A downsizer, wanting a stylish home for himself and his daughters, made a final $1000 bid to beat one other bidder for a four-level townhouse in Richmond.
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse at 5/10 Lord Street sold for $1,632,000, topping the $1.55 million reserve.
It also sold above the advertised price range of $1.48 million to $1.55 million.
Bidding opened at $1.48 million, and the two buyers then traded $10,000 offers, which brought the price above the reserve within 10 bids.
Woodards auctioneer and listing agent John Costanzo said both buyers had become invested in owning the home.
“Both the buyers that were bidding were strong all the way through they’ve been here more than once,” Costanzo said. “One of them had actually had a building inspection. So, I was pretty sure that they would be bidding.”
5/10 Lord Street had several indoor and outdoor living areas. Credit: Woodards
“The winners … they’re coming from a bigger home in either Kew or Hawthorn,” Costanzo said. “He just wanted something sort of low maintenance, but can still have his daughters living with him. So yeah, it’s perfect for them.”
The luxury townhouse featured multiple outdoor living areas, city views, a car stacker in the garage and an internal lift.
It was one of just 120 auctions scheduled on AFL Grand Final day – one of the quietest auction weekends of the year, though buyers were still out and about.
In Wheelers Hill, a family home at 5 Draper Square sold for $1,711,000 after five bidders battled it out.
The four-bedroom house had an advertised price range of $1.55 million to $1.62 million.
Bidding started at $1.6 million, close to the top of the range, as buyers tried to knock each other out of the competition.
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Ray White Ferntree Gully listing agent Cristine Jones said the big opening bid did just that.
“The opening bid kinda put a bit of a damper on things,” Jones said. “I think it knocked a few people out. It kicked on with some competitive bidding in some smaller increments, and that’s even after it was declared on the market.”
The sale price was $91,000 more than the top of the range. Jones would not disclose the reserve.
She said the winning bidders were a local family who wanted to be closer to schools and parks, and that selling on the traditionally quiet grand final Saturday hadn’t affected the auction.
“We’ve hit spring, there’s lovely weather. People were confident and happy to be out and about,” she said. “Selling auctions on grand final day still works. The people who said they were coming, were all there.”
