…Beautiful, Period Historical Properties

One of our most recent acquisitions for clients of ours was this beautiful circa-1880’s home in one of Hawthorn’s favourite streets – Kinkora Road.

All kinds of questions and emotions came up during the due-diligence phase of the assignment.This house met all of our clients’ criteria – and they had been developing their own criteria list for over twelve months.

They were tired of the searching. This one had to be the one.

It is close to all of the private schools; Trinity, MLC, Xavier, Ruyton included. It has a delightful private back garden with rear lane way access. It was in a delightful street, but best of all, it has a facade which could steal any show. This four bedroom home, situated literally a one minute walk from fabulous Glenferrie Road meant that our clients could have the lifestyle they had dreamed of.

 

The only remaining question was – what was it worth?

This is an incredibly hard question for any advocate to tackle when the property is so unique, so sought-after, and in such a premium location. Our job is to guide our clients with recent comparable sales…. but what happens when nothing quite compares, and this particular property type comes up rarely? And how much of a ‘premium stretch’ can be justified when a buyer has already been in the market for over a year when the market is moving upwards, and at a relatively aggressive pace? Ultimately, we guide our clients to not overpay and to be sensible about what other options are potentially available within their desired price band. When an owner-occupied property selection is hard to replicate, we generally discuss 3% as a suitable stretch budget.

Our limit was determined, and our clients nervously braced themselves as the auction bell rang in the street.

A healthy crowd gathered; some intending to bid, most waiting to see what this iconic home would sell for, and some interested to see who their new neighbours were to become.

Cate kicked off the auction with a firmly raised hand at James Tostevin’s suggested $2.7M start. The auction started slowly but heated up after the auctioneer reappeared after consulting with his vendors. The property was declared on the market at $3.1M and a flurry of fast bids fired backwards and forwards between Cate and the under-bidder in ten thousand dollar increments proceeded. The under-bidder’s shoulders slumped as soon as Cate’s quick retaliation of “ONE-SIX!” was flung back into the crowd. Called not once, not twice, not three times but MANY times, the hammer finally fell at $3,160,000.

Our buyers can look forward to a glorious home in a sensational location …. and they can proudly say that they bought Lyndenhurst, a stunning slice of Melbourne history, on the weekend.