AUCTION TALES – MAY 5 2025
Auctions Tales Abound in Melbourne
Auctions Tales are inevitable when buying a home in Melbourne. Every buyer has a story.
Ray White Bundoora seems to have the most homes that my clients are interested in.
This particular home has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 garage and was set in a large, very spread out development in Plenty Rd. Renovated by the previous owner and some refurbishment by the current, this home ticked all the boxes.
Marketed at with a price guide of $635-685, with the 3 comparable homes on the Agents Price Guide
How comparable were they?
1 2/6 Warrawee Drive Bundoora, Sold Price $664,000 21/11/24
2 3/122 McLeans Rd Bundoora, Sold Price $685,000 22/10/24
3 2/77 Nickson St Bundoora, Sold Price $640,000 12/12/2024
Comparable Property Sales
“These are the three properties sold within two kilometres of the property for sale in the last six months that the estate agent or agents representative considers to be most comparable to the property for sale”
‘Most comparable’ land size, land composition, house size, structure, degree of renovation, location, position, etc,within 6 months.
Were these homes the ‘most comparable’? Were there no more recent sales of comparable homes in 2025 as all the sales used were from 2024?
These are things that I assess on behalf of my clients.
Auction Day, Auction Tales
Another Saturday, another Auction day, another beautiful day in Melbourne with a decent crowd, a mixture of neighbours, around 4 bidders, and other onlookers – us included. Andrew Mizzi, the auctioneer, put in a solid performance. Ray White trains their people well. Their salespeople are friendly and seem very approachable.
So why did my clients change their minds about bidding for this one? They had been keen on this home for a while. I had inspected it twice, once with my client, once without. I like going without my client initially to view through my own eyes, and to chat with the salespeople.
The change of mind, from perfect to not bidding came about because, in the interim, another home came up that they decided to pursue.
Auctions are usually set for 4 week campaigns. In this case, the seller had given instructions not to entertain prior offers, the home would definitely be sold on the day. The seller was moving overseas (or so we were told) and wanted an unconditional sale under competition.
The risk always is with real estate, that if you make people wait, another home may come onto the market. People also revisit the home multiple times and can fall out of love with the home as they begin to notice its flaws. Buyers may also have their own motivation, time may be a factor, and they want to secure their next home quickly.
Auction Tales from My Client
My clients may have a few Auction Tales before they find their new home. In this story, they paid for a copy of the building and pest inspection. They did not initiate the inspections. As a buyer of a building and pest inspection you can restrict the resale of the reports. This was not done which enabled my clients to receive a copy of the report upon payment of the inspectors invoice. Much faster and the inspections were still current.
The inspector had not been able to gain access to the sub floor or the roof cavity due to obstructions. This sends alarm bells running in my protective mind for my clients. Pests love dark spaces, they love damp spaces regularly provided by subfloors in Melbourne. There was also no sign of previous pest inspection or preventative work.
In a timber framed home, access to the subfloor and to the roof is mandatory. Termite activity is usually visible along with past damage that may impact structural integrity. It can be a minefield of money needing to be spent without this access.
Too many ‘maybe’s’ for my clients, and this contributed to their withdrawing from the race.
The outcome of the auction was useful for my clients to witness and for the bank of future homes for comparison.
36 bids (approximately), opening bid of $550,000, on the market at $696,000 and sold for $708,000.
As auctioneers like to say, they don’t care where the auction starts, it’s where it finishes that counts.
Don’t get so caught up in the competitive bidding that you forget about Stamp Duty. Do your sums and use the www.sro.vic.gov.au website to check your Stamp Duty in Victoria.
If you have questions, or maybe you need help because you have heard too many auction tales of things going wrong, book a call with me here and we can talk it through.
