Blog

Would you prefer a house in the hills or along the coast? Pic: realestate.com.au

Yearning for a change of scenery but can’t decide whether to head for the hills or the coast?

Deciding can be a daunting task but weighing up the pros and cons of each will help take the panic out of making the biggest purchase of your life.

Belle Property Adelaide Hills principal Chris Robson said most people tended to head to the Adelaide Hills for a quieter lifestyle.

“It’s the peace and tranquillity, and perhaps a little more land,” he said.

“Especially for young families, they can let their hair down a bit and have a bit more recreation space.”

When it comes to the coast, Harcourts Christies Beach sales manager Jayne Baily said househunters wanted the relaxed beachside lifestyle without the hefty price tag.

“The benefits being our beautiful beaches, of course, and the summer sea breezes,” she said.

“You’re never too far away from a winery (like the hills) too and also it’s value for money.”

Both regions have a wide range of properties of varying sizes and prices to cater to every buyer.

So to help make the decision easier, we’ve found a few options that have a similar price tag and are roughly the same distance from the city to show just what you can get.

COMPARE THE PAIR

Asking price: starting at $400,000

They are on the market for roughly the same price, in suburbs between 35km and 40km from the city and have three bedrooms – but that’s where the similarities between these two houses end.

The Port Noarlunga South home at 10 Fremantle Rd is on a 737sqm block that’s a short stroll from the beach.

Further inland, the Nairne property at 56 Megan Circuit is on a 654sqm block and overlooks an adjacent park.

While the hills home is more modern with an open floor plan, the coastal haven has a larger outdoor entertainment area and a spa room.

10 Fremantle Road, Port Noarlunga South. Pic: realestate.com.au

10 Fremantle Road, Port Noarlunga South. Pic: realestate.com.au

56 Megan Circuit, Nairne. Pic: realestate.com.au

56 Megan Circuit, Nairne. Pic: realestate.com.au

Asking price: starting at $700,000

A character home surrounded by picturesque greenery or a modern residence in a beachside suburb?

The Bridgewater home at 4 Second Avenue has a price guide of $770,000 to $840,000, while the Hallett Cove residence at 76 Ragamuffin Drive is listed with an asking price of $720,000 to $750,000.

If price doesn’t help you decide, it will come down to style preferences.

The Hallett Cove home has more open living areas and a pool, while the Bridgewater property has charming character features, including ornate fireplaces and a cellar.

4 Second Avenue, Bridgewater. Pic: realestate.com.au

4 Second Avenue, Bridgewater. Pic: realestate.com.au

76 Ragamuffin Drive, Hallett Cove. Pic: realestate.com.au

76 Ragamuffin Drive, Hallett Cove. Pic: realestate.com.au

Asking price: $1 million plus

Househunters will be paying for the position of this Christies Beach home.

The three-bedroom residence at 54 Esplanade, which is listed for $1.2 million, is on a 836sqm block that overlooks the ocean and is within walking distance of cafes on Beach Rd.

Meanwhile, prospective buyers could snap up a Hahndorf character home on a sprawling 0.81ha block for less.

The four-bedroom residence at 133 Mount Barker Road, which has a $1 million price guide, is much further from the beach but it’s surrounded by lush gardens and is close to the township’s main street.

54 Esplanade, Christies Beach. Pic: realestate.com.au

54 Esplanade, Christies Beach. Pic: realestate.com.au

133 Mount Barker Road, Hahndorf. Pic: realestate.com.au

133 Mount Barker Road, Hahndorf. Pic: realestate.com.au

The post Buying property along the coast compared to the Adelaide Hills appeared first on realestate.com.au.

The Rydges on Swanston hotel has sold. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

A Carlton hotel at the centre of the state government’s botched quarantine program has been snapped up by a prominent private developer in a multimillion-dollar deal.

The Rydges on Swanston is set to shed its infamous past as a source of Melbourne’s crippling second coronavirus wave, with buyer Pelligra planning an “extensive refurbishment and repositioning” of the property as a high-end hotel and conference facility.

The aim would be to reopen next year.

The 107-room hotel at 701 Swanston Street fetched about $35m, after hitting the market in July with price expectations in the vicinity of $40m.

RELATED: Coronavirus quarantine hotel, Rydges on Swanston, Carlton for sale

Century-old South Melbourne pub, the Wayside Inn, sells

How the road map for reopening will impact Melbourne real estate

The property is set to be transformed into a high-end hotel and conference facility.

Despite prospective buyers being unable to physically inspect the property due to its use as a quarantine site for returned overseas travellers, it attracted more than 200 inquiries and a dozen bids from developers, hoteliers and investors, Jones Real Estate’s Paul Jones said.

Fellow listing agent Colliers International director Guy Wells said the hotel’s city-fringe location adjoining Lincoln Square, and the opportunity it offered “for various groups to redevelop or reposition” were major drawcards.

Mr Wells previously told the Herald Sun: “Regardless of what it’s been used for, land is the key. It’s scarce around these parts.

“Ultimately you’re buying 1762sq m of land within 600m of the CBD, … adjacent to the best university in Australia (the University of Melbourne) and within 250m of a new train station. You can’t get much better than these sorts of sites.”

The property’s city-fringe location was a drawcard.

The owner of two decades, Adelaide-based hotel owner David Horbelt, offered the five-level property with vacant possession.

He attempted to sell it last year, generating offers in excess of $50m during that ultimately unsuccessful campaign.

Mr Wells said while it was “good to see there’s still activity” on the Melbourne commercial property market in the depths of a stage four lockdown, the sector was operating in a “very constrained environment” due to the ban on physical inspections.

“It should be very easy for us to be able to undertake inspections in a one-on-one environment,” he said.

“I understand the (government’s) desire to restrict people’s movements. But we would only be working with qualified parties.”

The Victorian Government’s road map to reopening revealed physical inspections would not be permitted again until at least October 26, and only if the state recorded fewer than five daily cases over the two weeks prior to that date.

MORE: Better air filtration needed for offices to help prevent illness

Port Melbourne landmark home snapped up for millions without physical inspection

Real estate agency runs competition to help pay winners’ rent, mortgages

samantha.landy@news.com.au

The post COVID-19 quarantine hotel: Rydges on Swanston, Carlton sells appeared first on realestate.com.au.

This property at 59 Molonga Tce, Graceville, has sold for a suburb record of $6.3m.

SUBURB records are being smashed all over the city as the pandemic fuels a flight to premium property.

The latest is a contemporary riverfront home in the sleepy suburb of Graceville in Brisbane’s west, which has just changed hands for $6.3 million — beating the previous biggest home sale in the suburb by $2.3 million.

The kitchen and dining area of the property at 59 Molonga Tce, Graceville.

Designed by the multi-award-winning group Base Architecture, the property at 59 Molonga Terrace was owned by Chris and Letitia Vitale of residential property developer, Point Corp, fame.

The sale, to a local buyer, was negotiated by Heath Williams and Ann-Karyn Fraser of Place – New Farm.

The pool area of the property at 59 Molonga Tce, Graceville.

The house has five bedrooms and three bathrooms and sits on a 1369 sqm riverfront block.

Think luxury industrial living, featuring raw and polished concrete, natural timbers, and large expanses of glass for overlooking the Brisbane River.

The property at 59 Molonga Tce, Graceville, was designed by Base Architecture.

The three-level property has a lift to take you between floors, which are open plan.

A gas fireplace and soaring void on the middle level seamlessly connects the indoors to the outdoors, where there is a built-in barbecue, pool, landscaped gardens and a timber deck.

Ensuite goals at 59 Molonga Tce, Graceville.

The new owners can party the night away in a soundproofed bar area, with large wine fridge.

There’s also a fully integrated sound system and feature lighting.

This property at 59 Molonga Tce, Graceville, has sold for $6.3m.

CoreLogic records show the previous record residential home sale in Graceville was held by 95 Bank Road, which sold for $3.9 million in 2018.

Last month, Raby Bay’s sale price record was beaten when Joseph Lordi of McGrath Estate Agents sold a waterfront home for $8.5 million.

And in nearby Wynnum, a property at 97 Petersen Street has just sold offmarket for a new record of $2.85 million through Place – Bulimba.

The master bedroom in the property at 59 Molonga Tce, Graceville.

The post Architectural home smashes record sale by $2.3m in sleepy suburb appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Bronnie Roberts and Mark Husband outside the North Turramurra home where they met. Picture: John Appleyard

Bronnie Roberts wasn’t looking for love when she bought a pretty cottage in North Turramurra about three years go.

But that’s exactly what she found, and tomorrow she will wed the man who sold it to her.

And in a twist you couldn’t make up – she and fiance Mark become Mr and Mrs Husband.

“Of course I will be taking his name,” she told the North Shore Times.

MORE:

In fact their entire love story is the stuff of fairytales, with lashings of serendipity.

It began when Ms Roberts started looking for a home for herself and her three children.

The single mum had another property in St Ives, where she planned to do a knockdown/rebuild, but when the opportunity to sell it came up, she decided to buy an established home.

She saw No. 41 Ellalong Rd, North Turramurra on the internet and it was going to auction that weekend.

“I had never set foot in it, but I had looked at the floorplan and the pictures,” she said. “I decided to buy it.”

The day after the auction, agent Matt Bolin, of Ray White Upper North Shore, showed Ms Roberts through the home and introduced her to vendor Mark Husband.

Co-incidentally, a single dad with three children, the builder owns Classic Cottages and built the home himself.

The setting for a real life love story – 41 Ellalong Rd, North Turramurra.

The home is set up for a big family.

The pair exchanged email addresses in case Ms Roberts had any questions about the house, and they parted ways with a handshake.

“For about the next year I emailed Mark at odd times about the house, and then out of the blue I received an email from him to say he had accidentally ordered a bulk dog food delivery to my house,” she said.

“We chatted for a while, he seemed like a really good person but he really didn’t seem interested in me.”

Then Mr Husband’s mail redirection service to his new home stopped, so she started collecting his mail, and emailed him to let him know she would leave it our for him to collect.

“He came around to get it but I didn’t realise the housekeeper had brought all the mail in, including his,” Ms Roberts said.

By this time they had exchanged phone numbers, and a “few funny texts later”, Mr Husband returned to pick up his mail and have a promised cup of tea. By then there was a spark between the pair.

“I liked him and we had another cup of tea and a bit of chit chat,” she said.

“I had to come out and ask him if we were going to go out – so we set a date and we went out. He’s so lovely and I was flat out so in love with him straight away.”

There are multiple living spaces.

The main bedroom.

Ms Roberts, who owns local beauty business Face Studio by Bronnie, said they dated for about eight months before deciding to move in together.

So Mr Husband moved back to North Turramurra, and after two years together they decided to get married.

They will tie the knot tomorrow in a low-key wedding with just them and their six children.

“I am locking this man down,” Ms Roberts joked.

“It’s like the universe was really yelling very loudly at both of us to really get it together.

“We have fun and we’re happy and we have so much joy and laughter in our lives. I’m glad I took that leap and bought the house three years ago.”

Once they have their wedding done and dusted, the couple won’t be settling into married life at 41 Ellalong Rd for very long.

Mr Husband has recently sold his home in the upper north shore, while Ms Roberts has listed her home for sale.

Once again Mr Bolin will be managing the sale, albeit with a different vendor this time.

Summer-ready.

Romantic – he covered deck.

He has set a guide of $2.55 million for the impressive six-bedroom home, and plans to take it to auction on September 26. Within hours of the property hitting the o market on Monday, Mr Bolin’s phone was running hot with prospective buyers.

“It is a very well known home in that area and it is going to be very popular,” he said

Already tried and tested by a large blended family, the home also has a pool with cabana, covered deck and self-contained studio at the rear of the property.

Other features include high ceilings, spotted gum hardwood floors, ducted airconditioning, double garage with internal access, and kids’ play area with cubby.

The location is highly sought after, close to buses, Turramurra North Public School and local shops.

Mr Bolin said this was the first property sale he had ever managed that had led to a love affair and a wedding.

“I’ve never heard of it before, I think that it’s a once in a lifetime thing,” he said.

However, he revealed he did sense sparks between Ms Roberts and Mr Husband when he introduced them the day after the auction.

“I definitely thought I saw chemistry when they first met,” he said

SIGN UP HERE FOR THE NSW REAL ESTATE NEWSLETTER

The post Couple to wed after meeting over a North Turramurra property sale appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Geelong’s Draper family has launched a new housing estate at Yaringa Armstrong Creek.

NEW residential land estates are opening in two of Geelong’s busiest growth corridors.

A family that’s helped build many of Geelong’s new land estates has turned developer in the Armstrong Creek growth area.

Yaringa Armstrong Creek will offer 210 lots in 10 stages on the 12.23ha site off Surf Coast Highway at Mt Duneed.

Blocks measure in size from 364sq m to 562sq m.

RELATED: Darryn Lyons’ quirky childhood home sells

Friends buy first homes next door to each other

Amazing house rebuilt after fire hits market

The first stage — the Kangaroo Grass release — is now selling.

The Draper family, which operates Drapers Civil Contracting, has owned the land that follows the eastern end of Baanip Boulevard since 1989.

Maxwell Collins, Geelong agent Nick Lord said he is expecting high demand for the well-positioned, quality land.

“Yaringa offers the perfect location for first-home buyers, young families, investors and downsizers alike, with its proximity to the Geelong CBD, the Surf Coast as well as an easy commute to Melbourne via direct access to Baanip Boulevard,” he said.

Geelong’s Draper family has launched a new housing estate at Yaringa Armstrong Creek.

“The community will have access to key infrastructure such as shopping centres, quality schools, parks and other green open spaces, as well as public transport, and all right on its doorstep.”

As land owners and civil contractors, the Drapers have wasted little time in starting construction with an aim to allow buyers to get titles by the second quarter of 2021.

Geelong’s Draper family has launched a new housing estate at Yaringa Armstrong Creek.

Meanwhile, Villawood Properties has relaunched its Estuary development, with the 225-lot River Cove estate at Leopold.

Located to the east of the existing Bellarine Peninsula estate, River Cove will complete the link between Melaluka Road and Ash Road.

The first stage offering 26 blocks was launched at the weekend.

The original 651-lot Estuary estate busted sales expectations of a nine-year life-cycle, selling out in just four years.

Villawood Properties has launched River Cove at its Estuary development at Leopold.

Executive director Rory Costelloe said the business under estimated the local demand for new homes.

“The vast majority of buyers at the original Estuary were local Leopold buyers looking for a quality estate and community within Leopold without having to move into Geelong,” Mr Costelloe said.

“Many families had moved to Leopold as first-home buyers in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.”

Mr Costelloe said a number of people had already lined up to buy at River Cove, all from Leopold bar one from Barwon Heads.

“The new expanded Gateway Plaza shopping centre, with Bunnings and all its other stores, has been a great drawcard as well,” he said.

The post New housing estates launched in Armstrong Creek and Leopold appeared first on realestate.com.au.

No. 92 Wolseley Rd, Point Piper, has sold for $95m this week.

An Australian-based buyer has splashed $95m on an incredible Sydney waterfront mansion, in what will be the second-highest house sale ever recorded.

The Wolseley Road, Point Piper property known as Edgewater has a rare 40m harbour frontage and is in one of the most-prized locations in Point Piper, directly in front of the Bridge and Opera House.

Its tennis court on the waterfront is well known and there’s a deepwater jetty — no wonder it’s been snapped up, even during a crisis, by a savvy purchaser.

Multiple sources say the agent behind the deal, which exchanged on Monday, was the Sotheby’s managing director Michael Pallier.

When contacted this morning by the Wentworth Courier, Pallier said he was not able to comment on the sale.

MORE:
Darling Point penthouse sells for $7.25m

5 Bellevue Hill homeowners sells for circa $23m

Incredible views.

It was converted into two residences by architect Stephen Gergely in the late 1980s.

The property is owned by the co-founders of the Katies women’s retail clothing chain Joseph Brender and the late Sam Moss.

They’d bought the 1800 sqm property for $5m in 1985 from the entertainment promoter Michael Edgley as a concrete shell and engaged the architect Stephen Gergely to convert it into two strata residences to house the two families.

The property is just a few doors along from the Westfield billionaire Frank Lowy, who bought his waterfront for $1.3m in 1991.

The street-level of the Brender-Moss property is the car park — the roof of the residences.

A lift takes you to the two-level Brender residence, then to the two-level Moss apartment.

A shared entertainment level — accommodating a kitchen and an indoor swimming pool — is on the next level. And the tennis court, pavilion and jetty are down on the waterfront.

The 40m harbour frontage was what made it so special.

What an outlook.

It’s understood the buyer paid $47.5m for each of the properties with settlement delayed until 2022.

The purchaser will convert it back into one grand residence and live there.

The lower level residence is currently rented out for $6000 per week.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes bought the mansion Fairwater nearby for $100m in 2018.

To put it in perspective, that property was on 11,000sqm of land, while this residence is on less than 2000 sqm of land.

Commenting on the sale, valuer Simon Feilich said: “When you buy something for $5m and make $90m, that’s a pretty unbelievable return.

“There’s been a flight to quality … in uncertain times, people want a safe haven and Australia is exactly that both politically and from a COVID-19 perspective.”

Brender and Moss had a special business relationship for about 50 years before Moss died in 2016 aged 90.

They owned the textile group Brenmoss Holdings, which represented 70 per cent of Australia’s bedlinen, fabric and clothing manufacturing industry by the 1990s.

Both men were keen collectors of Australian art. And they both appeared on the rich 200 list in the past.

The post Point Piper waterfront mansion sells for $95m to Australian-based buyer appeared first on realestate.com.au.