Knockout bid lands blow for buyer in Bell Post Hill

The three-bedroom house at 17 Liston St, Bell Post Hill, goes to auction on Saturday.

A big opening salvo designed to knockout the competition had the desired effect on potentially five other bidders for an updated home in Geelong’s north.

The buyers’ advocate opened the auction at 17 Liston St, Bell Post Hill, with a $700,000 bid that was just over the $646sq m property’s price expectations of $649,000 to $699,000.

But it wasn’t enough to extinguish the entire crowd, with the three-bedroom house passing in after the bids reached $710,000. Negotiations eked out more to secure a $715,000 deal.

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Harcourts, North Geelong agent Joe Grgic said more groups would have been keen to bid on the two-storey residence, but the sellers’ strict 30-day terms didn’t offer the necessary wriggle room to settle over a longer period.

“It was a very tricky property because the owners were very specific looking for a 30 day settlement and it did omit a number of buyers.

“I loved the house, the property was pristine – if only every property was that well kept and maintained and that had only recently renovated the bathroom so it was stunning,” Mr Grgic said.

Stainless steel appliances, including freestanding cooker, feature in the kitchen.

The bathroom has been recently updated and also has a rain-head shower.

“It was one of the best presented homes and it had that upstairs retreat with a balcony. It was amazing because you could look over Geelong to the east, but out the back they had three quite large established trees, so it was quite private up there.”

Mr Grgic said two bidders contested the property, but there was probably five other groups who said they would like to bid before the auction.

“They started with a knockout bid, which just sent everyone looking around at each other from the start.”

The property was secured as an investment, an increasingly popular motivation for Bell Post Hill, which has become a favourite haunt for buyers advocates representing Melbourne and Sydney groups.

A rear-facing balcony overlooks the private backyard and offers a view over Geelong.

The main living room showcases original floorboards, large windows overlooking the front yard.

“There’s a number of buyers agents, buying groups and wealth creation companies out there. They all have different strategies in what they’re looking for, but there’s certainly a lot of them looking those these type of properties,” Mr Grgic said.

Bell Post Hill’s median house price reached $660,000 at the start of June, according to PropTrack figures that shows 7 per cent average annual growth in the past 10 years.

A second buyers agent did look at the property, Mr Grgic said, but wasn’t keen to go to auction, or on the 30-day settlement term, and didn’t attend the auction.

“It’s a stunning home, we got a great result that could have been a little different had we not had those restrictions.”

Mr Grgic said the sellers were looking at something else, so needed to sell quickly.

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