James Buy Sell Market News with Off Markets every Monday
Why Perth Street as our start?
Well everybody could have a home like this – every single person in Australia.
The living room, bathroom and bedroom stick in my mind even now – 15 years after purchase.
It really changed how I viewed single-fronters and what a designer can contribute under very tight space constraints.
The concept and execution to this day remains in my mind – a classic.
Why?
Garden and light aspect created from garden and light wells neatly developed into a very tightly bunched row of single fronted period homes.
Boring new homes, ugly period homes can all be completely transformed in terms of space, feeling, desirability by windows and garden aspects.
The beautiful and incredibly smart thing done by the creator of this renovation was each window made a different frame and garden picture.
One of the garden windows was almost tropical – bathroom. The living area had a tight vine creeper on the neighbours wall to give a sense of space and design and European wine flavour.
So different, yet it completely worked, even in a period home – it gave each room a different aspect, a different perspective and a different feeling.
I really enjoyed buying this home for you Mark and Leonie. It still sits in my mind as one our Top 10s and it was only just on a million dollars. Thank you
Learning: Framing your feeling – garden aspect windows that bring in a mottled light – even in the tightest of spaces really lift the desirability (and price) of a home.
Another learning was the value of experts – there is no way this was possible by an amateur home renovator.
Buying Agent: James Buy Sell
Architect: Pleysier Perkins
Selling Agent: Kay and Burton
I remember the days I first laid eyes on this home – I loved it and so did our clients, Anna, Adam and their family.
I have a picture of Ash’s façade hanging in my office.
One of only three of this façade type in Australia – it really shows what you first see, can cloud all other issues, can lock rose-coloured glasses onto you and can make you so emotional, that you see nothing else connected with the home in isolation.
When I see Ash close up, even 15 years later, it makes me feel something special – and I get a shiver – just like when I listen to Paul Potts on his Nessa Dorma talent quest video.
This is as powerful for me, as my family home or when I go to France and walk up the driveway of a Buddhist monastery I so love.
Only a handful of facades have had as great effect on me as Ash (Tower, Chrystobel, some classic 1960s)) and like my first love – this one will forever remain incredibly strong within my soul.
Whoever said beauty is only skin deep was so right.
Only she’s not all front – with a tennis court, large land and we’ve acquired a few more neighbours since, to add a pavilion and other quarters – the rear reno, the period features and even its new pool and landscaping and kitchen updates – all beautiful and in keeping with the stature and rarity of this home – means she is not just a skin deep beauty.
However, and this includes Anna’s chocolates and Adams jokes – nothing matches the beauty and evocative power of Ash’s façade – it is like a cathedral, a real place of spirit – and even though Adam and Anna are the bosses – we were never going to miss this.
Footnote: It’s not often I can remember 15 years later what somebody said to me – that’s what age does to you. However, I do remember Adam saying and I quote “Mal, I hired a rat to catch a rat.” To this day I am still trying to work out if that was a compliment or not.
Buying Agent: James Buy Sell
Architect: A. H Fischer 1890
Selling Agent: Iain Carmichael of Jellis Craig
We have bought some good blocks, but none better than this blank canvass on which to build “your forever” home.
How about these diamonds in your jewel box?
Quoted at $2000 per sqm and we bought it at $3,000 per sqm in a ferocious auction around $1,000,000 above the quote AND WE SAY OUR CLIENTS BOUGHT IT CHEAP.
Why? Because it was an incredible blank canvass.
Let’s focus on one feature – On Block position – Home sitting forward on the block.
Unless you’re on a busy road, sitting forward on a block is almost always, a great thing.
Why?
It makes less worth more.
You get more backyard for FREE.
Let’s say your land is worth $5,000 per sqm and you want a biggish backyard – in Narveno’s case our clients wanted a tennis court – they have one on 950 sqm.
Minimum normally (when a house sits back) is 1200sqm and the usual is 1400 sqm – that is between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 more money at purchase time for the same tennis court and home.
However, for it to work on smaller blocks, the home must be brilliantly placed on your block or else
Don’t believe me – have a look at grand old homes with bits of the original surrounding land sold off. The old dame sits forlornly in a corner, looking for somebody to dress her up and take her out – but she is undatable (male version of this sentence same result).
A good example is one that has just been sold in the Gascoigne Estate, Malvern East after a number of attempts to sell over the years. It has been near on impossible to sell, because the majestic building was stuck away in the north east corner, tight onto fences and despite a major refurbishment was rejected by many grand period home buyers, due to no useable rear and side land that flowed – despite her pedigree, address and land size.
The home felt and was unbalanced.
Part 2 of this story is Geoff Challis from Venn Architects. Video we included some time ago.
And the photos in this image carousel are his work.
There are some great architects around and he is one of them.
Back Story – The Clients:
We met Zara walking through another home and we said hello, we talked and we were engaged. With Andrew we talked them out of that home and another in Florence St Kew and then said Narveno was it – it was the one.
Not that they needed any real convincing.
They trusted us when we said you needed 50% more than the quote and that you could build your dream forever home on Narveno with the right architect.
Their original brief:
Well as Meatloaf says – 2 out of 3 aint bad.
We have had a number of referrals from Zara since their job and been back several times during and after completion.
In the end all we did was find a brilliant blank canvass, Zara and Andrew got the painter, the paints and painted it, to be the Monet that it truly is today.
Buying Agent: James Buy Sell
Architect: Geoff Challis Venn Architects
Selling Agent: Warwick Anderson RT Edgar
Our 20 in 20 years is all about Emotion. *Emotion* will be highlighted.
Covid is making many rethink the $ – its emotional power to change your home criteria and lower your mortgage BUT at the same time, increase/improve your lifestyle.
Learning: Dollars can be very emotionally powerful and positive with a FREE HOME.
Although Pine St seems about $ – this really is about an incredibly good emotional buy.
We all like a bargain, don’t we?
If you could get $100,000 off your $4million home, you’d be happy, wouldn’t you?
Well what about if you could get a $4million home for ½ price, for $2million – how would that be for your mortgage payments, for your nest egg, for your emotional happiness. *Emotion*
In a way, that is exactly what Ben and Simone did.
They paid $2million and a bit for a $3million lifestyle now and a $4million home in terms of financial growth. *Emotion*
A home price is made up of Land (grows in value) + Building (most shrink in value) and Emotion (variable depending on micro and macro markets).
FREE HOME = When you pay a price that is equivalent to a same sized VACANT block of land next door, only you get a home you can live in or rent out happily. You have bought a FREE HOME, as 100% of your investment is in your land.
EXPENSIVE HOME = You pay a price that is made up of 50% land + 50% building.
During the next 10 years
You may be paying ½ the mortgage on your FREE HOME for a similar lifestyle. *Emotion*
During the next 20 years
Your FREE HOME will be worth the same as the EXPENSIVE HOME. *Emotion*
During the next 30 years
You will be able to SELL your FREE HOME and BUY the EXPENSIVE HOME AND pay your mortgage down to zero and PUT leftover $ into children’s homes or your Super and apart from a few years of nicer kitchen, you will have a far better lifestyle in your FREE HOME on more travel, less work, free school fees etc. *Emotion*
THE BACK STORY
Can we say that Ben and Simone’s choices, the decisions made in 2015 have probably set them up for life financially, emotionally and physically – even if they do nothing else – we suppose especially, if they do nothing else.
The home they bou