A gold coin might be enough to buy this Victorian country house at 1 Mansfield Rd, Benalla – but it comes with a catch.
A Victorian home has been listed for sale at the shockingly low asking price of just $1.
A three-bedroom house at 1 Mansfield Rd, Benalla, will be sold at auction within the next month with a gold coin potentially able to bid and buy the property.
But the damaged house, which is believed to have been the victim of arson, is unsound and too dangerous to inspect.
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Even the agents have not set foot in this house which looks intact from the front, but it is clear that it is damaged at the back and there are trails left by water filled with ash that spread flames in many rooms that were not yet burnt.
A drone had to be flown over the area to provide videos and photos of what was left.
Ray White Benalla director Peter Symes is handling the sale of the home, which last changed hands for $145,000 in 2018, and said that while no one was injured in the fire – the house will be a huge challenge to save.
Mr Symes said he had listed the houses for around $55,000-$60,000, but the auction reserve would be $1.
![1 Mansfield Rd, Benalla - herald sun real estate](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The back of the house is badly burned, and the fire is burning from the outside to the inside.
Inside one of the badly burned rooms, where black wooden posts can be seen.
“We can’t get people on site, it’s too dangerous to explore,” said Mr Symes.
“The integrity of the building is at risk and we don’t know to what extent.
“You can hit a house, and if you’re lucky and you can save it, you can do well with it.”
The agent said the current owners used it as an investment property and it was rented out when it burned down in July last year.
Mr Symes added that given the nature of the damage to the property, dealers were impressed with the idea of a low-cost auction – although this would be done online, rather than encouraging people to visit the potentially dangerous property for an in-person auction.
If it sells for $1, it will end up costing the new owners half a cent per square meter of the 300sq m allotment.
Fire and water damage is evident in the home’s kitchen.
One of the home’s living rooms has black streaks where ash, soot and water mixed and dripped down the walls during firefighting efforts.
But the agent said he expects a lot of interest from investors and shareholders, as well as tradies, making it difficult to be sure what he will sell for in the end.
“It’s a rare opportunity for someone,” said Mr Symes.
“And how often do you get a chance to pick something up anywhere in Australia for this price?
“Sellers approach it in a way, and ultimately they’re going to put it out there and let the market decide what it is.”
He said there are many chances that the tradie will try to save parts of the existing house, but the result may be a bulldozer that destroys it.
From there, he said a buyer can spend anywhere from a few thousand dollars to the six figures to either put a mobile home on the block — or build a new residence there.
With obvious damage to the roof, the building was deemed too unsafe to inspect.
The bathroom still looks perfect, if worse for wear.
Mr Symes said that either way, the buyer would benefit from Benalla growing strongly.
Ray White Victoria senior auctioneer Luke Banitsiotis will call the auction and said it was the first he had come across where he would offer a home for a gold coin, although he had called the auction unreserved for charity events.
“But I think it shows that the auctioneer has full faith in the auction process to deliver the result,” said Mr Banitsiotis.
“And it’s probably going to be a great marketing tool. And it’s a great opportunity for someone to build on.”
Real Estate Institute of Victoria president Toby Balasz said it was an “exciting approach” that highlighted the flexibility sellers should have when choosing to sell a home.
“If you want to clearly state your final destination – even if it’s a dollar – that’s fine,” said Mr Balasz.
“It shouldn’t be the government’s mandate to make it public.”
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