Was it overpriced? No. Not at all.
What did you think it would go for? $5 million.
What is this telling us about the market? The seller was motivated. He built this property to sell. He’s a developer. He paid $900,000 for the block of land three years ago. That land is now worth $2 million. To come in and rebuild that property, you would be lucky to build it for what he sold for.
The market has not slowed up here. The amount of migration we have coming to the Gold Coast is ridiculous. Because there is no stock and 38 per cent more buyers than last year, it’s a seller’s market.
What was surprising about it? It was the longest negotiation in the way of an auction I’ve ever done. The hammer came down an hour and a half after.
It was at the Island Resort in Surfers Paradise, in a function room on the top floor – really scenic. It’s open air, you can see Surfers Paradise. Eight properties went to auction that night. It was luxury property, only those worth at least $2.5 million to $3 million.
The auctions kicked off at six o’clock. We were lot four or lot five on the night. She was the highest bid at $4.55 million. The bidding stopped and the auctioneer said: “Would you like a minute?”
We said: “Yes, please.” He moved on to do the other auctions. We kept our lot open.
The auction of the Honeyeater Drive home came halfway in a line of eight boardroom auctions that started at 6pm. The sale concluded at 9pm.
Can you keep an auction going like that? Absolutely. Until the auctioneer puts the hammer down or passes it in, it remains open.
In the end, it was literally buyer and seller standing at each end of the bar. It was a bit of a showdown.
It’s a big, long bar, probably 12 metres long. The seller was at one end of the bar, the buyer was at the other end. It was just a matter of trying to get them to the point where we could bridge the gap.
The seller was having a drink, but the buyer was very nervous. He was a typical tradie – very cool and calm, sitting at the end of the bar with his beer. She was very stern. She was a savvy shopper. He didn’t need to sell. But he wanted to sell.
I’d been running her for six months. I knew what she wanted. This was outside her search area. It was perfect for her. We just had to get the price right for both.
Mind the gap: In a seller’s market, the buyer added a further $215,000 to her final price to secure the property.
How many times did you change the price? At least 12 times, and it wasn’t always a rise in price. It might have been different conditions – for example, shortened settlement times. It was moving it around to suit both of them.
Sometimes you do have to do a bit of negotiation in the background afterwards, but usually you’ve wrapped it up in five to 10 minutes. This was just insane.
But the buyer ultimately added another $215,000 to her final bid, right? She was very invested in it and she wanted it. The auctioneer was watching his clock. He wanted to get home. But he couldn’t leave. Once it was decided upon and agreed, the auctioneer went to the front of the room.
How many were left in the room? Just a heap of staff. The auctioneer said, “Are there any further bids?” and put the hammer down. All the staff cheered. The contract was signed at about 9pm.
How were the vendor and buyer at the end? They shook hands and had a bit of a smile. The vendor said, “You’ve bought a lovely home,” and the buyer said: “You’ve built a lovely home.”
Everyone was just exhausted. The boss said there was still a heap of money to be used on the bar. I said: “I don’t care. I’m exhausted I’m going home.” I’m a single mum. I had to get home and feed my kids.
Room to relax: Everyone was “just exhausted” after the auction ended.
Do you reckon we’ll see another result like this: a) next week b) next year c) next cycle d) never? a) I’d like to say next week! It is a sellers’ market. But another 1½ hours? I don’t want that again.
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