Add CategoryA young couple who purchased a three-bedder in Earlwood say they paid an “insane amount,” for their new abode.
Julia and her husband Thomas purchased the Earlwood home for $1.822m under the hammer on Saturday morning.
“Do we think we just paid an insane amount of money for what this is? Yes, absolutely,” Julia said.
The home was hotly contested with 12 registered bidders, and three of them active.
The Californian bungalow was recently renovated, sitting on a small parcel of land with three bedrooms and one bathroom. All of the registered parties were either upsizers or first home buyers.
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![Hot auction page - Earlwood](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Winning bidders Tom and wife Julia felt they paid an “insane amount” for their new home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
Julia and Tom were upgrading from an apartment they had purchased in the Inner West four years earlier and were shocked by prices in the current market.
“Prices are ridiculous, people are paying way more than what things are worth,” Julia said.
Tom said they wanted to stay in Dulwich Hill but they had been priced out of the area.
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“It’s a bit of a double edged sword, you make a little bit (from selling) but you spend a bit more, unfortunately it’s the current climate we are in, and things are just going to keep going up,” he said.
Lead agent Adrian Tsavalas said there was a short supply of smaller entry-level properties in the area, making the competition fierce.
“It (bidding) started a lot higher than we were expecting and ended a lot higher than we were expecting too,” Mr Tsavalas said.
Eager bidders turned up to watch the Earlwood home sell under the hammer. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
The vendors would not reveal the exact reserve, but Mr Tsavalas said from the opening bid of $1.65m they were on the market.
The auction was slow and drawn out, with the underbidder asking auctioneer Brad Heffernan to pause multiple times to plan his next bid.
The underbidder joked he was “adding suspense.”
Julia’s Dad, who was bidding on behalf of the couple, came back with fast and confident bids.
The final twenty bids were down to $1,000 increments.
“It was a bit ridiculous towards the end, but we got there,” Julia joked.
Auctioneer Brad Heffernan pictured trying to encourage the under bidder to pick up the pace. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
Mr Tsavalas said the success of the auction was also the timing, as many vendors were putting off listing properties until after the Anzac Day weekend.
“I think they nailed the timing and the stars aligned for them today and that meant they got a lot more than what they were expecting.”
The vendors, who wished to remain anonymous, purchased the property in 2018 and spent time renovating the home.
“We didn’t really know what to expect,” the vendor said.
“When we first purchased the house we poured all our energy into renovations and creating what we did so we were unsure,” he said.
The vendors were happy with the result but sad to say goodbye to their beloved home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
The vendors had completed tasteful modern renovations on the home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
“It’s a great result, we are very happy and its made sure that all that effort was worth it.”
The vendors had purchased, renovated and sold other properties in the Inner West and South West areas.
They were feeling “mixed emotions” about selling the home.
“We welcomed our second child and raised both our kids here to the age they are now, so we are sad to see it go.”
The median house price in Earlwood is currently $1.946m, according to PropTrack data.