By Sarah Webb
In a bold bid to secure his daughter’s future, a Melbourne dad paid $680,000 for a Frankston cottage at auction on Saturday – buying it for his school-aged daughter amid fears she wouldn’t be able to afford a property in years to come.
The two-bedroom house, at 1 Rodney Court, sold under the hammer after the determined dad outbid two first home buyers. He plans to rent it out until his daughter is old enough to move in.
The character home sits on a 600-square-metre block and features a woodfire heater and a sunroom. It had a price guide of $630,000 to $693,000 with the reserve set at $685,000.
Co-selling agent Luke Magree, of OBrien Real Estate, said four bidders fronted up, but just three raised their hands after bidding kicked off at $630,000.
Bids then rose in steady $10,000 increments until the local dad sealed the deal.
“This home has been an investment property for the last eight years and it presented really well … but it was also very unique. There’s not too many of those left,” Magree said.
He added the market remained price sensitive with some homes in need of work selling for 20 per cent less than they did two years ago.
“But turnkey homes are getting the premium,” he said.
The home had a rental appraisal of $500 to $520 per week.
It was one of 1079 scheduled auctions in Melbourne on Saturday. By that 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Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 61.3 per cent from 739 reported results, while 93 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
In Cheltenham, a stylish four-bedroom townhouse on a 324-square-metre parcel at 91A Devon Street sold for $1.5 million to a first home buyer couple from South Yarra.
The home had a price guide of $1.4 million to $1.45 million and a reserve of $1.46 million.
Selling agent Kevin Chokshi, of Ray White, said bidding started at $1.3 million with two punters –both looking for a family home in a desirable pocket of Cheltenham – fighting in $20,000 increments.
“It was an up and down auction, and it started much lower than the listed price,” he said.
“The young family who got it video-called with their family back home in India straight after. They were relieved because they’d missed out on a few places.
“And this is a tightly held pocket … it’s in the ‘golden triangle’ of Cheltenham and there’s a high concentration of owner occupiers.”
Chokshi said the sellers had owned the original old home on the block before building two new townhouses in its stead a few years ago. The neighbouring townhouse – at 91B Devon Street – sold in September last year for $1.56 million.
In Moonee Ponds, a young woman’s six-month house hunt ended after she paid $1.42 million for a charming Victorian cottage at 802 Mt Alexander Road, surpassing the $1.25 million reserve. Four bidders battled for the three-bedroom home, guided at $1.15 million to $1.25 million.
Co-selling agent Matthew Febey, of Nelson Alexander, said it was a remarkable result made possible by the brother of the late owner, who faithfully fulfilled his deceased brother’s wish to petition the council and change the colour of the home’s external facade.
“When I first went through the home it was average but neat. But it had a historic overlay that related to the colour schemes of red and cream,” he said.
“I told the vendor that if he wanted to improve the value of the home, he should approach council to change the colour scheme and so he did. And now it looks 20 times better.
“Not a lot of vendors will go to the effort of doing that. But it was something his late brother had always wanted to do, and he wanted do the right thing by him.”
The auction kicked off at the lower end of the price guide, with an opening bid of $1.15 million.
Four serious bidders quickly entered the fray, with increments of $10,000. As the auction heated up, Febey said the sums began jumping around between $1000 and $10,000.
Nerves got the better of the ultimate buyer, who asked her dad to step in and bid on her behalf – a move that paid off.
Febey said the market in general remained fickle, and stock levels were low.
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the city’s market was tougher compared to other capitals, but properties were still clearing.
“We’re seeing an average of 2.5 bidders per auction across Melbourne now and that’s down from 2.7 [this time last year],” she said.
“But stock is also marginally down year-on-year ... and that will stop prices falling. We’ll see fairly stable conditions.”
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