’GOLDEN’ AREA DRAWS BIG BIDS

A BUYER with her heart set on East Geelong’s ‘Golden Triangle’ pushed past her budget limit as a renovated house beat price hopes by almost $130,000.

Kerry Scholes outlasted three other bidders to buy 14 Philpott St for $1.148 million at auction on Saturday.

Price hopes for the three-bedroom weatherboard house in one of the suburb’s premium leafy streets had been $1 million to $1.02 million.

Ms Scholes, who is returning to her hometown of Geelong from Melbourne, said she loved the location and was determined to stay in the race after a six-month search for a new home. “I missed out another one so I just kept going,” she said.

Whitford, Newtown agent John Moran took an opening bid of $800,000 before submitting a vendor bid of $950,000. That triggered a volley of more than 60 bids before the hammer came down before a big crowd.

Mr Moran said the beautiful street was a big part of the appeal of the character weatherboard set in established gardens.

“It is that Golden Triangle of East Geelong and everyone want to be in these streets,” he said.

“You can walk down to Eastern Gardens, to the waterfront … everything is at your fingertips.”

An extensive renovation delivers a flexible floorplan with an open-plan living room opening onto a north-facing deck, a formal loungeroom, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Another renovated character house just down the street at No. 5 last month sold for $965,000 at auction.