Budding renovators push Auchenflower house $110,000 over reserve

Eleven registered bidders battled it out to push an Auchenflower house’s sale price $110,000 over reserve on Saturday, as the need for a renovation proved no deterrent for “skilled” buyers willing to get their hands dirty.

It was one of multiple “renovation-ready” houses sold in Brisbane this weekend, as the market held steady with a clearance rate of 39 per cent – up almost 10 per cent year on year.

The house at 34 Munro Street, Auchenflower, in Brisbane’s inner west, sold for $110,000 above reserve in a hotly contested auction. A crowd of 50 people gathered in the three-bedroom, one-bathroom Queenslander’s front yard to watch as bidders battled it out for 15 minutes.

The opening bid was $400,000, with the auctioneer quickly asking for and receiving an increase to $500,000.

When the price reached $720,000, the house was put on the market, and then after a number of $5000 and $1000 bids was sold for $780,000.

Selling agent Megan Zelauhi, of Raine & Horne Brisbane West & Kenmore, said there had been considerable interest in the property before auction.

“Four of [the bidders] pre-registered, and that was a good indication to me that we would have a fair few on the day,” she said. “It’s the cheapest property you’re gonna buy in Auchenflower right now that’s not on a main road.

“With all its neighbours selling for $2 million and $2.5 million, being similar homes themselves but completely renovated, it’s pretty easy to see what’s possible. Lots of the buyers had some sort of skill up their sleeve, whether they were a builder or an architect or an engineer.”

She said the buyers, a young couple, had been very keen on the property since it was first listed and were thrilled to secure it.

“They’d been looking for something like this for a while, [they had] missed out on a couple, and given that you only see a couple of these types of property sell per year in each suburb, they weren’t going to be beaten,” Zelauhi said.“They put in a pre-auction offer that was $105,000 less than they ended up paying.”

The vendors had owned the property since the ’50s, and had lived in it for about 40 years.

They have already moved to a retirement village in northern NSW, and are said to be pleased with the result.

“It was emotional for the family, but they were more pleased to know that a young couple are going to live in it and bring it back it to its former glory, and that it wasn’t just a flipper. The neighbours were happy to hear that as well.”

On the other side of the city, the house at 61 Shamrock Street, Gordon Park, in Brisbane’s north, sold under the hammer for $640,000. Four registered bidders faced off for 15 minutes to try to secure the three-bedroom, one-bathroom house on 405 square metres.

The opening bid was $500,000, but selling agent Ben Davanzo, of Ray White Aspley, said it didn’t come from the bidder he was expecting.

“When I run auctions, generally I line up a buyer to put in the first bid at a price they would love to buy the house at,” he said. “That just happened to be $500,000, but just as they were about to do it, someone else bid $500,000.”

After that initial bid, the price went up in increments of $25,000 until it paused at $550,000. Bidding continued slowly until it stopped at $600,000, at which point negotiations ultimately brought the price up to $640,000, and the house was sold.

The buyers live next door to the property, and bought it to allow their sons to move nearby. They were very happy with the result. The vendors are an older couple who have lived in the house for about 35 years and have purchased a low-set house.

Davanzo said he found out later in the process he had a personal connection with the vendors.

“I met these sellers through an open home I had at Carseldine, and, coincidentally, they used to tenpin bowl with my parents,” he said. “So, our families were connected.”

Elsewhere, the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on 607 square metres at 15 Pompadour Street, Sunnybank Hills, sold at auction for $670,000. Thirty people watched as three registered bidders fought it out for 10 minutes to walk away with the keys to the beautifully maintained home.

Bidding opened at $600,000, then rose up to $630,000. After a brief pause, the highest bidder was brought up to the final selling price and the house was sold. Selling agent David Hills, of Harcourts Results Calamvale, said there had been 17 groups through the property over its four-week campaign.

The owners [are] moving onto the next chapter of their life into a retirement home,” Hills said. “They built the house originally about 40 years ago, so it’s the first time it’s been on the market for sale. We marketed it as a timeless classic, which it was.”

Hills said the buyers were looking to use the house for mostly the same purpose it had been used for since it was built all those years ago.

“[The buyer’s] just recently sold an acreage property, [they] wanted something closer to the mother’s work. They’re going to obviously renovate it, put their own personal touch on it.”