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Litigator Amanda Banton has bought this Darlinghurst dump.

Powerhouse litigator Amanda Banton is set to emerge as the mystery purchaser of one of Darlinghurst’s last decrepit Victorian terraces.

Word is after the uninhabitable five-bedroom Surrey St home sold for $4.6m that Banton engaged William Smart Architects to work on the restoration investment project.

The home attracted 18 registered bidders at its BresicWhitney auction despite needing $2m plus in renovation work.

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Amanda Banton.

A renovation is needed.

There were three bidders at $4.6m for the 278sqm property with 7.6m frontage. The hoarder home, offered with rooms cordoned off with danger tape, last tra­ded in 1976 at $43,000. Darlinghurst had 40 sales over the past year at a $1.9m median, according to ­realestate.com.au.

Not too sure about the colour scheme.

Plenty of potential.

The Rose Bay-based lawyer has just kicked off her new Martin Place legal firm, Banton Group specialising in insolvency and litigation.

Her partners have made significant recoveries for clients, including $200m plus against Lehman Brothers and $215m against Standard and Poors. Banton Group recently acted successfully on a pro-bono basis to represent a ­grieving family excluded from the class action in the MH17 appeal.

The post Litigator Amanda Banton buys decript Darlinghurst terrace appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Aussie John Symond has sold his 73-metre super yacht, Hasna

‘Aussie’ John Symond knocked back an offer of $100m on his Point Piper mansion a few years ago, but he has reportedly offloaded his $150m superyacht.

Symond put the 73 metre luxury motor yacht ‘Hasna’ up for sale a year ago with an asking price of $160m, with the intention of upgrading to something even bigger.

Now, despite COVID-19, it’s sold, according to yachtie news website yachtharbour.com. But not before a $10m price drop.

Among its highlights are an eight metre infinity pool, a jacuzzi, a 10-seat cinema, a wellness centre and massage room, a lift, an inside-outside bar, sun deck lounge and even a hairdressing salon.

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Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond his wife, Amber, at the annual Christmas cocktail party they hold at their Point Piper mansion in 2016. Photo: Brianne Makin

Among its features, the superyacht has an eight-metre infinity pool, a jacuzzi…..even a hairdressing salon.

The man who made his fortune from mortgages as the founder of Aussie Home Loans bought the boat for more than $104m two years earlier, soon after he withdrew his Wingadal Pl waterfront trophy home from the market.

The plan had been for Symond and wife Amber to tour Europe on ‘Hansa’, which is one of the best private superyachts in the world.

The identity of the purchaser isn’t it known, or whether it took a further discount to sell it.

John Symond’s Point Piper waterfront mansion … he knocked back an offer of $100m in 2016.

John Symond with the then Amber Keating at the time of their engagement, Valentines Day, 2015, outside the Point Piper mansion. Picture: Toby Zerna

At $150m, that’s $50m more than the Australian house price record, which was achieved, when, unlike Symond’s, did actually sell for $100m.

That was for another Point Piper waterfront, when tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes bought the Fairfax waterfront estate ‘Fairwater’.

‘Hasna’ has been renamed ‘Lunasea’ by its new owner since the sale in recent weeks.

It has accommodation for 12 guests and a crew of up to 21.

Yachtharbour.com reported that the sale occurred via leading superyacht companies y.co and Burgess.

Y.co chairman Gary Wright said demand for well-built yachts was strong but added: “Completing a sale of this magnitude in the current climate has taken an extraordinary amount of commitment from everyone involved.”

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Chris Pongrass (right) of the Sydney Kings has bought in Bellevue Hill. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Now back in Sydney, Chris Pongrass, the chief executive of the Sydney Kings, has put down roots in Bellevue Hill.  

He was appointed CEO at the NBL club just over a year ago having spent six years with the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.

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It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

It took just two weeks to sell.

He’s paid $2.1m for a newly renova­ted unit.

Last traded for $1,363,000 in 2014, the 120sqm, three bedroom, two bathroom unit was sold through Ray White Double Bay agents Warren Ginsberg and Claudia Brunker.

The sale for Alexandra and Dean Joffe, the mortgage broker, was sec­ured in less than two weeks.

It is newly renovated.

There have been 15 three-bedder sales so far this year, with prices ranging from $1.4m to $2.7m.

Pongrass, a UTS graduate, started his career as a paralegal at Harry Triguboff’s Meriton Group

The post Sydney Kings CEO Chris Pongrass buys unit in Bellevue Hill appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Don’t give people a reason to look for problems with your home.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say, generally speaking, people don’t like being misled.

A light shop I ride past on my way to work has a sign out the front:

“LIGHT SALE THIS WEEKEND ONLY!”

That’s been up for close to six months now.

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Then there are the rug shop TV commercials:

“WE’VE ORDERED TOO MANY RUGS AND THEY’VE ALL GOT TO GO AT 80 PER CENT OFF!”

Really? This happens every week! Either you’re not being entirely truthful with us, or you need to fire whoever is in charge of stock orders, because they’re clearly failing hard at their job. People see through that sort of nonsense, so just be honest with us.

Real estate marketing is no different. I still see, on a daily basis, properties marketed with impossibly perfect lawns that have been photoshopped to within an inch of their life. Back lawns that look like pool tables, when we all know that the massive Moreton Bay fig tree in the corner of the yard is going to be doing an absolute number on it.

We’re not that easily fooled. And for those that are, why disappoint them? They’re not going to buy your property if you’ve ticked them off right from the get-go.

They’re also likely to be inspecting your home more critically – looking for other possible flaws or imperfections you’ve potentially tried to mask. Don’t take the risk.

If your home needs some attention to bring it in line with your competition, address these issues in real life before launching rather than relying on camera trickery to get buyers in.

Or lower your price expectations to allow for the fact that buyers will have to spend a bit of money to get it up to how you’d ideally like it to look.

Don’t give people a reason to look for problems with your home.

It’s the same with pricing. Buyers are armed with more information than ever before. So if you put a price on a property that’s below market value to attract a bit more interest people know. Don’t do it. Put up the price you want, or don’t put a price on at all.

The overwhelming majority of real estate marketing in this state is done really well. Don’t let your house be the one that stands out for all the wrong reasons.

As a buyer, you’d expect honesty, so make sure that’s how you promote your property.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make sure it’s a good one.

Stay safe, and happy househunting!

The post Looking to sell? Don’t do this … appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Tradies are scared to turn up for construction work as new restrictions put the brakes on Victorians’ bids for $25,000 HomeBuilder grants.

Tradies scared and confused by new rules governing the construction industry are planning to stay home throughout Melbourne’s stage four lockdown for fear of being fined.

The revelation is a spanner in the works for the federal government’s $680m HomeBuilder scheme, which has finally begun taking applications from Victorians after a web portal designed for the program went online Monday night.

State Revenue Office figures show about 14,600 Victorians have registered interest in the scheme in the past month.

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The web portal is accessed through the SRO website and is the only way in this state to make a formal application for the $25,000 grants for new houses and substantive renovations.

However, it comes more than a month after Tasmanians began applying via a paper-based system that commenced on July 6.

Master Builders Association of Victoria chief executive Rebecca Casson said the portal’s launch was a “positive” for builders “in a tough few weeks for our industry”.

“This program will help stimulate interest and then action in our industry,” Ms Casson said.

“It will specifically have an immediate effect in regional Victoria where building and construction is still operating at full capacity, and our regional members have reported huge interest in clients taking up the grant since the announcement of the program.”

She added that while construction could commence during Melbourne’s stage four lockdown, it would continue at a diminished capacity.

Some tradies are now too scared of fines to turn up to work.

Nostra Homes builder Anthony Caruana said he expected to commence construction on just 25 per cent of the homes he had planned to before the September end of the shutdown.

“There are tradies throwing in the towel, saying it’s too hard and they are just going to stay home for the six weeks,” Mr Caruana said.

“They are scared. They are worried they will be on site and get a fine.”

He added that about 10 per cent of the mostly first and second-home buyers who had contacted his business with plans to capitalise on HomeBuilder’s $25,000 grants had already pulled the pin as a result of the six-week stage four lockdown affecting their employment.

Urban Development Institute of Australia Victorian chief executive Danni Hunter said the restrictions would be “problematic for small-scale projects throughout the next five weeks”.

However, the industry remained committed to ensuring the lockdown lasted six weeks and not longer.

“While a massive improvement on the initial restrictions, the limitation on tradespeople being able to only go to three sites per week will significantly hamper the home building industry’s ability to continue functioning,” Ms Hunter said.

New restrictions governing Victoria’s development industry came into force at 11.59pm Friday, including limiting tradespeople to working on just three new builds a week and capping workforces on new house construction at five people.

Larger projects, above three storeys, have their workforces capped at 25 per cent of their typical numbers.

Renovations must stop unless the site is unsafe for home inhabitants.

Renovations at inhabited homes must stop if they are safe for habitation.

The HomeBuilder scheme is available for anyone building a new home or substantially renovating an existing one and who signs contracts between June 4 and December 31 this year.

New builds must be priced below $750,000 and renovations must be between $150,000 and $750,000. Those earning above certain income thresholds are also excluded from access to the scheme.

The State Revenue Office commissioner has already exercised his discretion to provide Victorians with six months to commence construction, instead of the three month timeline in place elsewhere in the nation.

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The post $25k HomeBuilder grants open to Victorians, but tradies fear fines appeared first on realestate.com.au.

The house at 7 Wellington Street, Brighton has been through some things.

A grand Brighton residence that was built for a former mayor, and survived being hit by a cyclone a century ago, has emerged as a rare buying opportunity.

The 1863 house on a substantial 1177sq m corner block at 7 Wellington Street has hit the market for the first time in two decades, with a $7-$7.7m price guide.

Vendor Gill, who asked that her surname not be published, said a Brighton Historical Society profile of her longtime home had revealed its first owner was Thomas Crisp, who served as the suburb’s mayor in the 1860s.

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Dark timber features prominently.

A formal dining room.

She said the residence’s landholding stretched “all the way down to the West Brighton Club (on Park Street) at the time”, but portions had since been sold off.

In 1918, a cyclone that tore through Wellington Street “took the top of the house off”, knocking one of the then-owner’s daughters down the staircase and breaking her leg.

Gill said the five-bedroom house then lay vacant for a few years before the next owner renovated it to a Spanish Mission design.

“As a result, you’ve got that beautiful Victorian downstairs with wood panelling and an original staircase with the rest of the house in 1920s Spanish Mission style,” she said.

A spacious bathroom.

One of five bedrooms.

Cosy by the fire.

Gill and her family refreshed the floors during their first year there in 1999, and then a decade ago, carried out “a big renovation” that involved adding new bathrooms, removing walls to open up the house, and installing a large deck with a built-in barbecue and wine fridge.

They then repainted last year.

Highlights of the “timeless design” include a stone-topped kitchen with an island bench and Smeg appliances, a palatial main bedroom with a balcony and twin ensuite, and a mix of formal and casual living and dining spaces.

The family had loved having “the beach at the end of the street”, and Church Street’s shops and eateries also within walking distance.

“As a family, we’ll often walk up to the movies at the (Palace) Dendy, and to Church Street for dinner,” Gill said.

Brandy and some cabaret.

The kitchen is swish and modern.

A high-end touch on entry.

The family is selling to downsize.

Selling agent Nick Johnstone, of Nick Johnstone Real Estate, said the property faced north at the rear and occupied “one of the best streets in Brighton”, while the house itself boasted “big rooms and high ceilings”.

He said he’d managed to show a handful of interested buyers through the residence before stage four restrictions banning on-site inspections kicked in.

samantha.landy@news.com.au

The post Brighton house built for mayor, hit by cyclone a century ago for sale appeared first on realestate.com.au.