A converted Richmond bakery has sold for $2,354,000 in a competitive auction between six parties, fetching some $354,000 above reserve.
One party put forward an opening bid of $1.3 million for 25 Beissel Street, well below the listed price guide of $1.9 million to $2.09 million.
Jellis Craig auctioneer Elliot Gill then placed a vendor bid of $1.9 million, bringing the price closer to the $2 million reserve, where a competitive sell-off ensued.
All six parties, a mixture of downsizers and young professionals, fiercely traded $10,000 and $5000 bids until the ultimate buyer put forward a final $1000 rise to purchase the three-bedroom home.
“Everyone was a little bit anxious to get it started, but once it did, it went really well,” Gill said.
Gill said the vendors fitted out the former bakery to create a stylish and modern two-level living space, before using it as an investment property.
25 Beissel Street sold for $2,354,000 during a competitive auction on Saturday.Credit: Jellis Craig
“It’s one of those properties that’s just got a lot of X Factor,” Gill said. “It’s a freestanding property, you have light coming in from every direction, and it has great views across Richmond. It has that heritage, warehouse appeal and everyone loves a warehouse in Richmond.”
It was one of 1144 homes scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 61.7 per cent from 979 reported results across the week, while 131 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate.
Meanwhile, former Richmond player and Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin sold his Albert Park property for an undisclosed price during post-auction negotiations on Saturday.
Just two parties turned out to bid on 43 Kerferd Road, which was listed with a price guide of $1.7 million to $1.8 million, but it failed to sell under the hammer during the slow-moving auction.
Faced with a hesitant crowd, auctioneer Nick Johnstone, of Nick Johnstone Real Estate, placed a vendor bid of $1.7 million. Two parties then slowly traded bids of $10,000 until it passed in to the highest bidder at $1.76 million.
Nick Johnstone Real Estate’s Rachael Cavallaro declined to disclose the sale price or reserve, but said the updated home sold for above the price guide to a local downsizer who was on the hunt for her forever home.
Cavallaro said Martin carried out tasteful updates to the Victorian terrace while maintaining its heritage features.
“It was a really quality update,” she said. [Buyers] loved the light inside, they loved the finishes, and they loved the period features mixed with the modern updates.”
Dustin Martin bought 43 Kerferd Road in 2012 for $993,000. It sold for an undisclosed price during post-auction negotiations on Saturday.Credit: Joe Armao
The three-time premiership player purchased the property in 2012 for $993,000 and has rented it out since 2015, records show.
In Coburg, a developer who threw out a surprise $200,000 bid at auction on Saturday has won the keys to a three-bedroom home for $1,215,000, outbidding a local family.
Two parties turned out to bid on 42 High Street, which was listed with a price guide of $960,000 to $1.05 million, in what Ray White auctioneer Nazih Abbouchi described as a “crazy, crazy” auction.
The underbidder, a buyer from Coburg looking to purchase a family home, placed the opening bid of $900,000. A second bidder, and the ultimate buyer, then put forward a $200,000 rise, catapulting his bid to $1.1 million and surpassing the $1 million reserve.
From there, Abbouchi said it took just one minute for the auction to be over. Both parties quickly traded $10,000 and $5000 bids until the property sold under the hammer to a developer with plans to build two dwellings on the block.
“It was probably one of the quickest auctions I’ve done,” Abbouchi said. “It was done and dusted in about a minute.”
The Coburg home, a deceased estate, last sold for $36,500 in 1976, records show.
In North Melbourne, a young family has won the keys to a double-fronted Victorian home for $1,825,000, beating out an investor.
Three parties turned out to bid on 53-55 Canning Street, but only two ended up making offers on the spacious three-bedroom home.
Bidding opened with an offer of $1.7 million, at the top end of the $1.65 million to $1.7 million price guide.
Jellis Craig auctioneer Trevor Gange said the underbidder, an investor, put forward strong offers of $20,000 and $10,000 with confidence throughout the auction, and was surprised when the ultimate buyer, a family from Melbourne’s west, offered up an extra $5000 to purchase the property in the end.
“From the start, [the underbidder] was bidding strongly,” Gange said. “The family were sort of taking their time a little bit and just being very deliberate in their actions.”
The property’s reserve was $1.75 million.
Gange said it was rare to find freestanding double-fronted homes in North Melbourne, adding that its 12-foot ceilings and prime Canning Street location were drawcards for buyers.