Property investor Charles Corby has purchased the grand renovated Newtown mansion, Kelvin.
A professional property investor has revealed he’s in love with his latest acquisition, which breaks the mould on his typical purchasing template.
Geelong-based Charles Corby typically restores abandoned or derelict homes to flip or hold as a rental properties.
But Mr Corby revealed he has purchased Kelvin, a grand Newtown mansion that recently hit the market following a five-year restoration.
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The Newtown mansion sold recently for $3.75m.
The Aphrasia St mansion sold for $3.75m.
“I was looking for a house for a while and when I saw this property in person I just had this feeling brush over me of inner peace. I just thought this house was meant for me,” Mr Corby said.
He said it was an The incredible reno you don’t see every day to that standard, including the gardens.
The two-storey double-brick dichromatic residence was first erected in 1873, but the home almost doubled in size with an equally grand extension two decades later.
The last owners again added to the evolution of the historic five-bedroom home set among 1020sq m of English-style gardens.
English-style gardens wrap entirely around the home.
The open-plan kitchen and dining area and conservatory open to the rear yard.
A rear extension added a new open-plan kitchen and dining area and adjoining conservatory in collaboration with Geelong builder Murphy Built, while the enchanting gardens, designed by landscape architect Bethany Williamson, now wrap around all sides of the house.
Mr Corby has purchased the property with a long settlement term, allowing the sellers time to find a new home.
“When I walked into the kitchen and looked out at the yard and there were butterflies in the lavender, it really gave me an overwhelming sense of peace in a way I’d never felt before.
“I can’t wait to get in there. I know my dog (Viola) is going to love it,” he said.
“It’s just incredible. It is the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen and it truly was made for me.
Property investor Charles Corby has purchased the grand renovated Newtown mansion, Kelvin.
“Honestly, the glass house, the English gardens, the library, the conservatory, the coffee station, these are all the things that I have dreamt about.
“Especially growing up in Australia we look at English movies like The Secret Garden, or where they live in castles and mansions, and it’s really a dream. And it was available.”
The savvy 31-year-old is challenging the conventional wisdom, claiming the nation’s housing woes are less about a supply deficit and more about a massive “housing utilisation problem”.
He specialises in acquiring severely rundown or unliveable homes – the very properties most buyers wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole.
He then meticulously restores them, returning them to the housing stock as rentable dwellings or ready-to-sell properties. And his results are nothing short of astounding.
A greenhouse, outdoor seating area and vegetable garden is set in the back yard.
11 Aphrasia St, Newtown, is on the market for $3.9m to $4.2m.
“I’ve been buying a couple of houses a week for months now,” he said.
“We pretty much always buy off market, so it’s significantly under market value.
“With that comes sometimes major issues to be addressed, but sometimes minor or no issues, because the reason for the sale may have been distressed insurance or unpaid rates.”
But flipping a home is not like The Block, rather bringing it up to market expectations.
“The largest (renovation) one might be a full internal strip-out and makeover, which includes plastering, electrical, plumbing and painting and maybe even roofing.
“A minor cosmetic reno might just be repainting and refreshing.
“I prefer to think of flipping as renovating just to bring it to market standard. I’m never trying to set any market records, I’m just going where the numbers take me. We’re trying to get the home sleepable and rentable and make sure the value stacks up.”
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