Muddifords Court near Tiverton in Devon is to be auctioned next month in a highly unusual move to attract buyers who might otherwise be waiting until the New Year to purchase a new property.
The house, which has already been fully restored, has been valued at £2m, and the current owners are hoping to generate a larger amount of interest through auctioning the property rather than offering it to the open market. The house is late Georgian by design and un-Listed. It has an entrance porch, great hall, drawing room, dining room, sitting room/playroom and kitchen with a utility room, snug and a cloakroom. The property has a master bedroom suite with six further bedrooms and four bathrooms (three en suite).
Outside is an excellent range of stables with potential for further boxes, versatile outbuildings, a cider barn, threshing barn and a wood store, as well as modern farm buildings and a workshop.
The grounds are extensive and include a walled garden, lake and paddocks, all in around five and a half acres.
The property sits in an attractive area in the Culm Valley near to the village of Halberton and the market town of Cullompton, and Exeter is just 21 miles away. There is a regular service to London Paddington from Tiverton Parkway which is just three miles from the house.
The auction is to take place at the property on December 4, and the reserve price is likely to be upwards of £1.5m, but owner George Coate is hoping that buyers after a bargain will be happy to bid anywhere between this and the valuation price. ‘We’re keen on getting people to come down on the 4th, have a look around the property, fall in love with it and put in an offer there and then. Usually owners only auction properties which are in need of repair, so this is unusual in that all the work’s been done and it’s ready to go.
‘We’re keen to get a buyer who has the funds, but who thought they would wait until after Christmas,’ he added.
Auctioning the property is also a good way of avoiding all the tricks buyers are using to knock cash off the agreed sale price. Often buyers claim the value has dropped during conveyancing, and Mr Coates hopes that exchange on the fall of the hammer will stop any attempts at gazundering. ‘We like to think the buyer will be getting enough of a bargain as things stand’ he commented.
Mr Coates has signed up Knight Frank to take care of the marketing of the property, and was touring London earlier today in a van with a trailer in an effort to drum up some interest for the event.
For further information please telephone Knight Frank in Exeter on 01392 848 823.
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