What started with a cheeky $1 bid turned into a $232,000 house purchase much to the relief of a Waikato Hospital nurse and a very nervous real estate agent today.

The 'no reserve' auction was a marketing ploy by Lodge real estate agent Trevor Palmer who chose the unusual sales tactic on his own property in Frankton.

"I was nervous, especially after the first couple of weeks where there was very little interest in the property," Palmer said.

But widespread media coverage lured more than 50 potential buyers, including nurse Anne-Marie Wilsem, to the Hamilton auction yesterday.

"I saw an ad for the auction and thought it sounded just right, so I went along with a friend to an open home and I was impressed - it gave me a good gut feel," she said.

Both vendor and purchaser were "rapt" with the outcome, though Wilsem said she would have liked the gavel to have been dropped slightly earlier.

"I was hoping I might get the property for around $220,000 but I was thinking more realistically around the 230 to $240,000 mark," she said.

For Palmer, the final price was higher than the reserve he would have set, but lower than the $249,000 price he would have set had he not gone to auction.

He said setting the no reserve terms was about having confidence in both the Hamilton real estate market and the auction process.

"Would I do it again? I'm not sure, but the property sold and the novelty did what it was supposed to do by generating a lot of interest," he said.

Wilsem, who has been a nurse for 30 years, purchased the three-bedroom home on Rhode St as an investment to sit alongside her own home in Hillcrest and another rental in Whangamata.

"I do follow the property market and the returns are better than having money in the bank," she said.

As for the no reserve tactic, she said the ploy only endeared her to the property more.

"It was a risk, and I like risk takers," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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