Abandoned Geelong West house beats price hopes at auction

Two bidders with plenty of knowledge about building in Geelong West went toe-to-toe over an abandoned Edwardian era house.

The local builders saw the potential in the long-abandoned character house that was deemed too unsafe to enter that potential buyers had to be satisfied with an external extension.

Barnett, Geelong agent Jason Barnett said the $508,000 sale price exceeded the $500,000 reserve price for the property at 127 Weller St as the competition between the pair was evident from the start of the auction.

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Mr Barnett said there were several other buyers keen on the property, but the strong bidding between the local builders meant the price had soon exceeded their expectations.

The property had been listed with $460,000 to $500,000 expectations, after State Trustees obtained a fresh property valuation.

But Mr Barnett said the cost to retain at least the facade of the house in its position meant the property had a lower value than if it had been a vacant block in the neighbourhood near Sparrow Park.

The $460,000 to $500,000 price guide reflected the dire state of the building, which in parts was sitting on earth.

Its front door is boarded up, with pieces of corrugated tin covering only some of the missing weatherboards on the facade, and vines are growing through the lounge room and daylight is visible through many walls.

Original lath is exposed both externally and internally, while the back garden is overgrown.

“Both parties were builders and the idea being they keep the facade and build a new house behind,” Mr Barnett said.

“Actually both are builders from Geelong West, it’s a really hyper local interest.”

“You’d argue that you’ve got the extra cost of retaining it – it’s going to cost you more to fix it up than it would have cost to bulldoze it,” Mr Barnett said.

“But because of the overlay you can’t do that.”

Mr Barnett said overlay restrictions included where the house was sitting on the 286sq m block, which could mean the new owners could maybe get one car off the street.

“Sometimes the local builders understand what the ins and outs of what they’re taking on and they know the council a but more intimately than the out-of-towners. Both of them seemed quite comfortable taking it on,” he said.

But he said the neighbours, who haven’t seen anyone living at the property for years, would be happy to see some action.

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