By Jim Malo
A much-loved but run-down Collingwood family home sold to a builder on Saturday for $860,000 in a quick and competitive auction.
The two-bedroom terrace at 29 Mater Street was in almost original condition and had fallen into disrepair. There was a lean to the property and the walls and ceilings were cracked, the plaster fallen away in places.
Nelson Alexander Fitzroy’s Henry Rutherfurd listed the home with a quoted price range of $750,000 to $800,000. Vendor Steve Christopolous set the reserve at $760,000.
Christopolous was selling the home on behalf of his father, who is moving into aged care. He grew up in the house and said it had been “everything” to his migrant parents, who bought it for $29,500 in 1978.
“They came here with nothing and worked hard and bought the house, and lived a simple life, but they were happy,” he said. Neighbours who knew Christopolous’ father came to watch the auction.
The contest began with a vendor bid at the bottom of the range. Three buyers traded $10,000 bids before it sold for $860,000.
Vendor Steve Christopolous with sons Sam (left) and Liam.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Rutherfurd said the buyers were a father-son builder duo who had not settled on their plans for the home.
“The plan for now is to renovate,” he said. “I dare say that it may come up [for sale] in the near future. But it also may be something that the young builder lives in himself.”
The sale marked the end of an era for Christopolous. “It’s pretty sad. It’s not about the money. It’s a lot of memories, you know?”
It was one of 999 auctions scheduled for Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 61.3 per cent from 739 reported results, while 93 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Andrew Melilli at the auction of 29 Mater Street in Collingwood.Credit: LUIS ENRIQUE ASCUI
In Highett, five bidders competed for a two-bedroom villa at 4/140 Highett Road.
The unit – at the rear of a block of four on the main road – had an updated kitchen and carport.
Ray White Cheltenham’s Kevin Chokshi listed the home with a quoted price range of $600,000 to $650,000. The reserve was set at $670,000.
Chokshi said the first bid was the top of the range. “It started at $650,000 and that kind of slowed it right down,” he said. “From there, a couple of bidders jumped in and made a few bids, and once it was on the market it started flying.”
It sold to a first home buyer for $706,000. Four of the bidders were first home buyers and the fifth was an investor.
In Newport, a family bought a house at auction for $2,041,000, after managing to sell their current home in the same suburb off-market just days earlier.
The deal – an unconditional sale without a cooling-off period – was done on Tuesday to give them a chance to bid on the four-bedroom property at 132 Woods Street, the larger home they were seeking to house their family of six.
Jellis Craig’s Anthony Christakakis listed the home for sale with a quoted price range of $1.88 million to $1.98 million. The buyers had been looking for a home that suited their needs for about four years, he said. The agency also managed the off-market sale of the buyers’ home.
“I hadn’t sold anything like [132 Woods Street]. The positives that it offered, especially to the buyer who has a caravan, [was that] it has a double garage,” Christakakis said. “I can’t tell you the last time I sold a property that had a double garage and side access.”
The auction began with a low bid of $1.6 million, which was immediately followed by a vendor bid of $1.88 million. The reserve was the top of the quoted price range, and the auction slowed when the property was declared on the market. Two bidders competed.
“Then we were taking $1000s all the way from $2.02 million to $2,041,000,” Christakakis said.
In Yarraville, a two-bedroom house sold to a downsizer at auction.
The property at 86 Blackwood Street – a modern build with off-street parking – was listed for sale with a quoted price range of $950,000 to $1,045,000.
“It was built with the intention to be lived in, but the owners had to sell,” said Village Real Estate listing agent Huss Saad. “It’s a townhouse set-up, but it doesn’t have any adjoining walls or anything like that.”
“There’s been a bit of money spent on it. The owners did a great thing by building a really high gate out the front, and it’s electric. You drive in and close it, and you feel separated from the city.”
Saad said the auction began with a vendor bid at the bottom of the range, and the home sold for $1.16 million. The reserve was $1.05 million.
“There were just two buyers who had it out and kept going and going and going,” he said.
The buyer was moving from nearby Williamstown.