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Five buyers competed for the keys to this original Geelong West house.
Five buyers scrambled to snap up a post-war brick veneer house in Geelong West which sold quickly for $87,000 above expectation.
Melburnians hoping to purchase 23 Anglesea Terrace sight unseen drove competition for the original three-bedroom home but it was a Geelong couple moving into the same street as one of set of parents that won the keys.
They paid $707,000 for the 570sq m property, which was offered for the first time in more than 30 years.
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The sale was wrapped up weeks before the sale by set date campaign was due to finish as keen buyers rushed to inspect it.
It was listed with a price guide of $580,000-$620,000.
Barry Plant, Geelong agent Stan Buzza said the house was a blank canvas that sparked phenomenal interest.
The loungeroom faces the street.
The kitchen is due for an update.
He said a young couple looking to relocate from Yarraville were among those vying for the chance to move into the house.
“We had 51 inspections in five days and there were five contract offers so it was highly competitive,” Mr Buzza said.
“I think the development potential, it was a canvas that you could work with. It was quite original but it didn’t need a great amount of work.
It’s all about blue in the bathroom.
“The competition was driven really hard by a few from Melbourne that had not seen it but it was Geelong buyers that bought it.
“They’re moving in — their mum and dad live in the street.”
Mr Buzza said he had already sold another property off market to someone who missed out on 23 Anglesea Tce.
The house has an open-plan kitchen and dining room and separate loungeroom, plus side access to a carport and garage.
It’s walking distance from Pakington Street, Geelong train station and the waterfront.
The post Five-way battle nets extra $87K for Geelong West vendors appeared first on realestate.com.au.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
What was once a childhood dream has become a reality for barista and former owner of Please Say Please Daniel Freer.
The 31-year-old had always wanted to make his own video game and decided to take the leap in January last year.
Taking inspiration from the Super Nintendo era games of his childhood, Daniel’s game RITE has been a rewarding, yet challenging experience.
“The most challenging part of making a game is finishing it,” he says.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to finish an 18-month self-directed project, not to mention release it and have people play and leave nice reviews.”
Working on his game from his apartment, Daniel says he’s had to work hard to create dedicated work spaces in his home.
“While I love the set-up of the living and kitchen area, I think the best part is having a home office to work on my creative endeavours,” he says.
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At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
AGE 31
WORK LIFE
Part -time barista, part-time game developer.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS/BEST KNOWN FOR …
Opening a coffee shop in 2013 (Please Say Please), releasing a video game in 2020 (RITE).
I’VE LIVED IN MY HOME FOR …
Just over six months!
MY HOME IS A …
Noisy sanctuary.
I LIVE WITH …
My plants.
I LOVE MY HOME BECAUSE …
It’s a bright and comfortable space.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
BUT I STILL NEED TO …
Buy more plants and grow more herbs.
MY DECORATING STYLE IS …
Made up as I go.
RECENT PURCHASE
A big round mirror.
I COLLECT …
Copic markers and nice paper.
FAVOURITE PART OF YOUR HOME
By the window in the lounge area, where all my plants and books reside.
HOME FAVOURITES
■ My drawing/work bench
■ My couch
■ My slowly growing book collection
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
IN MY GARDEN I HAVE …
Do indoor plants count as a garden?
WHEN I GET HOME AT NIGHT …
I immediately put comfy pants on.
AT WEEKENDS I LIKE TO …
Go for a hike, catch up with friends for a beer or three.
MY FIRST CAR WAS …
A pretty ugly VS Commodore.
I LIKE TO LISTEN TO …
Rival Consoles, Max Cooper, Christian Loffler, video game soundtracks, Making Sense Podcast.
AT THE MOMENT I AM READING …
Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
FAVOURITE FILM
Arrival.
CLEAN FREAK OR MESSY BESSIE?
Clean freak although the dishes do pile up from time to time.
ON MY WISHLIST IS …
A dishwasher!
WHEN I’M HOME I LIKE TO COOK …
Pasta, way too often.
FAVE CAFE/RESTAURANT/BAR
Baddog and Proof (bars), Etica (restaurant), I can’t answer for fave cafe – I am friends with too many cafe owners!
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
FAVOURITE DRINK
Espresso or filter coffee in the morning, a Sazerac or Red Hook late at night.
WHEN I WAS A CHILD I WANTED TO BE …
A game developer! Or a pirate.
FAVOURITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY
Our family cat and being allowed to play Super Nintendo on the weekends.
IF I COULD CHANGE CAREER NOW I WOULD BE …
A keeper of bees, a grower of food or maybe an astronaut, ha!
FAVOURITE SA HOLIDAY SPOT OR ACTIVITY
Pretty much any hiking trail, it’s hard to pick one – we have so many great tracks.
DREAM HOLIDAY DESTINATION
Japan.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
At home with Dan Freer. Photo: Nick Clayton.
SOMETHING YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE IN THE NEXT 10 YEARS?
Own my own place and grow some food there.
MY NEIGHBOURS ARE …
Noisy but nice.
I COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT …
Halloumi.
IF I COULD AFFORD IT I WOULD LIVE …
In my own little place in the Adelaide Hills, or move to Berlin again.
HOME MEANS …
Comfy pants.
The post At home with indie game developer Daniel Freer appeared first on realestate.com.au.
The location of this post-war house in Belmont saw it snapped up in a week.
Quick-thinking buyers scored a Belmont house that sold in seven days for the top end of the asking range.
The Geelong investors paid $669,000 for the three-bedroom home at 30 Cambridge Street, in a confidence-boosting result for vendors in the suburb.
Buxton agent Tony Moorfoot said the location, in one of Belmont’s most popular streets, was the big selling point for first-home buyers and investors.
Original features include timber floors and details in the loungeroom.
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The post war red brick house with period features is on a 702sq m block that’s within walking distance of the High Street shopping strip and several schools.
Mr Moorfoot said side access from Oxford Street might lend itself to further development down the track.
“It was a really good location and it was just a beautiful home that was really aesthetically pleasing,” Mr Moorfoot said.
“We probably had 20-plus private inspections on it.
The updated kitchen links to the dining room.
Two of the bedrooms have built-in wardrobes.
“It just shows the market in Belmont right now is pretty good if you’ve got the right property and the right price.”
The house has high ceilings and timber floorboards, an open fireplace in the loungeroom, an updated kitchen and bathroom and a study for those working from home.
Outside there is a double garage and established gardens.
The post Cambridge St, Belmont house sells in a week for top asking price appeared first on realestate.com.au.
This stunning Eraring property is up for sale.
A luxury waterfront home on Lake Macquarie has hit the market.
The home was obviously inspired by architect Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House in Illinois, USA.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home, located at Eraring, is expected to sell for $2 million.
Situated on over 9000sqm, the home exudes a sleek luxury resort minimalism feel with floor-to-ceiling windows, entertaining deck and pool.
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The vendors are theatre production designer Mark Thompson and Kerry Crawford, the CEO of arts and disability organisation Accessible Arts.
An incredible spot near the water.
The bedroom with a view.
Their building block was purchased in 1995 for $225,000 with the grounds including an artist studio where Thompson has painted. In 2009, he was an Archibald finalist for his portrait of actor Greta Scacchi.
McGrath Toukley agents Chris Smith and Mitchell Thomas have scheduled the auction for October 17.
The house is located on the western shore of Lake Macquarie and north of the town of Morisset.
It is expected to sell for $2 million.
Smith last month secured a $6 million Eraring sale when Mandalay, the luxury six-bedroom, six bathroom home, with 14-car garage, attracted six registered bidders mainly out of Sydney. A Sydney businessman secured it as a weekender.
Mandalay, which sits on 2.7ha on the tip of the peninsula with 481m of waterfront, was offered by Compass Helicopters boss Graeme Thomas who is moving to a nearby acreage.
A long bookshelf.
He had bought the property five years ago for $1.58 million and undertaken a comprehensive modernisation of the estate.
The lakeside record had been $4.25 million when set in January.
Eraring is 30 minutes via helicopter to Sydney airport.
The post Luxury Lake Macquarie home comes onto market with $2m hopes appeared first on realestate.com.au.
A Melbourne real estate agent reckons he’s found a way to effectively sell homes under stage four restrictions.
A real estate agent in Melbourne’s west believes he has found a loophole that will allow sales to proceed despite the ban on physical inspections.
Hocking Stuart Altona and Williamstown director Anthony Anile’s solution is adding a clause to the sales contract making the deal “conditional upon a satisfactory inspection”.
This way, the physical inspection could be done “after a contract is exchanged” rather than the usual before.
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Mr Anile said his lawyers had confirmed the clause was legally compliant, as physical pre-settlement inspections were permitted under Melbourne’s stage four lockdown.
But a prominent buyer’s advocate has warned purchasers and sellers considering going down this road to tread carefully.
The state government’s road map for reopening revealed on Sunday in-person home inspections wouldn’t be allowed again until at least October 26.
“We would make sure the purchaser had a good look at the property online, in photos and virtual tours, that they had their finances approved and had a genuine need to buy,” Mr Anile said.
“We would then negotiate the price between the parties as usual, with the physical inspection occurring after contracts had been exchanged.
“If the buyer didn’t like the property for whatever reason, they wouldn’t need to pursue that contract, there’d be no penalty or fee.
“This move is to help sellers who have a genuine need to transact with genuine buyers, not to skirt the need to keep our community safe.”
Premier Daniel Andrews’ road map revealed physical home inspections would be banned until at least October 26. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw
The business.vic.gov.au website confirms a buyer can attend a property by private appointment for pre-settlement purposes if they must, and if physical distancing is maintained and face coverings are worn.
But it advises pre-settlement inspections “should be conducted remotely where possible”.
Mr Anile said his offices hadn’t completed any sales using the clause yet. But he expected it to give the 40-odd properties his agency had on the market in the Hobsons Bay area a better chance of transacting under the stage four lockdown. The same clause could apply to leasing arrangements.
“It’s out of the box. But COVID-19 has taught us to be flexible,” he said.
Philip Webb Real Estate founder Philip Webb said his agency was also giving tenants “an option of an out” if they discovered something “drastically wrong” with a property they leased sight-unseen during stage four.
Real Estate Buyers Agents Association president Cate Bakos said a buyer or seller would “need to have a compelling reason with significant time pressure” to go down this path.
Buyer’s advocate Cate Bakos advised buyers to engage their lawyers before agreeing to the clause.
Would-be purchasers must run the clause past their lawyers to ensure it’s “water tight”.
“If a purchaser is not in a position to travel to the property, for example if they’re sick, they might fall foul of the clause,” she said.
“A vendor could enforce the contract on the basis the purchaser hasn’t made a fair enough attempt.”
Ms Bakos said a vendor could be risking missing an opportunity to sell their home to “someone who is already familiar with the property, or who is prepared to buy sight-unseen for a higher price” by getting locked into a conditional contract.
She said while the real estate sector was eager to get rolling, “we have to be patient and hope it will be less than seven weeks” until physical inspections resumed.
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The post Melbourne stage four: Agent’s loophole for selling homes during lockdown appeared first on realestate.com.au.
This house at 15 Towers St, Ascot, has sold without the free Lamborghini. Photo: Supplied.
A LUXURY house that won a national “Best Renovation” award last year has sold for $5.2 million – minus the flashy green Lamborghini and free wine.
Called Belvedere, the Zephyr Industries-built 900sq m residence at 15 Towers Street in Ascot is believed to have sold to a local buyer, with the price only recently revealed in land titles data.
This property at 15 Towers St, Ascot, has sold. Photo: Supplied
When it was first offered to the market, it was listed for a whopping $8.8 million and was being offered for sale with a new bright green Lamborghini Huracan LP 580 and free vino.
The home was initially offered to the market for a whopping $8.8m. Photo: Supplied
But property data shows the glitzy residence was on the market for 423 days, having being listed with three different agencies before finally being sold by Ray White New Farm agent Matt Lancashire in about four months.
The view from the home at 15 Towers St, Ascot. Photo: Supplied
Mr Lancashire refused to comment on the sale in any capacity.
As for the four-storey masterpiece house, it comes with five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a seven-car garage.
The home has a modern, open-plan kitchen and dining area. Photo: Supplied
Upon its completion, Zephyr Industries director Brayden Larkin said the original 1920s Queenslander home had being given a new life with no expense spared.
Features include a 3000-bottle temperature controlled wine cellar with wine tasting room, an
elevator, cinema, two pools, and a roof top terrace with private six-seater spa.
The impressive 3000-bottle wine cellar. Photo: Supplied
The post Flashy home sells — minus the green Lambo and free wine appeared first on realestate.com.au.
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