Blog

Debbie Shipston has found a buyer for her Cheltenham chapel conversion, featuring remarkable stained-glass windows. Picture: Tony Gough

A Cheltenham chapel conversion with glorious stained-glass windows has tempted a buyer within 24 hours of hitting the market.

Debbie Shipston is set to earn a figure at the top end of the $870,000-$930,000 asking range for her piece of heaven on earth at 2/3 Evergreen Circuit, when the sale goes unconditional this week.

Ms Shipston said when she bought the space inside the 1963-built former home of the Sisters of the Holy Name in 2017, it was being used as a warehouse.

RELATED: Divine Middle Park church conversion listed for sale

Olympic golfer Marcus Fraser sells Beaumaris mid-century house

Richmond ‘cashmere’ house smashes price expectations

The stained-glass windows are truly magnificent.

Ms Shipston restored the windows to their former glory.

“Like everybody else, I was attracted to the stained-glass windows,” she said.

“My heart and soul went into restoring it — I am a person of faith, so I just felt I wanted to bring it back to its former glory.

“I repaired broken windows, sanded the floors down, and proceeded to make it my home.”

A family from Caulfield made an offer on the three-bedroom townhouse Ms Shipston created, on the same day they spotted it online and inspected it.

The soaring timber ceiling was also a selling point.

How divine.

The property was built as a chapel in 1963.

Greg Hocking Bayside agent Lauren Chambers said it was “love at first sight” for the buyers, who were tempted by the home’s colourful windows and soaring timber ceilings.

Ms Shipston grew up in the Cheltenham area and said, as a child, she suspected she may end up calling the chapel home one day.

“It was called the naughty girls’ home. I always thought if I was naughty, I might end up living here,” she said.

“But there’s actually a lovely story (behind it). (The Sisters) really tried to help ‘wayward girls’ in those days.”

The main bedroom …

… and the altar that used to occupy the space.

Ms Shipston’s bedroom occupies the same space the altar did when the building was a house of God.

She said she was delighted to sell so quickly during a challenging time for the property market, and would now downsize.

MORE: Real estate industry scores ‘small wins’ amid Melbourne stage four lockdown

Can you move house in Melbourne lockdown?

How COVID lockdown will affect real estate, inspections, auctions

samantha.landy@news.com.au

The post Cheltenham chapel conversion with stained-glass windows sells in 24 hours appeared first on realestate.com.au.

No. 1 Linden St is not the typical home found in North Gosford.

With holes in the walls, a rotting deck and a mould problem, you’ll need a good builder for this Central Coast property.

The North Gosford house is barely liveable in its current condition and the listing ad says buyers looking to move straight in, should probable give this a miss.

As a result, 1 Linden St has a $450,000 price guide, which is roughly the same price as a typical apartment in the suburb.

MORE: Inside Karl Stefanovic’s new waterfront mansion

First-home buyers to benefit from stamp duty changes

House price falls largest in 16 month

The guide along with house’s condition has seen it take the internet by storm, with more than 17,000 page views propelling the property to the most viewed on realestate.com.au this past week in NSW.

The home has seen its fair share of punches.

Along with a hilarious marketing video, the listing ad said the current owners of the four-bedroom home have “kindly commenced the renovation process starting with the removal of the gyprock walls – one punch at a time”.

Gittoes — East Gosford agent Matt Gravas, who is selling the house with his colleague Richard Faulkner, said the property fell into disrepair after the long-term owners moved away and left it to their kids.

“They clearly enjoyed the place a bit too much and unfortunately destroyed the property from throwing lots of wild parties among other things,” he said.

More holes and a nice gap in floor.

The serenity!

When mum and dad returned home to North Gosford, Mr Gravas said they were left with no choice but to sell the property due to the damage.

Complete with a bespoke mouldy splashback, the kitchen has been partially renovated with modern appliances. The mouldy theme continues in the bathroom, where mould can be found on the ceiling and in the shower, but least there is a roll of toilet paper.

The main bedroom has an “open plan ensuite” with a missing shower screen and the walk-in wardrobe is missing a door.

The timber deck is slowing falling apartment after years of ignoring any upkeep, while some interior floorboards are missing completely.

”The owner says this is abstract art”.

Bathroom has a horrible mould stain, but least there is toilet paper.

Sitting on 689sqm of land near the centre of Gosford, the property has overgrown gardens at the rear, a rusted shed and lots of rubbish tucked underneath the house.

“Lots of buyers are keen to do a mini reno on the property, while a few are looking at gutting it completely, Mr Gravas said.

The property has been a hit with first homebuyers looking to get into the market on the cheap and from builders after a project.

“First homebuyers have really come back into the market of late, and we are being inundated with requests,” Mr Gravas.

SIGN UP FOR THE LATEST NSW REAL ESTATE NEWSLETTER

The post North Gosford house priced the same as an apartment in need of major renovation appeared first on realestate.com.au.

20 Jinjella Road, Highton.

A five-bedroom house so well built a building inspector described it as a bomb shelter has sold for more than $100,00 over its reserve price.

The solid double brick house is built on a suspended concrete slab at 20 Jinjella Rd, Highton.

Six bidders contested Saturday’s online auction where the property sold for $884,000.

Barry Plant, Highton agent Kieron Hunter said the price rose $179,000 in 13 minutes as bidders jostled for the keys.

RELATED: Cordial factory renovation hits sweet spot

Mud-brick master Alistair Knox design up for grabs

Best buys: Real estate growth, danger zones revealed

The reserve price for the house, selling for the first time, was $770,000, Mr Hunter said.

“It was double brick, extended slab, so lots of concrete. Just really well built – you could not fault it,” he said.

“It had a bit of a view as well because it was one street back from Barwon Boulevard above the river.”

The house offered elevated views across the Barwon River valley at Highton.

Mr Hunter said a couple living in the south of Highton was excited to get to keys.

“They’ve looked at countless properties before and really got involved in this one because of the position and it is really well built.

“They thought they can make improvements to it without doing anything structural, so they’re pretty excited about it.”

Geelong buyers advocate Tony Slack, who acted for the buyers, said he thought the property’s true value lay in the mid-$800,000 range, given the scarcity in that location and the quality of the build.

20 Jinjella Road, Highton.

“My building inspector, who I have used for years, referred to it as a bomb shelter,” Mr Slack said.

“It’s stood the test of time.”

Mr Slack said the buyers were upgrading and could easily stay in this property for the next 10 to 15 years, or more.

“They can move in and live comfortably from day one and over time only add value.

“You don’t see that often.”

278 Scenic Road, Highton, sold for $901,500.

The 750sq m property had been slated for public auction on Saturday, before Stage 3 coronavirus restrictions were reintroduced last week.

Meanwhile a one-bedroom unit ideal for a teenager’s retreat has swayed the buyers of a Modernist home to look beyond Newtown and Manifold Heights.

The buyers paid $901,500 for the five-bedroom residence at 278 Scenic Rd, Highton at an online auction.

278 Scenic Road, Highton.

Mr Hunter said the buyers would have ignored the address, if not for the unit on the 1043sq m block.

“They really wanted to be on that side of the river but this one came up and one of the reasons they bought it was the one bedroom unit out the back — because they’ve got a teenage kid” he said.

“They said if that wasn’t their they wouldn’t have looked at it.”

278 Scenic Road, Highton.

Four bidders contested the auction, which started at $800,000.

The property was on the market at $865,000.

Mr Hunter said the buyers also hoped to convert one of the home’s double garages to a second living area, leaving three covered car spaces on the corner block in the suburb’s Queens Park precinct.

MORE NEWS: The Lara lifestyle property set to pay back later

Geelong value dip as regions show resilience

Geelong’s next property hot spots

The post Highton: Six bidders push online auction $100K over reserve for solid home near Barwon River appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Clive Palmer snapped up this Fig Tree Pocket home for $5 million.

Queensland’s richest man Clive Palmer is spending ­millions buying out his neighbours, with one of them banking $2.1 million in profit, others knocking him back and another agreeing to sell for $5 million in the most recent deal.

Neighbours at Fig Tree Pocket have been left wondering what the former politician has planned for their secluded ­riverfront ­suburb, with his most recent deal ­seeing him hand over $5 million to secure a massive 12,100sq m block.

MORE:

Fellow Queensland richlister and neighbour Bevan Slattery is understood to have already knocked back approaches to sell his home to Palmer. Mr Slattery had paid $8.25 million for his property in May 2014, which sits between that of Mr Palmer and his son ­Michael on the riverfront.

Mr Palmer had bought his riverfront home there in 2018 off embattled Linc Energy founder Peter Bond for $7.5 million – a $2 million discount on what Rivergum Retreat had been listed for.

The Palmers have quite the property portfolio in Fig Tree Pocket.

Mr Bond had two properties on the market there, with the second bought by another party for $2.99 million in 2017, which sold for $5 million in March this year to Palmer’s firm Closeridge.

Mr Palmer’s son Michael had bought the home next door to Mr Slattery on Ningana Street for $5.1 million in July 2018. The site has 1.34ha of land. Mr Palmer’s son also owns a neighbouring 3,430sq m property that he’d bought for $1.85 million in January 2016, according to CoreLogic records.

Clive Palmer restarted his real estate buying spree after winning a $200 million court case in 2017. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN

In March this year, Mr Palmer’s builders applied for special ­permission to build one of ­Brisbane’s largest private home jetties on the river by his Rivergum Retreat property.

Coastal Pontoon & Jetty ­Repairs asked Brisbane City Council for a development ­permit for “tidal works” at Mr Palmer’s Fig Tree Pocket home – with the length of the proposed pontoon (28m) about three times that of the 10m length currently “acceptable” in Brisbane riverfront homes.

His most recent property purchase of Oakworth House in Fig Tree Pocket was listed by Alex Jordan of McGrath Paddington as being “situated on Fig Tree Pocket’s most prestigious street” with “a ­substantial 132-metre-wide frontage”.

Mr Jordan declined to ­comment on the buyer of the property, instead saying that the prestige market in Brisbane was the best it had been in decades.

Mr Palmer restarted his real estate buying spree after winning a $200 million case against Citic over Pilbara royalty payments in November 2017.

FOLLOW SOPHIE FOSTER ON FACEBOOK

The post Clive Palmer buying out the neighbours in quiet Brisbane suburb appeared first on realestate.com.au.