Tear-down up for auction: Burnaby home for sale to highest bidder

Bidders came up short in an auction for 6707 Burford St., a tear-down on a corner lot listed at $1.699 million.

A Burnaby home will be up for auction on Wednesday in one of the first-ever sales of its kind in Metro Vancouver.

The highest bidder will take possession of the home at 6707 Burford St., a tear-down on a corner lot listed at $1.699 million.

Located in the Upper Deer Lake area of the city, the property's value is mostly in its land. The house is listed as "little or no value," and is "unlivable," the listing agent says. But the 50-ft.-by-149-ft. lot is located in a quiet neighbourhood, near schools, transit and shopping.

The home will be sold off later this week in an event hosted by Able Auctions, a common practice in Australia and the U.K., but not in the Vancouver area.

"In my 35 years in business, I've never seen one locally," realtor Greg Klemke told CTV News on Monday.

The owner decided to sell by auction in an effort to capitalize on Metro Vancouver's red-hot housing market. Auctions allow the seller to dictate the terms and conditions of the sale, with a closing date of 10 days after the offer is accepted.

The seller is paying real estate commissions of $20,000, which is "quite a bit reduced" from the rate seen in traditional sales, Klemke said.

The move may also bring a higher selling price if bidders are drawn into the competitive spirit of an auction.

"I guess we're going to wait and see if that's true," Klemke said. "We've had a number of enquiries, basically all from builders."

Though bidding wars are not uncommon in a housing market like Vancouver's, the biggest difference with this sale will be the transparency. In this case, potential buyers will know exactly what bidders are offering.

The upside for buyers, Klemke said, is that a successful bidder may end up buying the home for "just a hair over what the next highest bidder was prepared to pay."

Knowing what the competition is offering means bidders won't be making offers blindly, hoping to beat other bids without knowing what they are.

However, some worry that the emotional process of trying to buy a home may be even more frantic with would-be buyers facing off on the front lawn.

"What makes bidders step up is knowing someone else is willing to pay a similar price," Able Auctions owner Jeremy Dodd said.

But bidders failed to "step up" in Victoria last week when a heritage mansion was pulled from the auction block when only one bidder showed up to the event.

Approximately 2,000 people visited the six-bedroom home during the open houses, but when it came time to put in a bid, only one person was interested. Instead, the sole bidder is working with the owner to negotiate the sale of the home.

On the mainland, hundreds of anxious eyes are expected to be watching the auction on Wednesday, Dodd said.

"We're getting multiple calls. Everybody's waiting to see how this goes... I don't know what to expect, we've never done it before."

Those interested in bidding on the home must register by 5 p.m. on Tuesday. More information is available online.

The auction takes place Wednesday at noon on the property, but bidders can make offers online as well.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Mi-Jung Lee