There is an old saying in real estate, don’t buy the best house in the street and in particular the best house in an average street.

14 Forbes Street Essendon is a wonderful home and achieves a very high rating of 781, however one underlying thing lets this down – the street.

Late Saturday afternoon this went to auction and not surprisingly, there were many, many people in attendance. Also not surprisingly there was only one bidder, and the property was passed-in for $1.8m, well below the reserve. Post auction negotiations proved unsuccessful and at the time of writing, it remains unsold.

Forbes Street is quite short (very much a thoroughfare) and not part of the esteemed Windy Hill precinct. Top dollars in this area demand top locations and although this is not far from Essendon Central, this is not Windy Hill. Within the street there are many housing styles and many flats. Nature strips are tight and there are very few significant trees.

The renovation itself is very good, and has been undertaken with care and precision. It is difficult to fault the appearance and design of this house. One very minor negative may be that the first floor only contains one bedroom (it may have been better to enclose the study area), but really this would not have been a key issue for many.