The Block shock as Polly & Waz sell the only house at auction
There were cheers, tears, and a proposal but Polly & Waz win The Block in a shock result at auction. UPDATE: Katrina & Amie's house sells post-auction for $860,000.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Polly & Waz have won The Block 2011.
Their property sold for $855,000 which was $15,000 above their reserve price of $840,000
They win $100,000 for making the most above their profit.
But the evening, filmed last night at Fitzroy Town Hall, was a night of high drama with a staggering 3 of 4 properties passed in at auction.
It was full of drama with cheers, tears, a proposal and a man in a hot pink suit.
Directly before their auction Josh proposed to Jenna in a moment of surprise emotion. With her family watching on via the auction monitor, Jenna said ‘Yes.’
Results:
Josh and Jenna: Passed in at $901,000
37 Cameron Street
Reserve: $950,000
Polly & Waz: Sold for $855,000
39 Cameron Street
Reserve: $840,000
Katrina & Amie: Passed in at $822,000
41 Cameron Street
Reserve: $860,000
Rod and Tania: Passed in at $832,000
43 Cameron Street
Reserve: $850,000
Rod and Tania also won a car following an online vote from viewers.
The couples had all elected where the order of the auction, with Rod and Tania nominating the final place. Josh and Jenna opted for first.
The outcome will be much as a disappointment to viewers as it was to the couples. After such high ratings it ended as an anti-climax, and contrasts to previous seasons where couples have walked away with sums up to six figures.
Amie summed it up best by saying, “A waste of time, really, isn’t it….?”
Being passed in at auction was not new to The Block. Last year a Vaucluse apartment was also passed in, but sold privately several days later.
Nine’s high profile night of television also included promos for The Farmer Wants a Wife, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and The Joy of Sets.
UPDATED: Soon after the final auction Katrina and Amie’s estate agent Glen Coutinho, from Hocking Stuart, announced that they had negotiated the sale of their home for $860,000.
90 Responses
The $3.6 mil included the 4 houses and a vacant parcel of land. Building has begun on the vacant land so Nine would have already sold that parcel.
These houses were at knock down stage and that’s what should have been done with them. Havea look at them on Google St View and the area they are in. They would be nice homes in another street.
And as for the farce of Molly Meldrum living behind them, well, he’s a couple of streets away.
Being that Polly’s father is the high profile Channel 9 Today Show Doctor it may be he who bought her house after all there was $100,000.00 dollars to win and makes for a reasonable investment………worth a thought.
I liked Polly and Waz and was glad that they won. Though I do feel sorry for the others. I’m not familiar with the market in Richmond, but it seemed like the people who were bidding for or on hehalf didn’t seem that keen on getting anywhere near the reserve price.
It would be good if someone could do a special on the last 3 series and what the houses look like now and if there’s been any problems.
I think next year there needs to be room prizes each week, so in addition to getting extra money on their budgets like this year, they get a prize to keep for themselves as well (holiday, cash, etc).
Then even if the houses didn’t sell, its not like they would have walked away with nothing if they win a few best rooms – which during the show seemed to be the most important thing to do each week, even though in the end it had no relevance when it comes to selling a property.
The Block got it wrong. It doesn’t help the real estate game. Let the producers work for nothing and have a life experience. It was all for nothing, wasn’t it?
It is obvious that the quotes were not looked at again.
Very dissappointed but I seriously expected the market to dictate the end result as it has done. However I had expected the producers to do the same and therefore have a more realistic reserve, making it a pleasure to watch rather than the slaughtering that was witnessed. They already creamed the ratings and made a heap on advertising at the hard work of others. And if they did gag the bidders as stated above that was the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. That is where the buying really happens.
Polly and Waz winning was an absolute shock to me, but as the contestants said many times…This is the Block and anything can happen. It certainly did. I thought most of the comments made by the judges were valid and therefore I now ask myself what are people looking for in a property. Although it may have been that buyers were only in a certain price bracket and Polly and Waz got lucky on the lower value house and reserve. I am happy for them though. They seem really nice caring people.
I agree with the statement made earlier based on banks not lending for anything that is not fixed to the property, ie. furniture etc. I can only imagine that a big chunk of money was wasted there, based on bids, however I guess it would be a tax deduction for the show. Maybe rental furniture would have been a better option and so used as presentation like everyone else does that is selling, rather than including it. This result proves that the renovation movement is no longer to be seen in the same light as previous years and in fact risky if not undertaken with extreme care and due diligence.
Biggest mistake was that it was a closed auction did not allow anybody to just turn up and bid. Do not believe the reserves were too high, what are the prices around Richmond? Do not believe that Polly and Waz deserved to win. They should have spilt the $100k between all couples for all the work they put into the houses. The quiet achievers were Rod and Tania. They did not participate in any advertising i.e. McCafe, Toyota, Windows 7, just worked on their house and still participated in the Challenges while all the other couples had the contractors working on their house for them.
reserves too high, too many gawkers and not enough bidders.
sorry to see the other 3 fizzle out after all that work.
congrats to polly and waz, but really the price they got for their house was lower than the reserve on the others (just over Rod and Tanias). That to me says a lot – not that they’re place was better, it was just cheaper! Where were those people who said they would spend up to blah blah – didn’t see them bidding anywhere near that! Sometimes auctions work, sometimes they don’t, what an abrubt end to an overextended week.
The whole auction seemed like a stuff up. Put realistic reserves on the properties to get the people bidding. They took the control away from the renovators completely and made them look like gooses.The market is up and down anyway all over Australia You could see what happened when the house hit the reserve and people knew it was theirs for the taking if they wanted it bad enough. A very disapointing outcome for the renovators and a slap in the face for the producers. Who cares if they sold for a bit under market value???? Channel nine would’ve made money on the show anyway. Tossers!!!
We are in the worlds largest property bubble with the worlds highest housing prices and its all comming to an end.
Just glad millions of australians got to see the truth last night.
Weekly contestant wages of $500 a week are not why people sign up for these shows. They are looking for fame and fortune and whilst this show has rated over expectation the last week has shown it in decline as they have focussed on the contestants outside of the so called “competition”. Give them a couple of more weeks exposure in channel nine owned magazines, a follow up story for a wedding or a baby and let them get back to their lives. We really don’t care that much.
Polly and Was deserved their win. All the couples were very like-able this year. I always tape these programmes and zip through them. Much more enjoyable without ads and promos.
P.S! Channel 9 would have been happier to give each contestant $115k than 3 couples getting 0 because they knew it would be better for The Block brand. Which to them is worth an extra $345k. But once you do that you completely mess with the integrity of the competition
Cry Cry Cry. Seriously?
This is a competition. A game. The contestants new this. They had the choice to do whatever they wanted with their properties.
Channel 9 had independent valuers, value each property before the start. Thus, creating a fair competition between the 4 couples.
How can anyone say Ch9 is responsible for what occurered?
A bank is only going to lend on the house and the land not the furnishing so there’s an inherent risk there that they expect to get more money for elements of the renovation that nobody can borrow against. Channel 9 should have set low reserves to make sure they had a happy ending, happy contestants and happy audiences. Surely they’ve made enough money in sponsorships and advertising.
@ Bret – People would have been paid weekly wages as they were not earning income, also they must have been getting money on all the toyota, mccafe and windows ads they were doing.
Slave Labour i think not.
Also if a person doesn’t win masterchef they win nothing,
if a if a person doesn’t win Australia’s got talent they win nothing,
if a person didn’t win big brother they win nothing.
Thats the way it goes.
The problem, as many have said, is the reserves. I think the prize system needs to change so that there is a prize for all teams given the work they put into the block. Maybe the winner of the block should be determined week by week by viewers and the final score determines the winning order, with say $100 000, $75 000, $50 000, and $25 000 as prize money. The auction could offer a fixed bonus prize to a team with the remaining profits going back into the production company to offset the teams prize money. I just think given the differences in the properties, the changes in the housing market, the differences of opinion as to reserves, just makes the current system and result more of a lottery.
Its an ugly housing market in Aus atm so you had to expect that
Shame on you chanel 9, your just too greedy.
This has been a great series this year, and how disapointing for all 4 couples, polly and waz may have won, but all that work for $15k, thats slave labor, and to the other 3 couples i would be kicking up a fuss and ask for some money for all your hard work. Chanel 9 paid too much for the block in the first place, i guess they paid a premium with 4 run down houses being sold together, someones head needs to roll for paying that much, surely chanel 9 have made a huge bundle already, they should have known what the market would pay and should have had a fair reserve so all 4 couples could make some good money.
I dont think many people will be watching next season chanel 9, redeem yourself and share some of your profits with all 4 couples
The biggest problem tonight was Nine’s attempt to gag the bidders. They always say when it comes to an auction the best person to bid on a house is the one that comes at the last minute. Nine didn’t allow that like in the first season in Sydney the whole town came out.
Tonight was epic fail for Nine. Sure Kat and Amie sold but they sold later on in the evening or today but that was for reserve price so they still win nothing! Nine need a good kick up the backside. This is torture to all contestants because they work so hard and then rewarded with nothing at all. I feel for the couples because Nine basically screwed them over.
I’m very sad for all 3 remaining contestants. They deserve better. I think the auction was mismanaged. There should have been more buyers. But I’m happy for Waz and Polly. Go Sydney!!!!! They are a lovely couple. But my favourite were Josh & Jenna. I wish them all the luck.
Tough for viewers of the series who have enjoyed the revamped format to have it end like that.
As for what to watch next? US fall premieres start in a week so there is a place to start. I want to like The Renovators but just never delivers on quality design and Top Design is awful.
the reserve was far too high, all these couples worked for nothing in past months, buying ‘the block” for 3.6 million was a mistake on ‘the blocks’ producers in the first place.
what happened to the 1.1million they all talked about last week.producers must have know from past and market value that they would not sell for million or so, shame of producers of show what a wast of time watching it and like someone said above I wonder how 7 is going to bag it on monday
Do you think the enquiries about the quality of the renovations might have affected the auction results?