Five bidders raise hand for Geelong West character home
Young couples looking to repeat history and make a start with a Geelong West character home serve up a $40K premium for the long-time owners.
History is about to repeat in a popular pocket of Geelong West where young buyers beat four others to secure a three-bedroom Edwardian house at auction.
Bidding finished more than $40,000 above the $700,000 to $770,000 price guide as the quintet traded offers for the 426sq m property at 24 Catherine St, close to the Shannon Ave shopping strip.
Gartland Geelong agent Will Ainsworth said the $816,000 sale was a deserved outcome for the “really special home”.
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“The owners had put so much work into just making it so detailed and well presented,” he said.
“We ended up having five bidders which was awesome given the state of the market.”
But it also wasn’t surprising at all, Mr Ainsworth said.
“The amount of buyers that came through the open homes were all looked around a bit amused asking ‘why are there so many people here?’.”
Mr Ainsworth said the interest was mainly from young couples, first-home buyers and young families who would look to put up an extension at some stage.
The young couple already lives locally, he said.
“They ended up going against another young couple from $800,000 up to the sale price of $816,000,” Mr Ainsworth said.
“It’s just the two of them, so it’s pretty much the same story replicated from the previous owners.
“They bought it when they were a couple I think that was 25 years ago and then they’ve had a young family and now it’s time to move on to something a bit bigger.”
Mr Ainsworth said the price guide matched the property’s potential.
“In a market where a lot of properties are passing in because vendors expectations are potentially inflated and the market is not quite there, this one we had an attractive price guide and a beautiful property, so those two combined for a really good outcome.”
Mr Ainsworth said the price range was affordable for a lot of people looking to buy in Geelong West where the median house price is $859,000, according to PropTrack.
Mr Ainsworth said the neighbourhood also provided the buyers some intangible qualities.
“It’s a great little community, the neighbours all look out for each other,” he said.
“The gentleman across the road comes over for dinner every Sunday and the other gentleman came over with a shovel and helped replace the grass at the front.
“They bring each other’s bins in when they’re away – it’s really nice. You can’t put a tangible value on that.”
Originally published as Five bidders raise hand for Geelong West character home