20-lot site goes at auction for ‘bargain price of $360k
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Old Mountain Estates, a proposed 20-lot residential neighborhood north of Old Mountain Road in Richmond, previously sold at auction for $550,000 in 2002.
Posted: Thursday, August 23, 2012 10:30 am | Updated: 11:03 am, Thu Aug 23, 2012.
RICHMOND — They stood under the shade of two trees on a dead-end road, watching the bidding war unfold.
“315,” said one man, his bids guided by a caller on the other end of a cell phone.
“Do I hear 320?” auctioneer Justin Manning called out.
A hand-wave from the back of the group signaled the high bid, as the stakes continued rising in $5,000 increments. In the end, two men from Lincoln and Cranston walked away with a 112-acre parcel of pristine woodland off Fox Ridge Road for just $360,000. The property has an assessed value of $875,400.
Wednesday’s auction by J.J. Manning Auctioneers of Yarmouth Port, Mass., sold off Old Mountain Estates, a proposed 20-lot residential neighborhood north of Old Mountain Road. The property previously sold at auction for $550,000 in 2002, and its owners received initial approvals for a subdivision design in 2007 that preserves 96 acres as undeveloped open space.
With a buyer’s premium and other fees, the final sales price is $396,000. The sale is expected to close by Oct. 5.
Winning bidders Ernie Nadeau, of Lincoln, and Wayne Salo, of Cranston, said they plan to build housing on the property and keep the lots wooded so they’re attractive to buyers – but not right away.
“Another $5,000 and we would have walked away,” Nadeau said of the bidding war.
Manning opened the bidding at $800,000, but quickly cut the sum in half twice. Seven bidders were registered to make wagers, but only three or four offered bids; the auction drew about 25 people.
The property is currently owned by F&S Enterprises Inc., of Lincoln. More than $30,000 in unpaid property taxes owed on the parcel will be paid out of proceeds from the sale.
Michael Colasante, whose Fox Ridge Road home sits next to Old Mountain Estates, wanted to buy the parcel and maintain most of it as open space. He was willing to pay as much as $250,000.
“I wanted to grow fruit trees and just leave it, and maybe take a few acres for myself,” said Colasante, a restaurateur.
Sean Portley, a real estate broker for Residential Properties Ltd. of Barrington who watched the auction, said he thought the property would sell closer to a half-million dollars.
“I thought $360,000 was low, yet I talked to a builder who thought it was high,” he said.
The new owners need preliminary and final approval from Richmond’s Planning Board in order for any new homes to be built.
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