Second time lucky: How Essendon home’s comeback auction led to a $4.27m score
Owners of a luxury Essendon home had no luck trying to sell last year — but a bold second attempt changed everything. Find out what made buyers battle for it this time.
There was no mistaking the relief for the sellers when an Essendon home that failed to sell before Christmas made a comeback at auction, soaring to $4.27m and claiming the Melbourne’s highest auction result of the weekend.
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom home at 2 Jacka St, Essendon was first auctioned on December 14, only to be passed in at $3.65m.
But with a new strategy, a fresh wave of buyers, and “a better auction date”, the vendors got the fairytale ending they had been waiting for.
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Jellis Craig Moonee Valley director and auctioneer Christian Lonzi was at the movies when he got the text from the vendors.
“The vendor tried calling me and then sent a text,” Mr Lonzi said.
“When we finally spoke, she was absolutely thrilled.
“It was a fantastic outcome, and given the prestige of the area, it wasn’t entirely surprising.”
But Mr Lonzi said after watching their home go unsold in December, there were definitely nerves from the vendor before Saturday’s auction and timing played a massive role in the turnaround.
“The December auction was too close to Christmas, and some serious buyers weren’t in a position to commit at that time,” he said.
“Rather than leave the property on the market over the break, the vendors paused the campaign and relaunched it in mid January.
“The price guide remained the same —$3.65m-$3.85m — but this time, we got the result we wanted.
When bidding reopened on Saturday, there was no hesitation from buyers.
The opening bid was $3.7m with Mr Lonzi asking buyers for $25,000 increments but competition escalated quickly, with 18 bids from three serious buyers, including a $50,000 bid early on, a dramatic $100,000 jump from $3.9m to $4m and a final lot of bids before the property sold for $4.27m.
The home was officially called on the market at $3.85m, and from there, the fight was on.
The winning bidders were a family moving from Deer Park, keen to secure a home in Essendon’s Mile-Lodge Estate.
The Jellis Craig Moonee Valley director said he was seeing a lot of families upgrading from surrounding suburbs to take advantage of the excellent lifestyle in Moonee Valley, and with high-end homes in blue-chip locations attracting intense competition, he warned buyers not to sit back and wait.
“I would strongly advise buyers to be competitive at auction – the reality is that replacing these homes, buying land and building from scratch would cost significantly more than what they are selling for now,” he said.
“For these vendors, the result was well worth the wait — because second time lucky turned into second time perfect.”
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Originally published as Second time lucky: How Essendon home’s comeback auction led to a $4.27m score
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