Sold! To the woman who grew up next door.
A Sunbury house recommended to buyers for either renovation or demolition has sold more than $150,000 above its reserve price, to the neighbour’s daughter.
In what has been described as the biggest auction for the suburb this year, an estimated 250 people turned out to watch 4 Cuming Place test the market.
Among them were eight bidders, who kicked the auction off at $480,000 — the bottom of the home’s advertised price guide.
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By the time offers reached $500,000 the five-bedroom, double-storey home was on the market, with Ray White auctioneer Aaron Hill continuing to take rapid bids ranging from $5000 to $2500.
But it was a woman who grew up next door that drove the final result with a $651,500 bid that finally sidelined the remaining first-home buyers who had been planning to revive the property.
A split can be seen to the left of the kitchen’s joinery, indicating where the floor has begun to sink as a result of issues with the stumps.
The backyard pool is not expected to survive renovation plans.
“It ended up selling to the next-door neighbours’ daughter,” Mr Hill said.
“They knew the selling family, and they wanted it from day one.”
The buyer, now with her own family, plans to renovate what they can before moving into what will be her first home and progressively updating it over the coming years.
Mr Hill said about 80 per cent of the bidders had been prospective first-home buyers, all of them intent on renovating and updating the home.
The home will need the work, with stumps in the middle of it having sunk causing a lean to the kitchen, water damage from one of the upstairs bathrooms impacting the lower level and a backyard pool that hasn’t been used in 20 years described by the agent as unsalvageable — and most likely to be filled in.
He added that he was getting the sense that buyers wanted to get in now, before interest rates fell further, as is widely expected later this month.
The block’s size and location helped to make up for the condition of the house.
An update is on the cards for the home’s bathrooms.
“They want to get in before it gets a bit silly again,” he said.
And there are signs this might not be that far off.
Mr Hill said today’s result occurred about a year after three-bedroom, single-level house in the same street sold for $690,000 after an extensive renovation.
For sellers looking to make the most of the market taking off in the months ahead, Mr Hill said the sales method would be important.
“If you want to get good competition and the best price, you should go to auction,” he said.
“This home wouldn’t have got that price without an auction.”
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