Couple buy $1.915m Williamstown stunner to be closer to their kids

It was one of 998 auctions scheduled for Saturday.

In Bentleigh East, a townhouse sold for $1.47 million to a buyer who’d inspected it for the first time that day.

The four-bedroom home at 14B Hinkler Avenue attracted three bidders because it had been well-presented during its campaign, auctioneer and listing agent Simon Pintado said. He sold the adjoining townhouse for $1,345,000 late last year for the same vendor.

“[The adjoining townhouse] was tenanted, and it was a bit rough around the edges,” he said.

Pintado listed 14B for sale with an advertised reserve of $1.4 million. He said the vendor had put in new carpets, polished the floorboards and painted the house. Pintado said they spent about $35,000 on updating the property.

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The auction began with a bid of $1.35 million and sold for $1.47 million. Pintado said the buyers, a family with kids, were looking to avoid house-hunting over the winter.

“They’ve been looking for about two months and said it was exactly what we want and when it was on the market they just went for it,” he said.

Pintado said buyers were prioritising well-presented homes.

“I think this market at the moment is a little patchy,” he said. “Turn-key properties are selling well and anything that requires work is struggling.”

Pintado said the $35,000 spent on updating the property helped the vendor net an extra $125,000 more than the neighbouring property they sold last year.