 83 Station Road in Papatoetoe. The downstairs basement of the contaminated property recently operated as a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory.

The well-located three-bedroom, 1930s’ character home sits on over quarter of an acre, but such attractive real estate language doesn’t make the listing’s highlights on Century 21’s website.

Instead, the property is promoted as a ‘bargain bunker’, ‘damaged dwelling’, ‘as is where is’, and ‘if you’re looking for land’ or ‘seeking to develop then we highly recommend you do your own due diligence.’

“We’re of course legally required to inform people of its undesirable status. However, we thought let’s take it a step further and actively promote it as a former P Lab, which seems to be working. We’ve probably already had 50 groups through our open homes, and I suspect it will be a very well attended auction,” says Ms Harris.

The 1,067sqm property will be auctioned onsite at 12 noon on Sunday 15 December. It will not be sold prior.

“The house is nearly 90 years old so does have some beautiful features and some people have talked about decontaminating and renovating it. However, its real value is in the size of the land and where it is. For a developer, it has a lot of residential intensification potential and possibilities,” she says.

The property is on a bus route, close to Papatoetoe’s train station and shops, and only a short drive to Middlemore Hospital.

To view Century 21’s listing of 83 Station Road, Papatoetoe, visit: https://www.century21.co.nz/property/residential/buy/nz/20/papatoetoe/477730

What will it go for? Well the property’s 2017 CV is $855,000 and the vendors are motivated to sell, but the price feedback so far has been wide-ranging.

Ms Harris says if the sale price at auction exceeded the CV that would be a good day.

“But who knows? What we do know is if you remove the house, you totally remove the problem. Then you’re left with over quarter of an acre in a part of Auckland where affordable housing is in high demand. The auction is set to be an exciting one and may just surprise us,” says Julie Harris.

https://manurewa.century21.co.nz/

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