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11 Glendearg Grove Malvern
Scott Patterson Oli Booth
Sold After $8,400,000
1 Bidder
Photo: Gina Kantzas
early verdict
100 Auction Test is where we randomly select Top End homes before they go to auction and then we turn up and report on all results, so as you can get a true picture of the current Inner Melbourne Top End Market. We do it 4 times a year in the major markets.
Opening Market usually sets a direction till Easter (sometimes the whole year)
May Market post Easter leading into Winter trends – capricious market usually.
Spring Market is Footy Finals and Pre-Cup – a major buy sell season. Can see a market turnaround either way, coming out of winter.
Christmas Market is from November till Santa comes. Often the hardest market to sell in, due to oversupply relative to unsatisfied demand.
Demand – Bidderman. How many bidders per auction? A very accurate measurement of market depth when taken over a wide sample. Number of Bidders / Number of Auctions.
1 bidder average – Falling Market. 2 bidders – Rising Market. 3 bidder average – On Fire
Supply – Stock Levels. It’s a nuanced opinion measurement, more so than scientific, as there can be a flood of unrenovated homes, but the market wants ready to move in.
Clearance Price % – Many data points give exaggerated readings as agents choose to leave out the bad news (unsolds). We choose the sample before auction and track down every result. The higher the clearance rate, the more agreement between buyer and seller on price and if Bidderman is also strong this shows prices are rising.
Measurements: Under 60% falling. 60-70% some stability. 70%-80% rising. 80%+ On fire.
GLOSSARY
PPP’s – All homes and all buyers have 3 characteristics. A good deal for a buyer is when their PPP’s match the homes PPP’s.
Position (land location) + Property (building) + Price = 3P’s. A buyer can adjust all three to get what they really, really want and to meet the market.
Whilst a home has 3 P’s, a seller has only 1 P they can adjust – Price. Although a good seller and agent can, prior to the sale, affect the P of Property through Presentation.
Overall there are 3P’s and Position is most often, the most important.
A-Graders – If the home’s PPP’s are desirable to many in the market we call that an A-Grader. However, it’s all the 3P’s that need to be desirable. You can have a great location, great building and be overpriced in which case you have only 2 desirable P’s – we call that a B-Grader. C-Graders have 1 or no desirable PPP’s and the only usual desirable P is Price – a weak one – this is why C-Graders are poor investments.
Volcanoes – When the market is hot you see increasing numbers of 4 or more bidders on homes. We call that a volcano. 1 or no bidders we call a duck.
Wounded Underbidders – Buyers who miss, go harder (more money) next time to avoid the hurt of missing out again. When there are multiple unhappy buyers, who have missed multiple times (wounded underbidders), the market rises quickly.
Cautious Buyers – Non-Bidders – Potential buyers who see lots of pass-ins, tend to not want to bid because their fear of overpaying is greater than their desire to buy and get out of the market.
Stales – Number and length of time a property remains unsold. The older the stale, the weaker the price (as a general rule). The more stales, the weaker the market as they clog up the market creating an oversupply.
Off-market – Homes that are for sale but are not advertised in the mainstream media like realestate.com.au. Over say $5 million there are considerably more homes off market than on market. More than ½ the homes we buy and sell are off-market.
Pre-market – Homes that some agents say are Off-market. Pre-market homes are homes coming to market but are not yet advertised and are often not really for sale at the moment.
On-market – usually refers to homes sold with major advertising say on Domain or realestate.com.au
Not for sale (and the 4 ducks) – there are many homes that are also said to be Off-market or Pre-market homes that are not really for sale. Why? Seller is testing the market. Agent is testing the market. Agent has no work. Seller wants a free valuation or some company.
For a home to be really for sale off-market, it needs to pass the 4 Duck Test.
- Agent Authority 2. Contract of Sale 3. Asking Price 4. Easy Access.
Good ól Boring Process – When you are cooking a cake – do you get your best results by making up the ingredients, the amounts and throwing them into together, hoping for the best? If you do great, but I’m not hungry. A good recipe is a good process. And in property a good recipe is 3 Questions starting with what do I really really want? If you can’t work that out, then engage a good agent. When you answer that question, you go to the 2nd and 3rd questions and make good decisions. Good decisions lead to good outcomes – for you.
Market Prices – Every price is supposedly a market price. It’s a lazy concept.
Market price is a living organism – lets imagine it’s like a human. The market is the blood, the circulatory system. The PPP’s are the bones, the skin, the main organs and we agents and agent marketing are the lipstick, perfume, clothes. All 3 – blood, bones and lipstick make up a price and its attractiveness, it’s not just the market.
Market Values – Values are opinions. All opinions have vested interests and biases. What the council, the bank, the agent, the buyer, the seller values a home at will all be different.
Last year two valuers came to a home I was looking to refinance – $4m home – 3 weeks apart the valuations were approx. $700,000 different – that’s qualified valuers – same criteria.
Market Value v Market Price – One is an opinion before the deal and one is the actual result after the deal.
Quote Range: It is thought to be an agent estimate of final price – it is not. See Quoting
Under the Hammer: is when a home is sold to a buyer under the auctioneer’s hammer that is on the street or in the home in front of crowd when we says sold – it can be just clapping his hands together – under the hammer refers to the old gavel now only sometimes used.
On the market: (different from on-market) is a colloquial term that an agent or auctioneer uses to state we are now at a level that it will be sold (now) even if there is no more bidding.
What affects markets?
Demand and Supply – yes sir re – that is what really affects markets.
Some Key Supply Variants
- Government restrictions
- Lag Times in supply of demand changes
- Builders and materials
Some Key Demand Variants
- Money – Bank credit and community wealth
- Overseas Buyers, Interstate Buyers, Migration
- Stock Markets and World Events
Predicting the Future
Economists, banking leaders and other market predictors are like horse race “experts” – entertaining but of little long-term value. In 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 the pundits on where the market was going got it wrong, dead wrong 4 from 4. A coin toss should have got at least 2 from 4. The only pundit we listen to with respect, is the one that says they don’t really know.
Rising / Falling / Easing – Humans are herd animals.
When there are a number of pass-ins the market eases. When combined with increasing stock coming on and more stales, the market falls more sharply.
Increasing numbers of wounded underbidders and less stock the market edges up – when wounded underbidders combine with loose bank lending and tight stock and increasing migration, then market prices begin to run away.
A home can easily be 5% more or less in a week (1 bidder drops away) and parts of the market can change by 5% in a month. A property can change by 10% during the length of an auction campaign. It is very similar to the ASX in terms of its variability – it’s just not as transparent.
Individual property prices are very fluid, they are far from fixed as many think and claim.
Market Conundrum – often the best time to buy or sell is when everybody else doesn’t want to – eg counter to the markets.
Buy or sell timing maxims we live by? Assuming it’s an A-grader. If you really, really like it, buy now. If you really, really like it never sell.
Which brings us back to Doe. Doe is dear, a female deer. This is why 10,000 people read Marketnews.com.au. It’s the only property thing that makes no sense (smiley face).
Underquoting – is when an advertised price (an agent quote) is below one of
- Agent estimates of value or
- A written buyer offer or
- The Vendor reserve
An agent quote is not a valuation, it is not a fixed sticker price – a quote is seen by my industry as a vehicle to attract bees (buyers) to the honey (home) and that’s ok, if legal.
However underquoting is unethical but widespread. Underquoting has been endemic in the last week of an auction campaign in the markets of 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2021 – a new falling market may be different.
Underquoting is a badge of honour for some selling agents – for god sake there is cheering from the rafters with every $1,000,000 over reserve. It’s celebrated not put into balance or condemned in the media. Please note sometimes genuine market forces create $1,000,000 over reserve when it’s not an underquote (celebrate then) – but when it is happening week in and week out and to the same people and same companies, then they must be very unlucky or incompetent agents or they are serial underquoters.
Underquoting can work in a rising market – work for the agent and seller that is, not the buyers.
Underquoting can hurt inexperienced buyers in 4 bidder auctions BUT
In many instances in falling markets and with B and C Graders it actually hurts the sellers – e.g. duck or 1 bidder auctions.
Underquoting is fixable with a buyer education program as to what a quote is and what it can and cannot do AND moveable (not fixed) step up and step down written legal quoting AND timely stated auction reserves say ? days out from an auction AND mostly an industry desire, but there is minimal desire within my industry or the CAV or the government.
Legal Step Quoting: A term we invented to explain moves/strategies in quoting. We used to have a problem with it, but now we see it as sensible practise on behalf of the seller – so long as it is down legally and actually done. Step quoting if done legally is simply moving the written quote during the campaign in line with offers, changing or firming vendor reserves and any changing agent’s opinion of likely value.
Illegal Step Quoting: Is when the agent has a written quote, then tells you a higher quote on the phone and then an even high quote after you offer.
Legal Quoting: It is legal (and we consider ethical and professional) for the agent to quote above the seller’s reserve providing it meets the other two key criteria.
Legal Quoting: When it’s on the market and unexpected market forces take it well past expectations. Our only argument is how often can that happen to one agent or agency before it becomes obviously illegal.
Quoting even with the best intentions (and we have them) is not a perfect science, just as market valuations and your buying estimates are not.
All our recent sale managed selling campaign quotes.
Range: Sold within auction quote range after step quoting to vendors changing reserve
Range: Sold at EOI (Volcano) – 5% above the range
Range: Sold after auction within the auction range
Range: Sold within the range
Range: On market in range and sold 11% above the range (Volcano)
Range: On market 1% above range and sold 5% above the range
Range: Sold within the range
Single Price: Sold within 3%
Range: Sold within the range
Single Price: Step quoted down off-market and sold within 2%
Range: Sold within the range
Range and we auction step quoted up: Sold within the final week range
Range: Sold 2% above the range
Range: Sold 3% above the range
Range: Sold 13% above the range
Range: Sold within range
James Buy Sell Process – Ethical quoting brings more real buyers and sellers to you:
Early Campaign: We quote to attract buyers but not below what we reasonably think the home may go for. Where the seller has a firm price, we do not quote below that price either.
We suggest the seller keeps an open mind on reserve (early days) if their main focus is to sell.
If the seller has a firm fixed reserve and it’s too high, then not only will he or she be unlikely to sell but he or she will get no feedback on price and therefore he or she could compound the selling issue down the track – a double negative for selling – eventually getting a lower price.
Middle of Campaign: We may Step Quote (change the quote, preferably up, but sometimes down to more accurately represent the sellers thought on possible reserve and/or feedback from buyers and/or if we have had an offer than has not been accepted)
Advertised final week of Campaign: We genuinely try and have the quote reflecting a seller reserve and where James Buy Sell now thinks the majority of buyers are. Please note: it is not an exact science, and we cannot predict all buyers (often buyers do not tell the door agent anything or say lower amounts – both sides can be guilty of misrepresentations).
We care about buyers and our quoting reputation. If you do a building inspection in the last week of the campaign and the reserve ends up outside the quote, please ring us and we will probably refund any professional building inspections up to $600.
The current Underquoting enquiry’s timing relates to a forthcoming election, is running into a falling market where underquoting is less noticeable.
The best way to deal with underquoting (currently) is through your own quality research or a quality buyer agent or if selling then an ethical selling agent.
market
Today’s Opening Market reinforced what many in the industry thought has been happening since Cup Day 2021 – the market is easing, as demand drops, as buyer urgency decreases.
Bidderman is down, Clearance Rates are down, and Stock Levels are rebalancing – we may be moving to an oversupply of B and C Graders. This means that prices as a generalisation, are falling below agent expectations of a few months ago, buyer price thoughts are no longer rising as they were each month from late 2019 to late 2021 and in some cases for sellers, prices now being offered are falling from previous offers pre-Christmas.
If these demand and supply stats remain the same till the March long weekend, then price rises will continue to ease on most A-Graders and fall on B and C Graders.
Bidderman at 1.7 bidders per auction seems healthy on the 32 auctions we covered today. However, 2 out of every 3 auctions today were ducks (0 or 1 bidder) AND if you removed the Emily and Stuart St Auctions (14 bidders) then Bidderman was only 1.3 on the remaining 30. If that continues, then the market will decline further.
Only 1 in 11 auctions today were volcanoes – another guide to weakening market sentiment.
The messages are also clear on what is hot and what is not.
If it’s ready to move in its still hot and if it needs work, it’s not.
If it’s Brighton it was surprisingly hot today. Boroondara was not and Stonnington was mixed.
In summary the usual and expected Feb Pep had no real fizz today and in fact the overall market has had little fizz since early November BUT first auction days of a new year never see all the premier stock.
What there is no doubt about: Most buyers and sellers will need to be actively involved in the decision making of their negotiations – only a few players (on both sides of the fence) will be able to stand back and let it fall into their laps.
Buyers and Sellers will need to be proactive to get what they want, as A-Graders will not be given away and/or will have competition and B/C Graders will need skilled agents and price flexibility from buyers and sellers to get a deal.
This is week 1 – let’s see what happens next week in the 2nd of the 3-week 100 Opening Season auction tests – however there seems a continuing and clear trend which started at the Melbourne Cup week of 2021 – market prices are easing as buyers see less urgency.
evidence
53 Stuart Street
Armadale
Gowan Stubbings
Hammer $3,260,000
Volcano 5 bidders
Photo: Simone Clarke
43 Airlie Avenue, PRAHRAN
SOI: $4,500,000 – $4,800,000
Sales Agent: Carla Fetter – Jellis Craig
Bought Before: $undisc
Bidders: 1
13 Barkly Avenue, ARMADALE
SOI: $2,900,000 – $3,100,000
Auctioneer: Nathan Waterson
Sales Agent: Nathan Waterson – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 40
Opening Bid: $2,900,000
Passed in: $3,010,000
Bidders: 1
The auction started with a bid of $2,900,000 followed by a vendor bid of $3,000,000. After the half time break, bidder 1 placed another bid of $3,010,000 before the property was then formally passed in.
72a Paxton Street, MALVERN EAST
SOI: $1,900,000 – $2,090,000
Auctioneer: Daniel Wheeler
Sales Agent: Daniel Wheeler – Marshall White
Crowd: 70
Opening Bid: $1,900,000 VB
Passed in: $1,900,000 VB
Bidders: 0
An exploding bike tyre was the most exciting moment here. The opening vendor bid went unanswered and the property was passed in.
7 Coppin Street, MALVERN EAST
SOI: $4,600,000 – $5,000,000
Auctioneer: Andrew McCann
Sales Agent: Danielle Waterton – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 70
Opening Bid: $4,500,000
Passed in: $4,500,000
After auction: $undisc
Bidders: 1
The lone opening bid of $4,500,000 started and finished this auction. The crowd could feel the potential for things to get going, but it didn’t transpire here. The home sold shortly after auction.
3 Inverness Avenue, ARMADALE
SOI: $2,500,000 – $2,750,000
Auctioneer: Lachie Fraser-Smith
Sales Agent: Lachie Fraser-Smith – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 21
Opening Bid: $2,500,000
Passed in: $2,550,000
Bidders: 0
Dogs barked enthusiastically but the crowd was quiet. After two vendor bids, Auctioneer Lachie Fraser-Smith passed the property in.
17 John Street, MALVERN EAST
SOI: $2,400,000 – $2,500,000
Auctioneer: Andrew McCann
Sales Agent: Carla Fetter – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 50
Opening Bid: $2,400,000
On the Market: $2,555,000
Under the Hammer: $2,575,000
Bidders: 3
After a slow start, a burst of back-and-forth drove the property to sell under the hammer. Bids of $1,000 made all the difference.
53 Stuart Street, ARMADALE
SOI: $2,800,000 – $3,000,000
Auctioneer: Gowan Stubbings
Sales Agent: Gowan Stubbings – Kay & Burton
Crowd: 60
Opening Bid: $2,800,000
On the Market: $3,240,000
Under the Hammer: $3,260,000
Bidders: 5
Good momentum begun the auction, break in bidding was at $3,240,000 when a bidder took a breath to ask if it were on the market. Bidder 5 with nerves of steal came in for one bid at $3,250,000 and the home was then sold to bidder 4 at $3,260,000.
7 Harvey Street, MALVERN
SOI: $4,300,000 – $4,700,000
Auctioneer: Gowan Stubbings
Sales Agent: Tom Staughton – Kay & Burton
Crowd: 40
Opening Bid: $4,300,000 VB
Passed in: $4,380,000
After Auction: $undisc
Bidders: 3
The auction was opened with a vendor bid of $4,300,000 followed by a bid of $4,310,000. After the half time break, two additional bidders joined before the property was passed in at $4,380,000.
11 Glendearg Grove, MALVERN
SOI: $8,000,000
Auctioneer: Scott Patterson
Sales Agent: Scott Patterson – Kay & Burton
Crowd: 120
Opening Bid: $8,000,000
Passed in: $8,000,000
After Auction: $undisc
Bidders: 1
The auction began with an opening bid of $8,000,000. After a half time break and no further bids, the property was passed in – sold soon after auction.
Armadale
4/371 Dandenong Road
Armadale
13 Barkly Avenue
Malvern East
44 Summerhill Avenue
Prahran
26 Athol Street
13 Pine Avenue Camberwell
James Tostevin
Sold After
Above $4,470,000
Volcano - 4 Bidders
Photo: Randall Smith
12 Bell Street, HAWTHORN
SOI: $2,200,000 – $2,400,000
Sales Agent: Mike Beardsley – Jellis Craig
Bought Before: $undisc
Bidders: 1
3 Burnside Avenue, CANTERBURY
SOI: $3,000,000 – $3,300,000
Sales Agent: Nick Elmore – Belle Property
Bought Before: $undisc
Bidders: 1
14 Ross Street, KEW
SOI: $2,750,000 – $2,950,000
Sales Agent: James Tostevin – Marshall White
Bought Before: $undisc
Bidders: 1
41 Great Valley Road, GLEN IRIS
SOI: $2,800,000 – $3,000,000
Sales Agent: Ash Howarth – Marshall White
Bought Before: $undisc
Bidders: 1
11 Ruskin Road, GLEN IRIS
SOI: $2,700,000 – $2,900,000
Auctioneer: Michael Wood
Sales Agent: Michael Wood – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 40
Opening Bid: $2,700,000 VB
Passed in: $2,700,000 VB
Bidders: 0
Michael Wood open with a vendor bid of $2,700,000, then call for $25,000 rises. However, no one spoke up after repeated requests, resulting in an early half-time break. The crowd remained silent afterwards, resulting in the property being passed in on its initial opening bid.
27 Wingan Avenue, CAMBERWELL
SOI: $2,300,000 – $2,500,000
Auctioneer: Hamish Tostevin
Sales Agent: Jesse Matthews – Marshall White
Crowd: 50
Opening Bid: $2,400,000 VB
Passed in: $2,450,000
After auction: $2,600,000
Bidders: 1
Auctioneer Hamish Tostevin kicked off with a vendor bid of $2,400,000. He sang the homes praises and a bidder raised him $50,000. The property passed in with some more work to do at the negotiation table.
23 Eleanor Street, ASHBURTON
SOI: $2,200,000 – $2,300,000
Auctioneer: Daniel Wheeler
Sales Agent: Anthony Smith – Marshall White
Crowd: 50
Opening Bid: $2,200,000 VB
Passed in: $2,200,000 VB
Bidders: 0
Daniel Wheeler then kicked off with a vendor bid of $2,200,000 and called for $20,000 increases. When the crowd remained quiet, an interval ensued. No magic was forthcoming afterwards, and the property was passed in on the initial vendor bid.
2 Elphinstone Court, KEW
SOI: $2,400,000 – $2,500,000
Auctioneer: Scott Patterson
Sales Agent: Scott Patterson – Kay & Burton
Crowd: 44
Opening Bid: $2,400,000 VB
Passed in: $2,400,000 VB
Bidders: 0
A crowd stood back somewhat from the home at the end of the court. A vendor bid of $2,400,000 opened the auction and remained the sole bid on the street.
17 Atkins Street, KEW
SOI: $3,300,000 – $3,600,000
Auctioneer: Tim Mursell
Sales Agent: Duane Wolowiec – Marshall White
Crowd: 40
Opening Bid: $3,335,000
On the Market: $3,650,000
Under the Hammer: $3,715,000
Bidders: 3
Auctioneer Tim Mursell kicked off proceedings and the first bidder promptly put in an offer of $3,335,000, followed by a second party entering the fray with $3,400,000. A third bidder spoke up and this sparked a frenzied bidding activity, resulting in a sale of $3,715,000.
13 Pine Ave, CAMBEWELL
SOI: $4,000,000 – $4,400,000
Auctioneer: James Tosetevin
Sales Agent: James Tostevin – Marshall White
Crowd: 110
Opening Bid: $4,100,000 VB
Passed in: $4,470,000
After Auction: $undisc
Bidders: 4
A big crowd structure like this often presents bidders and there were four here today. They can also become fierce battles that ebb and flow and get the crowd pumped up. This one however, was a fairly drawn-out affair. A vendor bid opened at $4,120,000 before two bidders took up the challenge. Two further bidders entered but could not take the property on the market when the home passed in a couple of bids short of $4.5 million. Sold shortly after auction.
41 Athelstan Road, CAMBERWELL
SOI: $2,900,000
Auctioneer: Jonathon O’Donoghue
Sales Agent: Jonathon O’Donoghue – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 30
Opening Bid: $2,700,000 VB
Passed in: $2,800,000 VB
Bidders: 0
Auctioneer Jonathon O’Donoghue opened to a quiet audience with a vendor bid of $2,700,000, quickly followed by a halftime break. A second vendor bid of $2,800,000 later, the property was passed in on this.
Hawthorn
Hawthorn Grove
Camberwell
15 Laxdale
7 Emily Street
Brighton
Chris Kavanagh
Hammer $3,500,000
Volcano - 9 Bidders
Photo: Catherine Ross
44 Moubray Street, ALBERT PARK
SOI: $3,700,000 – $3,900,000
Auctioneer: Josh Allison
Sales Agent: Josh Allison – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 30
Opening Bid: $3,650,000 VB
Passed in: $3,650,000 VB
After auction: $3,700,000
Bidders: 1
The lovely summer sun did not provide a silver lining for this auction. A vendor bid of $3,650,000 sparked no counteroffer and the property was passed in.
56 Nimmo Street, MIDDLE PARK
SOI: $6,300,000 – $6,800,000
Auctioneer: Simon Gowling
Sales Agent: Max Mercuri – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 40
Opening Bid: $6,500,000 VB
Passed in: $7,160,000
After auction: in excess of $7,160,000
Bidders: 2
Families & dogs gathered in Nimmo Street. Auctioneer Simon Gowling received spirited bidding from two parties, however did not meet the vendors reserve and the property was passed in.
21 Foam Street, ELWOOD
SOI: $4,000,000 – $4,400,000
Auctioneer: Sam Inan
Sales Agent: Sam Inan – Belle Property
Crowd: 55
Opening Bid: $4,000,000 VB
Passed in: $4,100,000 VB
Bidders: 0
An opening vendor bid met with silence. After a vendor consult, a second vendor bid closed out the auction.
3-5 Dundas Place, ALBERT PARK
SOI: $5,700,000 – $6,200,000
Auctioneer: Geoff Cayzer
Sales Agent: Simon Carruthers – Cayzer
Crowd: 70
Opening Bid: $5,700,000
Passed in: $5,750,000
After Auction: $undisc
Bidders: 1
With a quiet crowd, Auctioneer Geoff Cayzer opened the bidding with a vendor bid. After a second vendor bid the property was passed in to a sole bidder and negotiations moved inside.
31 Canterbury Road, MIDDLE PARK
SOI: $5,000,000 – $5,500,000
Auctioneer: Warwick Gardiner
Sales Agent: Warwick Gardiner – Jellis Craig
Crowd: 55
Opening Bid: $5,300,000 VB
On the Market: $6,025,000
Under the Hammer: $6,735,000
Bidders: 4
Bidders 1 and 2 swiftly carried the price to $6,025,000. After consulting with the vendors Mr Gardiner announced we were on the market. When bidder 1 bowed out, a third bidder stepped forward. As the hammer was about to fall, bidder 4 surprised us all and, with a few bold bids, was the successful buyer.
34 Victoria Street, SANDRINGHAM
SOI: $2,100,000 – $2,250,000
Auctioneer: Mark Earle
Sales Agent: Richard Slade – Buxton
Crowd: 30
Opening Bid: $2,050,000 VB
Passed in: $2,100,000 VB
Bidders: 0
Mark Earle faced a small crowd of about 30 people in the sunshine who were happy just to watch as he opened the bidding with a vendor bid of $2,050,000. A raised vendor bid was tabled shortly afterward of 2,100,000 and the property was passed in.
68 Littlewood Street, HAMPTON
SOI: $3,200,000 – $3,400,000
Auctioneer: Ben Thompson
Sales Agent: Jenny Dwyer – Belle Property
Crowd: 20
Opening Bid: $3,200,000 VB
Passed in: $3,200,000 VB
Bidders: 0
A crowd of mostly neighbours gathered in Littlewood Street. Despites Auctioneer Ben Thompson best efforts, no hands were raised and the property passed in on a Vendor Bid.
7 Emily Street, BRIGHTON
SOI: $2,100,000 – $2,300,000
Auctioneer: Chris Kavanagh
Sales Agent: Chris Kavanagh – Barry Plant
Crowd: 120
Opening Bid: $2,200,000
On the Market: $2,500,000
Under the Hammer: $3,500,000
Bidders: 9
120 people gathered into the small street for the auction and it was a head-swivelling rapid-fire affair, with nine bidders, opening at $2,200,000. Declared on the market at $2,500,000 the property sold after intense competition at $3,500,000.
47 Elwood Street, BRIGHTON
SOI: $4,000,000 – $4,400,000
Auctioneer: Joe Doyle
Sales Agent: Joe Doyle – Nick Johnstone
Crowd: 80
Opening Bid: $3,900,000
On the Market: $4,400,000
Under the Hammer: $4,700,000
Bidders: 3
Quick auction with strong bidding! The winning bidder wasn’t here to muck around with big jumps $4,250,000 to $4,400,000. $4,420,000 to $4,500,000 and $4,550,000 to $4,700,000 saw the job done!
19 Moule Avenue, BRIGHTON
SOI: $5,900,000 – $6,400,000
Auctioneer: Stephen Smith
Sales Agent: Andrew Campbell – Marshall White
Crowd: 30
Opening Bid: $5,900,000 VB
On the Market: $6,325,000
Under the Hammer: $6,715,000
Bidders: 3
People gathered along the foot path of Moule Avenue in Brighton. Auctioneer Stephen Smith strutted up and down the crowded street dodging the occasional car. Three bidders fought it out to take home the keys and after a lot of back and forth, the property was sold for $6,715,000
84 Asling Street, BRIGHTON
SOI: $3,500,000 – $3,600,000
Auctioneer: Stephen Smith
Sales Agent: Andrew Campbell – Marshall White
Crowd: 40
Opening Bid: $3,000,000
Passed in: $3,000,000
Bidders: 1
Stephen Smith was hoping for competition today at 84 Asling street Brighton, but despite a genuine opening bid of $3,000,000 there was no further competition from the small crowd. The home was passed in shortly
91 Sandringham Road, SANDRINGHAM
SOI: $2,900,000 – $3,100,000
Auctioneer: Ryan Castles
Sales Agent: Mandy Engelhardt – Belle Property
Crowd: 50
Opening Bid: $2,900,000 VB
Passed in: $3,000,000
Bidders: 2
There were only a couple of bids traded, however and despite opening at $2,900,000, the auction closed at $3,000,000 and the property was passed in.
JAMES BUY SELL
Family Home
Good Rental Investment
Ready to Move in
Close to Beach
Close to Schools
Big Backyard
JAMES BUY SELL
Brighton
Normanby Street
apology
We have not been asked for this apology, nor is there any legal action occurring we are aware of. We have spoken to the buyer several times since the sale has settled and have offered to help and have offered our fee as a way of saying sorry and accepting responsibility.
This was not public. But we do not want to sweep this under the carpet.
We made a mistake. We shouldn’t have.
We were representing a seller last year. We made a mistake of oversight, not a deliberate concealment, of a fence boundary being incorrect resulting in a difference approx. 8 sqm.
We bought the home last time around and noticed the error when we measured up prior to purchase last time around and we still went ahead with the sale. Other buyers were made aware of it and still bid strongly against us at auction.
A decade later, this time around we were engaged by our same clients to sell and we went through our usual checklists and somehow coming out of covid lockdown, nothing was indicated on the checklists to remind us and we did not remember from last time of the fence difference.
The new buyer, who was a past client of ours, but who we were not working for this time, bought the home. It’s a beautiful home.
During the pre-settlement they noticed the approx. 8sqm. We were aghast at our oversight and offered from our fee to set it right. It was not accepted, the home settled – the buyer was very unhappy with us, the co-agent and the seller. Fair enough, however we feel it was our mistake, as we should have remembered, and we were overseeing the sale.
Despite the amount being small and for us not a dealbreaker last time, nor deliberate this time around, this is not a good look for us and not how we like to operate. We have since beefed up our checklists again.
We made a genuine mistake and I accept ultimate responsibility and offer an unreserved apology from James Buy Sell.
People trust us and trust what we say and don’t say.
However, this time we were not good enough and therefore I was not good enough.
Dandenong Ranges
Walbundry Road
we buy.we sell.offmarket
sold - no advertising
Camberwell
Camberwell
Hawthorn East
bought - no advertising
Brighton $9m
SEA CHANGE HOME
Eaglemont $9m
Hawthorn $5m
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