SUBURB SNAP

Hamlyn Heights provides entry to city buyers relocating to Geelong

FIRST-home buyers living in Melbourne will make a fresh start in Newcomb after buying a three-bedroom house at auction.

The couple bought the house at 23 Lucas St for $396,000 — above the quoted range of $340,000 to $360,000.

Newtown agent Graeme Taylor said the buyers, Ryan Taylor and Sophie Crapper, pictured below, who were originally from Bendigo but now live in Melbourne, competed against three other buyers for the property.

They plan to commute to Melbourne for work, he said.

Mr Taylor said the house was well maintained, allowing the buyers the opportunity to move straight in.

The quiet street is close to Newcomb Central shopping centre and local schools and sporting facilities. The house has been restumped, has solar panels and a deck in the secure backyard.

GEELONG WEST

FIRST-home buyers have a lot of work ahead of them after securing a three-bedroom Geelong West cottage at auction.

The double-fronted house at 13 Hope St sold under the hammer for $580,000.

Newtown agent Dale Whitford said the result for the unrenovated house eclipsed the reserve, which was set at $550,000.

Mr Whitford said the 443sq m property attracted three bidders, with the young local couple securing the property.

While the house is in an ideal location for young homebuyers, with the train station, CBD and Pakington St shopping nearby, Mr Whitford said the house needed a lot of work.

The house has three bedrooms, a kitchen with meals area, a separate loungeroom and a bathroom with separate toilet.

There is a garage and a 6.2m by 3.6m storage shed which are accessed from the side lane.

GROVEDALE

A LOCAL investor has snapped up a threebedroom Grovedale house minutes after seeing the property in person for the first time.

McGrath, Geelong agent Will Ainsworth said the buyer inspected the property before the auction, before paying $423,000 at auction.

Mr Ainsworth said the buyer then called her husband to tell him she’d bought the home.

“He turned up after the auction and asked to have a look at the house he’d just bought.”

Price hopes before the auction were $390,000 to $410,000.

GEELONG WEST

A FOUR-bedroom house has climbed $350,000 in value in seven years after selling for more than $1 million.

The Victorian-style house at 56 Clarence St previously extended by Geelong builder John Orr & Son sold at auction for $1.04 million.

Harcourts, North Geelong auctioneer Joe Grgic negotiated with the Belmont buyers in front of a crowd of about 70 people to achieve the under the hammer result.

Mr Grgic opened the bidding with a $900,000 vendor bid, before the buyer offered $950,000. But bidding stalled after two more vendor bids took the price to $1 million.

After speaking with the vendor and the buyers, the final $1.04 million bid was made.

“This home is the perfect blend of Victorian period charm,” Mr Grgic said.

The house previously sold for $690,000 in 2010, after it had undergone its renovation to include an open-plan rear living area with

HAMLYN HEIGHTS

MELBOURNE homebuyers turned Geelong’s so-called suburban snobbery to their advantage to secure a renovated three-bedroom house at auction. Moonee Ponds couple Josh Mitchell and Julia Madden embraced after buying 136B Church St for $505,000. “We’ve been to East Geelong for the past four or five auctions and we’ve been getting outbid by about $80,000,” Mr Mitchell said. “So we lowered our expectations a bit and we’re really happy. ” Buxton, Newtown agent Matthew Plunkett said the price far exceeded his vendors’ dream price of around $450,000. Mr Plunkett told the crowd while he valued the property in the low to mid $400,000 price range, though would fetch far more if it was across the road in Geelong West. “A lot of Melbourne people call us suburb snobs, they cannot work out why someone would pay $100,000 more to live across the road, but that’s what happens,” he said. “To get $505,000 on a smaller block on Church St with Shannon Ave there, it probably exceeded all expectations,” he said later. polished concrete and hardwood floors, an outdoor deck and a rear studio.

BELMONT

A YOUNG couple relocating from Torquay have snapped up a renovated two-bedroom Belmont house at auction.

Vanders, Belmont agent Rod van der Chys said the couple had looked at house prices in Torquay and decided it best to find a more affordable option on the south side of Geelong.

The house at 9 Emerald Court, Belmont, sold for $421,000.

“We had it pegged as first-home buyers, younger couples or a single person because it wasn’t a big house and that was exactly what it came down to,” Mr van der Chys said.

“They had looked at the Torquay market and went wow, we can’t get into that at a reasonable level,” he said.

Mr van der Chys said the price was well above the $360,000 to $390,000 expectations