Online auctions take off
Sellers like immediacy of this method of trading property
● Savvy property buyers in SA have taken to acquiring a home or commercial property through online auctions with alacrity, says MC du Toit, CEO of auctions & sales for
BidX1 SA.
“Sellers also appreciate the immediacy of transactions via this method, as auction properties are not sold ‘subject to contract, finance or survey’. When a lot is sold, a legal and binding contract has been formed and so both buyers and sellers have peace of mind knowing there will be no negotiations back and forth.”
BidX1 SA’s next auction takes place on September 11 when close to 50 properties — many in prime locations and sought-after suburbs and estates — are available for purchase.
They include an impressive selection of residential and commercial properties right around the country. They range from modest to luxury houses and apartments, including upmarket homes on secure lifestyle estates, to vacant stands such as a prime 23.8ha development site in Chartwell North, near Steyn City and Dainfern, with a reserve price of R10m.
Du Toit says among highlights of various properties featured is a uniquely styled fourbedroom, four-bathroom home set on an erf of 1,982m² in Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate in Kempton Park, with a reserve price of R7.75m, which is probably more than 50% below estimated replacement value.
Only 10 minutes from OR Tambo International Airport and conveniently positioned between Johannesburg and Pretoria, this 2,809ha conservation area has a variety of buck and bird life with dams around the course stocked with fish for catch-and-release fishing. With state-ofthe-art security, a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course and private Curro School for preschool to high school, the estate includes a clubhouse with bars and restaurants.
Adds Du Toit: “Another noteworthy property offering excellent value is a sixbedroom, six-bathroom double-storey house in idyllic St Francis Bay, with a reserve price of R2.1m. Included in the bid price is the adjacent stand, which will allow for further development to the existing property or to build another home.”
St Francis Bay is well positioned midway between Port Elizabeth and Knysna.
Other good buying opportunities offering sound value include a three-bedroom, twobathroom spacious penthouse in Morningside, Sandton, with an opening bid of R4m.
In Knysna on the scenic Garden Route, with a reserve price of R1.65m, is a twostorey, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in an elevated position on a spacious stand, with sweeping views over Knysna.
Another coastal property on auction is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with separate flatlet and garaging for four cars, well located in Shelly Beach, Margate, on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast, with an opening bid of R900,000.
In Bloemfontein, a three-bedroom, twobathroom house in a secure, upmarket retirement estate, Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate, goes under the hammer with a reserve price of just R1.4m.
Ideal for development is a 1,915m² vacant plot in a private panhandle in Monte Sereno, an upmarket suburb in Somerset West in the Cape winelands. With exceptional mountain and sea views, this prime site has a reserve price of R2.5m.
Also on auction is an exclusive sixbedroom, five-bathroom family home with swimming pool, tennis court, bar and entertainment area in Meyersdal, Alberton, available to purchase with an opening bid of R4m.
In renowned Arabella Golf Estate near Hermanus is another exclusive home with four bedrooms and five bathrooms, with an opening bid price of R3m.
Commercial properties include industrial premises in Wellington Industrial Park in the Cape winelands and four consolidated erven on 4,276m² with hotel zoning in Bainskloof Pass, about an hour and a half from Cape Town on the scenic route between Wellington and Ceres/Worcester. The property is situated in two nature reserves, with proposed plans for a 60-key lodge and conference centre available as well as approved subdivision of the stand.