Fair housing was an outcry of American real estate’s blind spot. Here are a few areas in the industry that still deserve more attention — plus ways to improve our line of sight.
Fair housing was an outcry of American real estate’s blind spot. Here are a few areas in the industry that still deserve more attention — plus ways to improve our line of sight.
A Luigi Rosselli-designed Mosman masterpiece within walking distance of Balmoral Beach has sold within a week on the market for around $10.5 million.
The sale comes as agents report a growing level of ex-pat activity, and strong demand for prestige property.
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The classic Rosselli curvy and contemporary design at 5 Plunkett Rd, caught the attention of lots of buyers, said Scott Thornton, of The Agency – North.
They loved its modern beach resort-style feel and the location close to the sands of Balmoral.
He said he could not reveal the exact sale price.
“The home sold in proximity to its price guide of $10.5 million and it was on the market for just one week,” Mr Thornton said.
“The demand is very strong in the prestige market, not only in Mosman, but across the entire lower north shore.”
He said this was due to a combination of factors.
“Finance is at its most affordable in decades, people are viewing property as a secure investment in the current climate and the stock levels are extremely low,” he said.
“We are starting to see more expats in the market, this includes from Singapore, London, Hong Kong and interestingly from the US. Within the local market we are seeing people both upgrading and downsizing.”
Mr Thornton said he was not surprised at the level of buyer interest in the property, given it was one of Luigi Rosselli’s classic designs.
“There is always going to be appeal for a home of this calibre and location, walking distance from Balmoral Beach and the elevation captures the harbour and iconic Balmoral landscape,” he said.”
The home is set on a corner block that captures views that extend from Balmoral to Manly, and landscaping by Secret Gardens has given the home a new level of privacy and beauty.
The family friendly floorplan is extensive and versatile, encouraging an easy indoor-outdoor flow over both levels.
The home has four bedrooms plus a study, and the main bedroom has its own full bathroom and walk-in robe.
The elegant kitchen includes integrated NEFF and Liebherr appliances and a striking marble island bench that is sure to become the heart of the home.
Other features include matched limestone flooring and sandstone walls, Control4 smart home system, integrated sound system, bespoke joinery including concealed marble barista/bar area, heated pool, wine cellar, gas fireplace, concealed televisions, ducted, reverse cycle airconditioning and gas heating.
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It’s Barbie on the outside, Versace on the inside.
A grand house in Sydney’s northwest painted hot Pink and styled with flourishes inspired by the high-end Italian fashion brand has hit the market and instantly begun making waves.
The five-bedroom house on Queens Court in Castle Hill was only listed earlier this week but has already become a real estate talking point due to its unique styling.
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The house is listed with a price guide of $2.1m-$2.6m and includes ample chandeliers, gold-coloured walls and elaborate ornaments decked out in Versace’s signature style.
It’s a standout even from the street due to the pink exterior – one of the only houses on the street not painted white or beige.
On the top balcony are two statues facing the street, while a fountain is adjacent to the front door.
Built circa 2005, the house opens to a grand entry foyer with walls of green and a gold ceiling, along with ornamental pillars.
The lounge has a layered ceiling and is decorated with gold furniture. It is separated from the formal dining room by an elaborate metal furnishing.
Another room has a zebra patterned ceiling and even more unique ornaments.
Even the kitchen continues the styling theme – the layered ceiling is painted gold and a large chandelier hangs over the breakfast bar.
Selling agent Paul Cutcliffe of Cutcliffe Properties said the house was turning heads after recently coming to market.
“We haven’t opened it for inspection yet but there has already been an unusual amount of inquiry,” Mr Cutcliffe said.
“It’s definitely caught people’s attention. I think what’s captured people is the colour scheme … I can’t recall ever selling a house anything like this before.”
Mr Cutcliffe said the vendor had very particular tastes and a strong interest in style.
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The ornaments and general look of the interior had a strong Versace-inspired theme, he added.
“It’s an incredibly stylish house. For a suburban house, it has grand proportions that make it stand out.”
Other highlights include the master suite with a walk-in wardrobe. There is also a saltwater pool and well-maintained gardens.
Castle Hill has remained a relatively strong seller’s market during the COVID-19 pandemic. A four-bedroom house on Lygon Place sold for $2.15m in the first week of September, while a house on Lemonwood Place sold for $1.625m earlier this week.
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Although house flipping rates declined during the second quarter of 2020, the gross profit on the typical home flip in the U.S. increased to $67,902 from $63,000 the previous quarter.
Art dealer Denis Savill has been on a spending spree during COVID-19, snapping up a luxury Sydney apartment at a $1m discount and a Port Douglas escape sight unseen for $420k.
“I’ve lived through Keating’s banana republic and the massive stockmarket crash of ‘87,” says the doyen, who is just weeks away from his 80th birthday.
“I’ve been through these highs and lows — in the good times I pretend I’m a squirrel and put a few nuts away, but now I’m out spending … I decided to let fly in late August and September.”
He’s also splashed $200k on 27 items from the estate of his art collector friend John Schaeffer and artworks including an Arthur Boyd titled ‘Four times a day’, purchased privately from Victoria.
“It has increased in value by 900 per cent since I first owned it,” Savill said.
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Some of the beautiful art is now lining the walls of a two-bedroom Paddington apartment, up for auction next Thursday via Craig Pontey and Violet Farebrother of Ray White Double Bay which has a guide of just under $2m.
“I bought it for my daughter and she no longer needs it, so I’m going to use the money to buy a bigger place in Paddington for my kids,” Savill said.
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The Bellevue Hill apartment was the Benelong Crescent apartment of artist Sara Cusack Cox, first listed last spring with a $5.5m guide with Brad Pillinger of Pillinger.
Sources other than Pillinger and Savill recently tipped off the Wentworth Courier of the sale price — “a tad under $4.5m” — and its famous purchaser.
The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home has been renovated in a French Provincial style and has 467 sqm on title.
“It’s virtually a house,” Pillinger told the Wentworth Courier last year. “Perfect for downsizers who want a bit of space but also families.”
There are sunny terraces and Juliet balconies with views over Bellevue Hill to the harbour from the upper level; private lift access and double garaging.
The garden has a mosiac-tiled pool. Cox had bought it for $3.09 million in 2013.
It’s understood Cox has entered into a leaseback arrangement for the Benelong Crescent residence with Savill while she builds in Drumalbyn Road.
That will suit Savill, who resides, with wife Anne Clarke, who he met on a plane a decade ago, in a Stephen Gergely-designed Bellevue Hill residence purchased for $6.6m in Foster Avenue, Bellevue Hill in 2015.
That property, bought via Michael Pallier of Sotheby’s, has solid security and three levels of floor space for his new Boyd along with his Charles Blackman and Jeffrey Smart pieces.
Savill, who was an agent and auctioneer with LJ Hooker Double Bay for many years ahead of his purchase of the Gordon Marsh Gallery in Double Bay, Sydney in 1981, rebranding to Savill Galleries in 1984 and move to 156 Hargrave Street, Paddington, in 1987, said his Port Douglas buy a month ago was “a bit of fun”.
The fact he couldn’t get up to inspect it first wasn’t an issue: “Half the paintings I’ve bought in the past year have been sight-unseen,” he said.
“I’ve been in the building many times and I’ve got a very good lawyer in Port Douglas, who’s checked through the paperwork.”
And with Australia’s wealthy unable to head Europe for their holidays, he thinks he’s on a winner.
“I’m on the top floor facing directly onto the beach … Jack Thompson and Barry Humphries have resided here, it’s the premier unit in the building!” he said.
“I believe Port Douglas is the Riviera of the north — we can’t go to France or Monte Carlo, when Gladys realises we aren’t all dying of COVID … Melbourne’s still a bit dusty but coming out of it … everyone’s going to be thinking they should be up there.
“I’m putting Port Douglas on the map.
“A lot of Australians will find with COVID that for the next couple of years they’ll have to go on holiday internally … Port Douglas is easy and a lot of Victorians had already crept up there and were in residence ahead of the shutdown!”
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With the art work, like the prestige houses market, firing during COVID-19, Savill said he felt fortunate to have seen the opportunities that exist.
“The art market has soared in the past 12 weeks — there’s a very small supply and it’s the same with property,” he said.
Many others, too, have capitalised on the opportunities that exist. James Hannan, chief operating officer of printing firm Ovato and son of Michael Hannan who previously owned the Wentworth Courier, has bought a $9m home in Bellevue Hill, upgrading from the Double Bay apartment he sold for close to $4.4m in Double Bay.
Only two years ago, one of the owners of the house, Christina Sachs Phillips, director of neoprene bag line Cub + Scout and wife of property investor William Phillips, had described it as her “forever home” in newspaper reports.
Also tailor Patrick Johnson and interior designer Tamsin Johnson returned to their former Darling Point neighbourhood after selling their Tamarama home recently for $5.65m and buying Kendall Lodge for more than $10m, down from the $12m asking price in March.
It will be interesting to see what Tamsin does with the Florence Broadhurst wallpaper.
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Jeanette Large is the founder of Property Initiatives Real Estate, a social-enterprise real estate agency aiming to direct its profits into long-term, high-quality housing for women and children facing homelessness.
Where do you live?
In Coburg North, in a small weatherboard home, with my husband and two adult children. We bought this house in 1977.
What property do you own?
Just this home.
What do you love most about your home?
It’s in a great location: close to public transport, shops, schools, childcare — all the important things. It’s large enough for entertaining and holds many pleasant memories of my children’s milestones.
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Have you changed anything?
We did a major addition in the late ’80s to provide more living and bedroom space, as the original house was built after WWI and tiny.
One more thing you’d change?
I would have a larger common bathroom. The bathroom we built in the addition was very small — ideal when we had small children. The only full-sized bath is in our ensuite. We’d prefer if the adult children could have their own bath.
Most memorable home you’ve lived in?
The home I grew up in: a beautiful old weatherboard home in Essendon with lots of backyard space, trees to climb, a very loving family, friends close by, great neighbours, and grandma and grandpa down the street — I was very lucky.
Your first foot on the property ladder?
The house I live in. I wouldn’t say I am on the property ladder. I work in the community sector and my husband worked in education, and we both took time out of the workforce to care for children while working part time. This never gave us much opportunity to climb the property ladder, but we’re very lucky to own our own home.
The highlights of your property journey?
I have been really fortunate to have a secure and comfortable home to live in and raise my family in. In the current climate, many are not so lucky.
The lowlights?
It was really tough when mortgage interest rates were about 17 per cent.
Best property advice you’ve heard?
We need the government to invest in social housing as a priority and encourage large players, such as superannuation funds, to invest in affordable housing. The housing market is failing people because property is being used to build wealth rather than considered a human right. During this crisis, we are being urged to stay home. You can’t stay home if you haven’t got one.
Worst property advice you’ve heard?
“The homeless only need crisis housing.” We also need investment in long-term, affordable housing so those in crisis housing can move out and on with their lives, allowing the most vulnerable to be helped.
Tips for homebuyers?
Consider other options. Most other countries have good-quality, affordable, long-term rental housing that can be a home for life. We could be pushing for these options rather than continuing to pursue the homeownership model.
Future property plans?
The next step will be to downsize and live in an apartment that’s easier to maintain.
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Australia’s property markets may have been running at different speeds due to coronavirus lockdowns and border closures this year, but latest demand data shows some areas have stronger interest from renters than others, particularly the virus-hit Victorian capital.
New realestate.com.au data has revealed the most popular suburbs for renters across Australia for the 12 months to August 2020, with Melbourne locations dominating the top 10 for both houses and units.
Affluent South Yarra, Toorak and Hawthorn in Melbourne’s inner east were the top three locations for rental houses, while Stirling in the Adelaide Hills came in fourth – the only non-Victorian suburb to make the cut.
The data is based on high-intent renter activity per listing on realestate.com.au for the 12 months to August 2020, which refers to activity such as multiple views of a listing and enquiries – essentially, searchers who are actively seeking a rental rather than browsing.
Lachlan Fox from RT Edgar Toorak said while there isn’t a lot of renting going on in Melbourne during stage four restrictions, the interest in premium inner east suburbs showed their resilient appeal as aspirational addresses.
“One of the biggest reasons why people are moving into these areas recently is they are more affordable. Since the market has taken a bit of a hit, people in outer suburbs can now afford to live more inner city for the same type of rent,” Mr Fox said.
The inner northern suburbs of Collingwood and Northcote were fifth and sixth, followed by beachside St Kilda, inner city Richmond, Essendon in the north, and leafy Upwey in the Yarra Ranges.
Cameron Kusher, realestate.com.au’s executive manager of economic research, said the time period measured gave an insight into rental movements in the pre-COVID market, but said there could be different results in the near future.
“This data is measured over the past year and highlights that Melbourne is very much an in-demand rental location in usual times, particularly from recent migrants and overseas students… but it is yet to really show the impact of closed borders,” Mr Kusher said.
“I would expect in 6-12 months’ time, the Melbourne results will be much weaker. Before COVID, we were continuing to see strong migration patterns to Melbourne and the suburbs that are highly sought-after for people to own a home in are equally appealing to renters.”
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When Kirrily Hurst first started Suci Potted Plants it was just a small pop-up, however fast forward two years and it’s become a popular destination for plant lovers.
The pop-up was originally located on King William Road, before moving to a permanent location on Goodwood Road in February, 2018.
“My family are plant lovers and my father is a horticulturist, so it’s in the blood,” Kirrily says.
“When I bought my first unit I really started to enjoy and appreciate the benefits of plants.”
As you would expect, Kirrily’s plant obsession doesn’t stop at work – with her beautiful home filled to the brim with luscious plants.
“I love the laundry because it has my rhipsalis collection,” Kirrily says.
“We will be starting on an extension this month, so I can’t wait to have a bigger living area for more plants. They definitely inspire me, I love the look of greenery in the home and natural materials.”
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WORKLIFE
Owner Suci Potted Plants.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS/BEST KNOWN FOR …
Starting Suci Potted Plants and my lacrosse team making it into the SA Sporting Hall of Fame.
MY HOME IS A …
Place to relax and enjoy with friends and family.
I LIVE WITH …
My partner Ben and my beautiful rescue dogs Brodie, 14, and Jaxon, 5.
I LOVE MY HOME BECAUSE …
It’s ours and we can decorate how we want.
BUT I STILL NEED TO …
Get our living room extension done, starting this month.
MY DECORATING STYLE IS …
Botanical and natural materials.
RECENT PURCHASE
The MRD Home Jasper tan leather chair, Oliver black lamp and XL Monstera Deliciosa.
I COLLECT …
Plants.
FAVOURITE ROOM
The laundry with my rhipsalis collection, plus it’s the first room we’ve renovated.
HOME FAVOURITES
● Relaxing with a glass of wine with Ben (because we both work a lot).
● Brodie because she is over 14 and I know I don’t have a lot of time left with her.
● Our Belinda Bention art.
WHEN I GET HOME AT NIGHT, I …
Put on my ugg boots, I’m not a fan of being cold.
AT WEEKENDS I LIKE TO …
Catch up with friends for a run along the coast and have coffee after, walk the dogs at the beach or find a new trail in the hills we haven’t done and spend time with family and friends.
MY FIRST CAR …
Was a Subaru.
I LIKE TO LISTEN TO …
My old CDs.
AT THE MOMENT I AM READING …
The Boy On the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson.
FAVOURITE FILM
Blade Runner.
CLEAN FREAK OR MESSY BESSIE?
In between.
ON MY WISHLIST IS …
To do a marathon.
WHEN I’M HOME I LIKE TO COOK …
Banana pancakes.
FAV CAFE/RESTAURANT/BAR
Pink Moon Saloon.
FAVOURITE DRINK
Whiskey Sour.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD I WANTED TO BE …
A fashion designer.
FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY
Going to our Uncle’s farms at Milang.
IF I COULD CHANGE CAREER NOW I WOULD BE …
I wouldn’t.
FAVOURITE SA HOLIDAY SPOT
Deep Creek.
DREAM HOLIDAY DESTINATION
Maldives.
FAVOURITE SPORTS TEAM
The Matildas.
SOMETHING YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS?
To grow my business so that I can continue to work doing what I love.
MY NEIGHBOURS ARE …
Really sweet, we love them.
I COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT …
Plants and running.
IF I COULD AFFORD IT I WOULD LIVE …
On a farm with a view of the coast on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
HOME MEANS …
Comfort.
The post At home with Suci Potted Plant’s Kirrily Hurst appeared first on realestate.com.au.
Hamilton’s very own castle, found at the heart of the southwest Victorian town, has graced the property market.
Hewlett House, which also has been crowned The Castle in building title documents, is for sale with a $780,000-$840,000 price guide after an impressive transformation.
Charles Stewart Real Estate agent Penny Adamson said the 1876 property at 36 Gray Street was instantly recognised by locals walking down the main street.
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“It’s a rare and unique opportunity to purchase such beautiful architecture in the middle of Hamilton,” Ms Adamson said.
“The current owners purchased the property in 2004 and they’ve lovingly restored it, put in a beautiful new kitchen, new ensuites and carpet.”
The vendors also hired local cabinetry company Unicraft to add quality storage and shelving throughout the home, which has created an impressive library.
Other features include a formal entrance hall with a traditional archway and leadlight windows, three living rooms, an underground cellar and a separate home office.
The 892sq m block also offers large private gardens that wrap around the five-bedroom Italianate house.
A City of Hamilton conservation study by the South Grampians Shire Council shows the property was originally built for local doctor Edmund Vialls by architect William Holden.
Ms Adamson said the property could also be transformed for commercial use, just like a similar building in Hamilton called Roxburgh House had been used.
“But so far interest has all come from residential buyers, who have adored the architectural prominence of the property,” she said.
The vendors downsizing from the large property, which they bought in 2004.
It’s for sale via a private sales campaign.
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The post The Castle: Hamilton’s main street landmark home for sale appeared first on realestate.com.au.
When you look at the professional runs on the board Nick and Phillipa Tayler have, it comes as no surprise that their Mosman home is bursting with artistic flair.
Mr Tayler is an architect with 30 years’ experience and Mrs Tayler a social worker, artist and art therapist, who has worked and volunteered for in the health, welfare and educational sectors for more than 25 years.
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They have owned 30A Mandolong Rd, since 1994, and over the decades have renovated, creating a cherished family home where they have raised three daughters and collected countless memories.
The striking design features extensive use of glass, louvres and balconies to create a luxury home with a beach house that is full of light, sea breezes and wonderful views to Balmoral.
The beach itself is an easy 250m walk away, and the Taylers have loved being able to walk to the water with their kayaks.
“This house is exceedingly easy to live in,” Mrs Tayler said. “As our family has grown the house has been able to evolve with us.”
The couple’s artistic touch is everywhere in the home – even the heated plunge pool with swim jets and spa is a visual pleasure thanks to the walls of glass that line one side of the rumpus room.
It creates a clever frame for the pool and its sandstone wall, turning it into a water feature you can swim in.
Other features include a versatile studio/office/gym, artist’s studio and double carport. The property is for sale by expressions of interest, closing on September 30.
Jacqui Rowland-Smith, of Di Jones Mosman, has set a price guide of $5.75 million to $5.95 million.
She said the uniqueness of the design was attracting plenty of attention from buyers all over Sydney.
“The architecture is so clever with the way the owners have utilised the aspect and the Balmoral views,” she said.
The property is open on Thursdays and Saturdays from 11.30am-12.15pm. Private inspections are also available.
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