Buyer spends $2 million on sight-unseen knockdown for Balwyn High zone

“It’s not what it is, it’s where it is!” With these words auctioneer and Raine and Horne Victorian managing director Randolph Clements obliterated any possibility of life remaining for this California bungalow in North Balwyn.

With neighbouring blocks already housing Georgian-inspired houses and townhouses, the family who owned the house for almost a century is most likely the first and last family to live in the house.

Yet despite its developers’ appeal, those that turned up to 3 Highbury Street in their 4x4s did not win the day. A man offered a low opening bid of $1.5 million then asked if it was on the market (it was quoted at $1.85 million to $1.95 million). “Sure,” said Mr Clements, “offer me $2 million!” He didn’t.

A woman standing at the back offered $1.6 million to the man’s $1.5 million, then fought off another two competitors, and the opening bidder, over 48 bids to buy the property for $2 million. According to agent Chris Dods, the developers were out by $1.85 million and it was on the market at $1.9 million.

The “ecstatic” buyer had been house-hunting in the Balwyn High zone for some time, but the pre-auction inspection was her first interaction with the house, which she plans to develop.

Things were quieter in Toorak, where a rundown rental backing onto a train line failed to sell in front of 30 people.

Auctioneer Greg Super from David Marshall Property elicited a genuine bid of $1.1 million for the two-bedroom Victorian, but quickly made a vendor bid of $1.3 million in response. There was no need for speed, as no one else came forward. Mr Super explained that according to Google, land value alone put it at $1.5 million, but that didn’t elicit bids.

He returned from consulting the vendors to announce a lower reserve “well below the quoted range” ($1.38 million to $1.43 million). Still, no one blinked an eyelid, and the “affordable” property just around the corner from bustling Hawksburn Village was passed in. The reserve is now $1.43 million.