‘It was a deal-breaker for some’: First-home buyers nab incomplete Moncrieff home for $780,000 at auction

A four-bedroom unfinished home in Moncrieff sold under the hammer on Saturday morning for $780,000 to first-home buyers willing to finish the project.

The inside of 6 Fretwell Street was 100 per cent complete and all that needed to be finished was the backyard, listing agent Steve Lowe of Agent Team Belconnen said.

“We had a lot of interest during the campaign. It’s a spacious house with generous living spaces but because it has a bit of work left to do, it was a deal-breaker for some people,” Mr Lowe said.

One party, undeterred by the work required, was willing to bid against themselves to secure the home at auction.

According to the listing description, some of the work still to be done included pool, plant and equipment installation, external landscaping, tiling, laundry porch, fencing and some painting.

“The reason why it’s incomplete is that the vendor’s husband, who built the home, died two years ago in a car accident … it’s unfinished but it’s a project worth continuing under someone else’s hands,” Mr Lowe said.

“His wife has been living in the property since he passed and has decided to part ways with the house, close this chapter of her life and move on.”

The new owners are first-home buyers who are looking forward to taking up the project.

“[They] have been living in Canberra for about a decade and have been looking for the right house for quite some time now,” Mr Lowe added.

“With the work that’s left to do, we did a digital renovation of the outdoor area to show the potential of the house.

“There’s only a few weeks worth of work left on it and they are happy to finish it off. It’ll be ready come summer where they will be able to host many friends and family.”

Elsewhere, a three-bedroom Holder home located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac sold at auction on Saturday morning for $776,000.

The residence at 13 Craven Place attracted a number of spectators and seven registered bidders.

Bidding for the home kicked off at $640,000 which was countered by a $650,000 offer.

The price increased in $10,000 increments thanks to four bidders until it reached $750,000.

From here, it whittled down to a two-horse race with the price rising in $5000, then $2000, $1000 and finally $500 bids.

When the price reached $773,500, auctioneer Rob Cappuccio of Belle Property Kingston told bidders, “Don’t wonder what could’ve been,” before the opposing party placed a $500 offer.

This was then countered by a $2000 raise and, with no further bids, the hammer fell at $776,000.

Listing agent Michael Pead of Belle Property Kingston said the campaign for the property was very busy.

“We had more than 85 groups through the house which is pretty outstanding,” Mr Pead said.

“A lot of people see the value in this suburb because it’s conveniently located near shops and is only a couple of minutes to some of Canberra’s biggest precincts.”

Mr Pead said a lot of young professionals and families had been looking at the property, and it was a young couple which eventually swept it up at auction.

“They’d been looking for a house for a while. It was their first auction and they were successful in it. I guess we can call it beginner’s luck,” he said.

The vendors decided to sell the house to upsize.

“They’ve lived in it for a decade and just had a baby in the last few weeks, so you can imagine how busy they’ve been in recent weeks. But the sale this morning definitely paid off for them,” Mr Pead added.