Extroardinary and Unusual Properties are Often Unpredictable at Auction

As we transition from Winter into Spring, a lot will change on the Melbourne Real Estate landscape. Listing numbers will increase, relative buyer-to-seller ratios will decrease, and competition will feel a little less fierce in the popular inner and middle-ring pockets.

Mainstream homes with strong owner-occupier appeal seem to be selling week on week for record prices, however not every property this winter has sold predictably.

Agents often have a good understanding of their auction campaign by about the half-way mark, and usually in that final week, they can nominate the buyers they believe will be bidding on the day. Typically an agent will have a more than likely chance of selecting the winning bidder, or at least the front runner or under-bidder once they have completed their final call backs.

But when it comes to properties which are a little more out of the box, it’s not so easy.

Whether the house is in the top price decile for the area, or the zoning is prohibitive, or even when the property is just quirky, not all sales campaigns can be easily tracked.

Yesterday was a case in point. We had four auctions to attend; the two in the morning were desirable, typical, quality two bedroom single-fronted Victorian terraces in both Brunswick and Coburg. Favoured by home-buyers and investors alike, these ever-green beauties attracted multiple Buyer’s Advocates each and both sold for record prices.

We missed out.

The afternoon however was when things got interesting. The first property we bid on was an old church in Coburg on a gloriously elevated 820sqm parcel of land. Groups who attended were mixed, from young people to older past parishioners, developers, builders, and locals.

 

Even as an experienced bidder, I found it a challenge to identify any potential rival bidders.

Churches can go either way at auction and unpredictable is a good description. Only a month or so ago I was outbid by several cashed up bidders at this stunning converted church in Brunswick. But I cast my memory back a year and a half to this incredible half-church conversion in Yarraville’s village and wonder now how I secured this stunning property for just $785,000 after the auction passed in.

Yesterday however, the cards fell my way. One group challenged me but once the property was declared on the market, we inched higher in three painful small bids and the hammer fell for my happy buyer.

It was this residentially zoned, commercially-used FItzroy North Victorian landmark on 1,000sqm which stole the show though. Selling as a going-concern, offering eleven car spaces, representing opportunity for many different purposes and holding everyone in the crowd captive, the agents just weren’t able to pinpoint who could take out the prize. Many variables were at play.

Limited residential sales data for similar properties complicated any analysis, and comparing recent commercially zoned property sales wasn’t doing this property any justice because they just aren’t perfect comparisons.

I tried to read the crowd. One guy on his tablet in conversations with one of the agents flagged himself as a potential bidder. Another who discussed terms with the agent and threw in a few bids but later resorted to bidding from the comfort of his own car was my only real rival. The bidding was fast between us and the hammer fell just two further bids after the property was declared on the market.

Yesterday proved that sometimes it’s hard for buyers and agents alike to accurately predict what a property is worth and who could be the likely buyer.

Unusual properties often hold mystique and the prove the biggest rewards.