The client

A young couple who had recently relocated to Sydney for work and were currently renting. They had been looking for a property for some time and had been the underbidder (2nd place) on two auctions in the past few months.

They both work full time in demanding jobs and were struggling to find the time to make it to mid week property inspections.

They engaged me for the full service to find them a property to buy, with a plan to try and avoid auctions.

What was most important to the client

A 2 or 3 bedroom house, preferably freestanding
Inner West location without major flight path noise
Currently in a liveable condition
Ensuring there was scope to renovate and they could live there for 10+ years
A character style home
A large kitchen given they love cooking
Avoiding major flight path noise
Commute time to Martin Place

The search

An extensive review of off market and pre market opportunities provided some good options but none that were quite right.

Not being local to the area, my clients had ruled out properties in Marrickville for belief that the whole suburb was impacted by severe flight noise. Through my on market wash I identified a Marrickville property that I believed would be perfect and was on a street with minimal flight noise (plus a 10min walk to Tempe station allowing direct access into Martin Place).

I did an initial drive by of the property and sent them a video of the flight noise in addition to reviewing the online flight path maps. I inspected the property the following day and sent them videos and photos. We then inspected the property privately on a Sunday evening taking our time to really understand the future renovation potential.

The property

A freestanding federation style home on a large >300sqm block in Marrickville. The property next door had recently sold with a similar style renovation to what they are planning and provided a solid insight into what was possible and where the value may sit post renovation.

When buying with a view to renovate it is also important to ensure there are no easements or sewer pipes that will add to the complexity. This property provided a clean rectangular land block.

The property had been an investment property and was in very good condition. The kitchen is massive with scope to modernise. The floorplan and existing plumbing access also allows for the creation of a second bathroom / ensuite.

The outcome

The property was scheduled to go to the auction 10 days after our initial inspection. Wanting to avoid the auction at all costs, we completed our due diligence (building report and contract review) over the next couple of days. The client also did a further inspection of the property during daylight hours. I completed an extensive pricing analysis of recently sold comparable properties to ensure my clients were well informed on the value of the property.

I communicated clearly with the selling agent to ensure that we were in the best possible position to try and secure pre auction.

As a result, we timed our offer to go in one week before the auction. This also meant that other interested parties would be notified of our offer and despite strong interest from other parties and active offers, I negotiated and secured the property for my clients on the Friday evening.

Learnings

If the property had gone to auction, then it is likely my clients would have come out the underbidder again. Auctions make people emotional and people start throwing bids around without really thinking about the value of the property.

The pre-auction pounce in Marrickville