The Weekend Post - Real Estate
UNLIKELY DREAM HOME
Rundown and in need of some serious TLC, this Edge Hill three-bedder still sold to owner-occupiers who recognised the value of a sought-after location and have big plans to make it their own
BEATEN and battered, 40 Goodwin St, Edge Hill, in most buyers’ eyes was destined to be demolished. Instead it sold for above median in February and the original structure still stands.
The 1968-built home previously had one owner – a long-term Cairns family – and had been sitting vacant for about a year, withering to an unliveable condition.
Finding a property in need of a few repairs or upgrades is not an uncommon sight at Edge Hill, but what may come as a surprise is that this three-bedroom home sold for $510,000 through Ulysses Real Estate principal Donna Waldman.
The median price for three-bedroom houses at Edge Hill is about $480,000, according to realestate.com.au. So why would anyone pay above this, for a house they can’t immediately move in to?
Ms Waldman says Goodwin St was one of the few streets where people would make exceptions to their budgets, just to get in.
“You’ve got many people wanting to move into Edge Hill and they’re wanting to get in there as cheaply as possible,” Ms Waldman said.
“But it was the right price for the property because Goodwin St is one of the top streets in Edge Hill. It runs right behind the botanical gardens.
“You’ve got Goodwin St, Walsh St, Pine St – all these really top streets in Edge Hill right there and some of the houses there are selling for $800,000-$900,000.
“So when you look at how much they’ve (the buyers) spent on this fixer upper, and then if they spend $200,000 on it, they’re still going to come out on top.
“Generally speaking, $500,000 is actually a bargain for those streets.”
She said although the new owners would be set for a decent value gain, they weren’t planning on flipping after completing renovations.
“They wanted to purchase something to stay in long-term.
“This is their dream home. A lot of people were thinking that rather than fix it up, they’d knock it down.
“They’ve just gutted it and rebuilt inside. There was no need to pull it down and it could be easily fixed up so they took advantage of that.”