The single suburb brief!
The client
The client was a working parent with 3 young children. Fair to say, there was no spare time to be off looking at properties that weren’t right. In addition to that, the client didn’t drive so going between inspections was not going to be easy. It was mid 2023 and the market had the lowest stock levels seen in a long time. This made for a very challenging brief.
In addition, the client would be eligible for the first home buyer annual stamp duty tax if the contract was dated before 1 July 2023 on a purchase of sub $1.5m. While the budget here was slightly over this threshold, the ability to save at least $65,000 (on stamp duty) was definitely a consideration.
What was most important to the client
Location - the property had to be in Ashfield and within a 30min walk to the local school. This was the most important factor above all for the client and an absolute non negotiable because there was no scope to have the children change school.
A house and no strata. While not against strata, the ability to renovate gave preference here to the flexibility of a house
Floorplan - with a keen eye for detail, the client wanted to buy a property that allowed for value to be added in terms of renovation.
2 or 3 bedrooms, provided renovation costs to add a third bedroom were factored in if it was a 2 bedroom
The search
I thought we were off to a flying start when on my first round of calls an agent gave me a heads up on a premarket property. It was a week away from going public and I went to see it the next day when the photos were being taken. It was perfect. 71 Palace St Ashfield, a gorgeous 3 bedroom semi on a beautiful street in the perfect Ashfield location. The only challenge when I saw it was that I knew we were unlikely to have the budget to buy it. Even less likely to have the money to snap it up pre market. Alas, while the property was perfect, it wasn’t going to be in our budget and we had to move on.
From there, it was slim pickings. A single suburb brief in a low stock market means that there just is not a huge amount of options.
I got a heads up on 25 King St Ashbury coming to market and that also fit the brief. However, in due diligence we realised there was a large council sewer that ran perpendicular across the property right behind the back door. This meant any plans to extend the property would be challenging and costly. There was no also no guarantee as building over a sewer requires a separate set of approvals. While within budget, it was not for us as it didn’t fit into the long term plans.
I’d been chatting to one agent that had a property coming to market that they tenant had been given their 90 day notice period on. The tenant was challenging and we were unable to see the inside until the tenant left. So we waited. Except the tenant didn’t leave when the day came. The agency eventually had to take the tenant to NCAT to regain possession of the property. With that, eventually we had our first look inside and everything was stacking up.
The property
We purchased a two bedroom semi that had an existing attic space built into the roof. This is key because with advice from a builder before we purchased the property, we understood the options available in terms of renovation scope to add additional bedrooms and/or bathroom upstairs and the costs.
The existing single level property was in good condition. The back of the property allowed for scope to renovate into a more desirable open plan living.
Most importantly, it was a 20min walk to the local school and suitable for my clients location preferences. It was also on a quiet cul de sac which meant the kids could play out the front without traffic coming past.
The potential on this is another reason why it made sense;
An existing attic space in the roof that would allow for renovation;
Existing plumbing and bathroom at the front near the bedrooms (so many old homes have the bathroom at the back of the property)
Ability to convert the kitchen into open plan living onto the backyard
Why was the property off market?
The property was for sale by someone who is a sales agent in the area. They actually wanted a quiet sale because often people don’t want everyone they know across their financial business.
The outcome
The time we were negotiating on price was June 2023, just 3 weeks shy of the removal of the first home buyer annual stamp duty option. This meant that if our purchase price was under $1.5m then my client would save an additional $65,000 on stamp duty. All money that could go towards the renovation rather than the tax man.
With stock tight and an off market opportunity, we negotiated a fantastic sales price to come in with the option to use the annual stamp duty option. This was a huge win!
Learnings
Be patient. This brief was not about looking at lots of properties because there wasn’t lots to choose from. It was about hounding the local agents every week on what properties they had in the pipeline and/or were out appraising and being able to pounce when we found the right one.
