TRIP BACK HOME NETS HOUSE
A QUICK trip back to her home town of Geelong for a funeral had an unexpected silver lining for a Sydney buyer who found her next house while in town.
The woman is planning a return to her old stomping ground after falling in love with a red brick heritage home in one of Newtown’s finest streets.
Her sister stepped in to bid on her behalf for the threebedroom, two-bathroom house at 46 Retreat Road at auction on Saturday.
The property sold for $1.42m under the hammer, beating price hopes of $1.2m-$1.3m.
Four bidders put their hands up for the chance to secure the circa 1938 home on a 717sq m corner block.
It retains character features including high ceilings with decorative plasterwork and sash windows, but has scope for further updates.
Bidding opened at $1.25m and McGrath Geelong auctioneer David Cortous told the crowd the property was on the market at $1.38m.
Listing agent Jim Cross said five groups of buyers attended with the
hope of securing a slice of blue-chip Newtown real estate, but some didn’t get a chance to put their hand up.
“The buyer was from Geelong originally and moved up to Sydney many years ago,” Mr Cross said.
“She is looking at moving back and is buying in now.
“The character of the home was really quite significant and she liked the big block.”
The two-storey house has a mix of formal and informal living zones, a central kitchen/meals area, an upstairs bedroom with a balcony and a double garage accessed via Chadwick Street.