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Katrina & Amie sell house, but get no profit.

Nine sells Katrina & Amie's house for the reserve price -meaning the sisters net zero profit from the sale.

After The Block‘s shock result last night, there were more than a few tears amongst some of the contestants.

Just one house sold at the invite-auction, the home belonging to Polly & Waz.

All that work and heartache left several feeling sour. Amie and Katrina could barely hide their disappointment, with Amie admitting on-air, “A waste of time, really, isn’t it….?”

When you’ve been separated from partners and kids, it must be doubly crushing.

Last year couples profited between $47,000 and $205,000 (rising to $305,000 with the extra prize money).

Not long after Saturday night’s auction a private sale was liaised for Katrina & Amie of $860,000 -their reserve price. That means the sisters will leave with no cash from the Auction episode, but they were paid a base salary for their time on the show. It isn’t clear how much they may have made from commercial endorsements or what opportunities may yet surface from the show.

Nine’s official website hosts a very telling video in which host Scott Cam tries to lift their spirits after the property was passed in, telling them a property last year was sold for $90,000 profit. The scene was almost a mirror of 2010 when a blinking Cam couldn’t come up with anything to say when a property was passed in.

But Amie was unimpressed. “Just a waste of bloody time,” she says before walking away.

Yet the site trumpets the news of their sale: “Katrina and Amie looked bitterly disappointed when their property was passed in at The Block‘s grand finale, so it’s great news to hear that they sold their house after the auction.”

“Congratulations to the sisters!”

Somehow I doubt they are celebrating….

Homes built by Jenna and Josh and Rod and Tania are yet to be sold. While the former couple emerged with a wedding proposal, the latter won a car.

Host Scott Cam said: “Our hearts really go out to them all. Everybody on the show worked their guts out and we’re all shocked that there weren’t buyers for every home, although I’m sure there soon will be.”

Nine Network Managing Director Jeffrey Browne, said: “I am not surprised at the auction results given the recent decline in the Melbourne property market. But, these properties represent excellent value and I expect them all to be sold very soon. This is reality television at its most real.”

Nine and Watercress Productions paid $3.6m for the four Richmond properties, but will have made other revenue from advertising. The show has lifted the network from a sluggish ratings performance, and all eyes are on the figures to be released this morning, tipped to top the 2m mark.

“We all hoped that everyone would walk away from the show with some money,” Waz Jones told the Herald Sun.

“Everyone was genuinely happy for us but then everyone wanted to go off and see their families for a cuddle and some consoling. It’s fair to say there were a few tears.”

Amended.

27 Responses

  1. Well done Polly and Was. It is a game show and these contestants have done other deals….i.e. Womans Day etc. I think the outcome was just reflecting the very vunerable housing market at the moment. I very much enjoyed it.

  2. “Last year couples profited between $47,000 and $105,000 (rising to $205,000 with the extra prize money.”

    Didn’t John and Neisha get $205 000 profit last year, with another $100 000 winnings, making their total $305 000?

    Anyway, sad to see the outcome, especially after a blockbuster season (excuse the pun). However if you look at any other reality show (Biggest Loser, Idol, X Factor, Got Talent, etc), only the winner wins the money, while everyone else gets nothing. However I guess it’s different in the Block’s case which requires a lot of manual labour. Some people have been saying that the Block wont get any applicants for its 2012 season, however i doubt this will be the case. I’m sure a lot of young people (and even old) will want to be on it just for fun and the experience.

  3. @ Harry, I totally agree. I’m not surprised by the results and it should serve as a warning to the many that believe renovating property is a quick and easy way to make money. Property is very expensive in this country, so who would fork out top dollar for homes renovated by amateurs, some of which had no skills at all? Shoddy workmanship deserves no sale!

  4. @harry, spot on. Buying/renovating is extremely risky and only works if the area you buy in is rising in general. It is not a shortcut to riches, that’s for sure. Generaly, you do not make money because of the whiz-bang job you do on the reno, you make money because the area is desirable. It is often surprising how little value a full renovation adds to a house’s price.

  5. Pretty crappy location, even though it is Richmond. Wouldn’t want to view from my front window to be the rear entrance to a shopping centre car park…

  6. They should’ve put the reserves lower, but by doing that they end up risking underquoting and breaking auction laws in victoria, which are being enforced more vigorously these days.
    Alas, this is the melbourne property market at the moment.

  7. “Nine Network Managing Director Jeffrey Browne, said: “I am not surprised at the auction results given the recent decline in the Melbourne property market.”

    ..So the purpose of this show is what..to make fools of their hard working cast?

  8. @Neilo, they will have no trouble getting contestants to go on the show.There are plenty of wannabee stars ready to put there face on tv for fame and fortune , if of course thats what they end up getting.

  9. I think the reserve prices were set too high, considering the market at the moment. Nine is the real winner here, but without the Block I think Nine will go back to the ratings doldrums they have been in most of the year.

  10. Whilst I am dissapointed for the three couples, it just goes to show the risk that you take when you enter the property market and do a renovation. At least they were paid a salary (a very basic one) and the funds for the renovation were given to them. Imagine they were the developer and paid for the properties, holding costs and renovation and were not paid anything, they would have come out as bankrupts.
    These homes were complete dumps and were purchased for 900k each (3.6mil for 4) and could not get their asking price back let alone the hundreds of thousands spent on them.
    Let this be a warning to those who think they can make it rich by buying and renovating. Most people who make money doing this only do so as the property has gone up in value in a rising market, not because they added more value than they spent.

  11. I just don’t get everyone crying about how these game show contestants “wasted their time” and did it all for nothing. They got paid for their time (plus any endorsement deals, like that hideous Maccas ad some of them are involved in) and probably paid more than the average weekly wage at that. As for those properties not selling, it just goes to show that the multiple markets (real estate and television) involve different factors. People don’t buy property because it is associated with a TV show (or because the estate agent donates the commission to a charity), or because they ‘like’ the people involved in the renovation.

  12. They get paid to be on this show, the exposure they’ve been given, if they’re smart enough, could get them a few bucks.

    No, I don’t feel sorry for them. If they were only in it for the money and not for the experience – they do know not everyone can win…

  13. @MJR most T&C’s are immediate families…which usually mean those living in the same house or street address…but you raise a point, which iam sure other 9 haters will jump on…. but the point should be made…she is the daughter of a semi regular person for a segment on today…its not like it was someone’s daughter directly connected to the production of the Block….

  14. Well, well well, the only winners out of this are channel 9.

    Ripped off the lot of them.

    I would be wary in signing up to the Block.

    Unless you know reserved price at the start!!!!

  15. So what’s the alternative?

    Did anyone see the Renovators version of building a house last night?

    Four teams and four boxes full of Leggo blocks.

    Can’t wait to see the figures.

  16. What a shock.
    All that work and no money.Way to high reserves.
    I thought the venders place reserve.Who picked these figures.Was it CH 9.
    Also in most competitions any staff or relitives are excluded from entering just in case conflick
    Polly is related to nine today’s doctor as shown on today last week
    Just putting it out there?

  17. We all understand about reserve prices but the reality is the way the property market is in Melbourne at present, the reserve prices were ridiculous. If the reserve prices were more realistic Katrina and Amie could have won something.
    The producers need their buts kicked. Viewers will switch channels next year if they feel the contestants will be ripped off.

  18. while i love polly and waz, i was disappointed to see the results for the remaining 2 properties (not including j&j who were horrible to watch) – it really would have been nice to see rod and tania and katrina and amie win back a sum of money for their time and effort. k&a definitely were an entertaining couple to have this year!

  19. Come on folks, we are not too surprised by this. The show itself was very crappy and I don’t think I have seen such a lame ending to a so-called finale. It does however vindicate the pre auction quotes of the agents. It has also provided ch9 with a much needed ratings boost, so they will not give a stuff about the results.
    Who will be dumb enough to “waste their time” on the next series.

  20. im glad these two got nuthin…i watched for the last 10 min last night as the rest of the show was rubbish with a capital R,…..and all i heard was the dark haired one …whining…it was all a waste of time …it was a waste of time……good riddance

  21. Unfortunately, that is the risk contestants take when competing in a show like this. Surely, they are warned when they sign on to compete that they may walk away with zilch, given the vagaries of the market. The property market is volatile and fickle at the best of times and the Aussie property market has been in a slump for some time. If my memory serves me correctly, in Season Two of The Block, one of the Manly units sold for the reserve price, so the contestants made no money. What an absolute waste of time and effort, it would be psychologically devastating.

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