An Alexandria townhouse snapped up pre auction
The client
First home buyer couple who lived locally in the area and absolutely loved their current lifestyle. Both busy working professionals they were time poor and uninterested in dealing with real estate agents directly. They were also referred to me by a previous past client that I had bought for in the same area which is always very rewarding.
We kicked off a full service search and hit the ground running.
What was most important to the client
Lifestyle - they lived local and wanted to maintain this lifestyle of easy access to the city and close proximity to cafes and restaurants.
A property they could live in for 5+ years without outgrowing it
Enough space for them to both work from home
A second bedroom that was suitable to have family visit from overseas
Decent outdoor area as they are big on entertaining
A parking space
Minimal strata amenities - avoiding the pools, gyms etc
The search
Based on their budget requirements, we had scope to consider two bedroom townhouses or three bedroom apartments. The three bed was the preference, if it was achievable in a key location. After an extensive search for the three bedroom option it was clear the strategy was better focused on the two bedroom townhouse.
We did seriously consider one apartment that was almost a three bedroom (it had two proper bedrooms and a third ‘room’ but it had no natural light and was a closed in room off the dining area), but the bedroom situation combined with some strata issues meant it was one to walk away from.
After a couple of weeks, one of the clients got some great news of a promotion and pay rise at work. This also meant they had a little more room to move on the budget front. With that, we jumped on a property that was on market but had previously been outside our budget scope. They were two weeks into the campaign and heading towards auction so we needed to move fast.
The property
This townhouse is part of a small block, which is modern, but also not too modern. The block is well maintained, well presented and overall has a really nice vibe to it.
This particular townhouse also has private lane access off one courtyard. It has two great sized ground floor courtyards which my clients loved due to their love of entertaining.
The townhouse is split over two levels with living and dining downstairs and bedrooms upstairs. There is space to have a study nook upstairs and also in the second bedroom.
The outcome
Buying an on market property means you are in open competition. The property was two weeks into the campaign when we had a change of budget and now had this one in our sights. We inspected the property mid-week and moved quickly to getting a contract review completed and the strata report. The strata report had some historical issues that we needed to fully understand and sometimes this can take time to work through to ensure that everyone is making well informed decisions (the strata report was >400 pages).
I worked with the agent on the opportunity to be able to buy pre auction. As it was on market, it also opened up for other interested parties to put in offers. In a very tough negotiation that resulted in about 40+ phone calls in a 12 hour period, we finally got the outcome that we were the highest bidder and the property was ours!!
The best part of this was video-calling my clients to tell them; one was in a work meeting and stepped out, the other was in a car with colleagues; and the sheer excitement when I told them they had purchased was a reminder of how special my role is.
Learnings
Just because a property is ‘on market’, does not mean that there are better opportunities ‘off market’. While lots of properties do trade off market, lots more are sold on market as most home owners are driven by wanting the highest sale price for their property which usually correlates with selling on market.
