Renovated gem smashes reserve
A RENOVATED period house in East Geelong has sold for almost $100,000 over the reserve at a hotly contested weekend auction.
A couple downsizing from Highton fought off several competitors to buy 27 Loftus St,
pictured below, for $659,000 on Saturday. They had recently sold their home and said they planned to live at the East Geelong address for a few years while building a new house down the coast in Fairhaven.
Hayewinckle, East Geelong agent Amanda Frick said the result exceeded expectations.
She said the reserve was set at $560,000, but the bidding quickly surpassed that figure and the expected price range of $540,000-$590,000.
“I thought it would go for the higher end of the range but that was just an astounding result,” Ms Frick said.
“It was a beautiful renovation and it’s indicative of the neighbourhood.
“There is just so much demand in East Geelong — you can’t go wrong.”
GROVEDALE
A YOUNG couple renting in Grovedale will make the suburb its permanent home after a last-minute decision to buy at auction.
The first-home buyers bought 14 Rubens Court for $580,000 on Saturday ahead of three other bidders.
Ray White, Highton agent Aaron Newell said they were renting in the area and fell in love with the character of the house.
“They were quite late, coming along to the last open and they weren’t looking to buy a house,” Mr Newell said.
“They just fell in love with it . . . it was an emotional purchase.”
The split-level family home has multiple living rooms, four bedrooms and features such as exposed brick walls, cathedral ceilings, an open fireplace and a large garden.
NORTH GEELONG
A MELBOURNE buyer with an eye for design has snapped up a renovator’s delight in North Geelong at auction.
The woman, who travels to Geelong each day to work at Cotton On, is looking forward to cutting her commute time after buying 11 Enmore St, North Geelong with her Geelongbased partner.
Gartland Property agent Seka Powell said the couple paid $400,000 for the threebedroom brick house on a 735sq m corner block.
“They are going to live there and do it up,” Mrs Powell said. “She has done visual merchandising so it’s going to be beautiful.”
HERNE HILL
AN investor bidding over the phone trumped a young couple in the hunt for a mid-century house auctioned in Herne Hill on Saturday.
The Geelong man was unable to attend the auction of 4 Matlock St, but secured the fourbedroom property for $497,500.
Bidding for the updated brick house in a quiet, tree-lined street (pictured above) opened at $390,000, with three parties in the running.
PRD Nationwide, Geelong auctioneer Laurie McGovan announced the house on the market at $480,000 and seven bids later it sold for $17,500 above the reserve.
Mr McGovan said the updated house was in a great location and was a great place to raise a family or invest.
NORLANE
OUT-OF-TOWN investors are continuing to target Geelong’s northern suburbs, attracted by strong growth and good rental returns.
Two weekend auctions conducted by Ray White, Lara again saw investors from Melbourne secure houses in Norlane and Corio.
One Melbourne buyer, pictured above, purchased 63 St Georges Rd, Norlane for $350,000 after trumping the only other nonvendor bid of $290,000.
The successful buyer said he was attracted to the 864sq m block, which had future development potential and the area’s strengthening property market.
Earlier, Ray White auctioneer Matthew Wade sold 183 Princes Highway, Corio, to another Melbourne investor for $262,700.