4/24 Moray St - SOLD - $1M
People have asked us what we did to set a new record for a renovated 1970s two bedroom apartment in New Farm. When we were called in for an appraisal, our sellers were thinking about selling their home for their own family reasons as it was time to upsize. As is so often the case, the sellers quickly worked out that they would not be able to buy without selling first as no sellers were interested in considering a subject-to-sale contract in the current market. They want to balance the risks of selling without having somewhere to go against needing the proceeds of the sale in order to buy. They asked us for our advice and were initially hoping that we could thread together a sale dependent on their finding somewhere to go.
To start with, the sellers asked us for a price estimate, which we thought was between $800k and $1m. With the authority to sell signed, we also agreed on limited marketing at this stage. The sellers wanted us to market to our database only in this first stage, so they fine-tuned their already beautiful styled apartment and we arranged professional photography, a floor plan and printed brochures. We launched to mgrath.com.au and sent it as an off-market listing to our database. From the database marketing, we had 16 buyer inspections – one of whom offered $820k subject to due diligence.
After two weeks of negotiations, including more buyer inquiry, the sellers decided to counter at $860k. Although the buyer agreed to pay $860k, their offer was conditional and now subject to their considering another property which came up during the length of time taken to counter offer. Based on buyer feedback, we were reluctantly of the view that $850k was probably market value, outside of competition or any other offers. Given the offer was withdrawn, we recommended to our sellers that a full marketing campaign with an auction would be in their best interests. We felt that this strategy would open up the buyer pool to interstate and new buyers (not just buyers on our database) and that competition among these buyers would help drive the price higher.
After the $860k offer was withdrawn (the buyer was successful in their other purchase), the sellers agreed to our recommendations. We launched to realestate.com.au and domain.com.au, put up a for-sale-sign and scheduled open homes. Over the 4 week marketing campaign, we had 144 buyer inspections including 10 interstate FaceTime inspections. By last Saturday, 14 registered bidders registered for our auction. The first bid, designed to be a ‘knock-out bid’ from an interstate buyer who flew into Queensland (with appropriate Covid-exemptions) especially to buy this property, set the pace. With a reserve of $850k, this meant the property was on the market from the get-go. 5 buyers actively bid through the auction, and with 29 bids, it came down to the last $1k. After a bid of $999k, the final $1k meant it was sold for $1m, $150k above reserve!
This is an example of what happens when everything goes to plan – the sellers presented their property perfectly, our marketing was effective and we followed the process by the book. If you’d like a similar experience, reach out to us today.
Click link to view our Auction video - https://youtu.be/hJw-yPeh7OE