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Warwick Smith/Stuff
Bledisloe Street, Levin, a neighbourhood getting back to normal, in the aftermath of a police standoff with a Bledisloe Street resident.
A dilapidated Levin house that was the focal point of a 24-hour standoff with armed police, has sold at auction for $276,000.
The police tape is long gone, but the charred doorway and boarded-up windows make it clear little else has changed since a man was pulled from a fire at the Bledisloe St address on August 5, 2022, following an intense standoff.
Paul Kenneth Smith, 62, had barricaded himself in his late mother’s house, making a number of threats which led to police locking down the street and evacuating 80 residents.
The house was sold “as is, where is” at auction on Wednesday by Wilton & Co Reality. Advice in the listing said it was an opportunity “not for the faint-hearted”.
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The three-bedroom home, on an 820-square-metre section with a ratable value of $320,000, had sustained smoke damage and water damage, and asbestos had also been detected.
Auctioneer Tina Chamberlain said the auction attracted 37 bids from eight interested parties, five of whom were in the room, and three were on the phone.
The majority were attracted by the property’s development potential, by knocking down the house and subdividing.
“It’s a phenomenal result for a home not viewed internally, that’s structurally compromised with fire damage and asbestos.”
Chamberlain said there was room for two, possibly three, homes on the site.
WARWICK SMITH/Stuff
Emergency services on Bledisloe Street on August 5 last year after an intense standoff with police ends in flames.
Salesperson Adriana Wilton said it was unusual to be selling a property where a respirator and torch were required to enter the house.
“It’s definitely not open home material.”
She said sale by auction was a great way to be open with potential buyers on the state of the house, while also securing the best price for the estate.
DAVID UNWIN
Bledisloe Street in Levin is closed off by police as they negotiate with a man who has barricaded himself in his home. (First published, August 5, 2022)
Houses listed “as is, where is” typically had substantial damage due to a natural disaster or neglect.
Wilton said a new owner would be “starting from scratch” in respect to the interior of the house. There was still some furniture and other items that the family will clear before settlement.
Paul Smith’s occupation of the house came to a fiery end. Onlookers saw orange flashes followed by smoke and a burning smell as the tenant was rushed to hospital with smoke inhalation.
He remains in custody, on a variety of charges, while the court decides if he is fit to stand trial.
Stuff
The windows of the house were boarded up by the former owner’s son when it was on the market.
Much of his distress stemmed from his fight to stay in the house amid a four-year dispute with his brother Thomas Smith over the property, following the death of their mother Veronica Smith in 2017.
Paul Smith had been made the sole executor of his mother’s will but failed to carry out his duties, which included selling the house and distributing and splitting the residue with his brother.
The high court stripped him of the role in 2021, and in April 2022 Paul Smith was ordered to vacate the property as his presence, which included boarding up the windows, made it impossible for the administrator to sell it.
Chamberlain said Wilton & Co had done a fantastic job marketing the property, and that it was uncommon to have eight people bidding on an auction in the current market.
The winning bid came from someone dialling into the auction by phone.
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