Seller’s Smart $30,000 Reno Fetches $580,000 at Auction

The fairytale auction followed a fairytale campaign in which Christou said he had managed a pre-sale makeover on behalf of the foreign sellers.

“The owners moved to Malaysia for work, so we spent $30,000 getting it ready for sale. It was all original and needed some love. We repainted it and refinished it and got everything back in good condition,” he said.

“The owners were realistic and wanted to get something over $550,000. But we had 70 people inquire and 11 people register for the auction.”

Rising construction costs are making it difficult for homes in need of renovation to get over the line, with Christou saying it has been a struggle to sell these properties.

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“Anything that’s ready to move in is flying off the shelves… but the homes that are struggling are the homes that need a lot of work as the cost of trade work has risen by 40 per cent,” he said.

In Fawkner, a first-time home buyer couple were stunned after outsmarting an investor to secure a four-bedroom cottage at 9 Claremont Street.

With four bedrooms, a 534 square meter block and a price list of $680,000 to $720,000, it sold for $700,000 – right on the reserve.

A seller’s bid of $600,000 started the auction, with only the two bidders competing in increments of $10,000 and then $5,000.

Selling agent Hamza Ali, of Ray White, said it was an emotional end to a long house hunt for the buyers.

“They had missed so many homes in recent months and wanted a roof over their heads,” he said. “When the gavel fell, they seemed shocked and asked, ‘Did we get it?’ I said, ‘Yeah mate, you should be excited!’”

Ali said the house needed about $100,000 worth of renovations, but the couple saw its potential as a blank canvas.

In Chadstone, a sleek four-bedroom house with plantation shutters, a covered terrace and a location close to Holmesglen TAFE sold for $1.07 million to another first home buyer.

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Coselling agent Rohan Cleary, from Buxton, said three bidders raised their hands for the house, which had a reserve of $990,000 and a price guide of $900,000-$950,000. It mainly attracted young couples and downsizers.

A real bid of $920,000 kicked off the auction, followed by an increase of $20,000 to $1.02 million. From then on, two bidders battled it out in amounts of $1000 and $5000.

“The first homebuyer couple who got it had been looking for a while and they really liked that it was move-in ready,” Cleary says.

Cleary said shares were moving at the upside thanks to competitive pricing. “A house that sold for $1.5 million a few years ago is now going for $1.3 million,” he said.

PRD chief economist Dr. Diaswati Mardiasmo said Melbourne remained an outlier.

“Melbourne is still trying to get out of quite a deep negative growth… and that’s taking a long time,” she said.

“It’s going to remain stagnant for a while, but it’s a bit of a catch-22 when it comes to a stable cash rate. The Reserve Bank of Australia will no longer meet for the foreseeable future, meaning buyers can take their time knowing they won’t have to make a decision in the next two weeks.”