Next-door neighbour splurges $1 million on house in Blacktown to extend his backyard

No one expected three-bedroom 31 Booreea Street, 35 kilometres west of Sydney in Blacktown, would sell for more than $1 million at the weekend. 

Even fewer would have guessed the buyer, who was among a crowd of 100 in attendance on Saturday, would be a neighbour willing to pay a premium for the home just to extend his backyard.

But that’s exactly what happened when John Tannous, the owner of an adjacent property, saw the Booreea Street house hit the market.

He bought 79 Patrick Street in 2014 for $680,000 – it was marketed as a knock-down rebuild opportunity.

Since then he has been building his dream home on the land, his son Charbel Tannous said, speaking on behalf of his father for whom English is a second language.

“The problem is it’s only about 650 square metres [of land] so it’s quite small,” Charbel said of the Patrick Street address.

When three-bedroom 31 Booreea Street went up for sale in January his father said, “he must have it so he can expand the garden”.

“He keeps chickens and bees and wants space for them.”

He was so motivated to have the home that he put in a pre-auction offer of $900,000, which was rejected. 

“At the time of the auction, it was down to two families who really wanted the home,” Charbel said. And his father didn’t want to stop bidding.

They battled it out and Mr Tannous became the new owner after a $1.02 million bid.

He plans to expand his backyard by about 200 square metres of the 695-square-metre block, before renting out the house at the front to help with financing.

Starr Partners Blacktown sales manager Mark Vella, who was selling the home, said it was a record for a non-development site three-bedroom home on less than 700 square metres in the area.

Even after a property boom, only a handful of homes sell in excess of $1 million in Blacktown – and they’re usually much larger and newer homes.

“We had more than 100 inspections and 32 registered bidders,” Mr Vella said.

“It was the best turnout in my career … it completely exceeded price expectations.”

The median house price in Blacktown is $675,000, according to Domain Group data – up 3.8 per cent over the year.

He said he believed Mr Tannous was buying the property on behalf of his daughter, who would potentially live in the property in the future.

Three-bedroom 31 Booreea Street sold for $1.02 million on Saturday. Photo: Starr Partners

Interest in the fully-renovated home was due to the location near the train station and because the site was DA-approved for a two-bedroom granny flat, he said.

The vendors, Rose and Darek Chrabowski, had bought a new home to upgrade into and were pleased with the result.

“Since 1962 it has been in the family, and we are the third generation,” Ms Chrabowski said.

“It was amazing. We had well over 100 people in our front yard, which was mindblowing.”

The garden of 31 Booreea Street that John Tannous intends to turn into his own backyard. Photo: Starr Partners

The last home to sell before 31 on the street was number 19, also a three-bedroom house on just under 700 square metres of land. It was sold for $855,000 in September 2015.

The record house sale in Blacktown was set in October 2016, when Starr Partners Blacktown sold four-bedroom 36 Swinson Road sold for $1.35 million. 

In 2015 a home sold to an investor on Anzac Day with dual occupancy on 750 square metres made headlines for achieving more than $1 million at auction.

Three-bedroom 31 Booreea Street is fully-renovated and has been in the same family since the 1960s. Photo: Starr Partners