Buyers break rent cycle with affordable entry to tight suburb
First-home buyers are looking to add value to this ex-commission home in this tightly-held Geelong eastern suburb where owners sit on properties the longest.
New buyers are set to break the rent cycle with a three-bedroom home they hope will provide a big first step onto the property ladder in the most tightly held suburb in Geelong.
The brick veneer house at 138 Boundary Rd, Thomson sold for $500,000 after being listed with price hopes from $480,000 to $520,000.
Maxwell Collins Geelong agent Lois Wilson said it’s a good home for the buyers.
“It’s ex-commission and they built them well back then, and it’s got polished floorboards and everything, it’s on a reasonable sized block and it’s very handy to everything.
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“Thomson is becoming a more sought-after area as people realise it’s just on the edge of East Geelong and it’s just so close into town.
“The purchasers are breaking the rent cycle and buying their own home,” she said.
Fellow agent Simon Braybrook said the property was attractive to the purchasers as it was reasonably affordable, but still close to the CBD and lots of shopping centres, schools and open areas.
“And it has good scope for improvements to be made,” he said.
“It’s a really solid house that with a little bit of cosmetic work to be done would really give it a good boost as far as value would go.
“It gives them the opportunity to put their own personal stamp on things without having to do a massive renovation.”
It’s the fourth time Ms Wilson has handled a sale of the property.
It last traded in 2019 for $375,000, and was last rented out at $400 a week.
Thomson has a $516,000 median house price, according to PropTrack data which also shows it’s the most tightly-held suburb with owners staying put for more than 16 years on average.
Ms Wilson said first-home buyers were enjoying the fresh air in the market of less competition from investors for less expensive properties as PropTrack data shows the median house price had slid 6.7 per cent in the past year.
“There’s less investors in the market at present so it’s the perfect time for first-home buyers to get in and purchase something that may have been tightly-held by investors for quite some years,” she said.
Ms Wilson said buyers were also getting the benefits of owners investments in meeting new minimum standards regulations, such as compliance checks for electric and gas appliances.
“A lot of these investment properties are in very good order and now just waiting for a first-time buyer to give them their extra touch.”
Originally published as Buyers break rent cycle with affordable entry to tight suburb