The Block auctions 2019: Who is the winning bidder of Mitch and Mark's house?

The winning bidder of Mitch and Mark’s terrace house stood out from the crowd at The Block auctions for the entire afternoon.

Melbourne IT entrepreneur Danny Wallis made odd-numbered bids, encouraged auctioneers to knock down properties faster and called one auction “stupid”.

But he has bought and sold a string of properties around the country and, when not dabbling in the property market, is the founder and chief executive of the $136 million sharemarket-listed IT company DWS Group.

No stranger to Block auctions, he bought one of the properties in 2012’s South Melbourne season for a touch over $1.4 million.

He grabbed headlines at the time, wearing a T-shirt with the name of his company Energy Watch. At the time, a spokesman said he used his own money to buy the home despite taking the opportunity to promote his business on the TV show.

He headed a private consortium that took over the energy price comparison service after it went into administration with debts of $8.6 million.

At the 2012 auction, Mr Wallis opened bidding for Mike and Andrew’s South Melbourne terrace house with an unusual offer of $1,302,477.11.

How much did The Block houses sell for?

• Tess and Luke: 38B Grey Street sold for $3,620,000 (total prize money $730,000, including $100,000 winner’s cheque)
• El’ise and Matt: 38D Grey Street sold for $3,450,000 (prize money $460,000)
• Andy and Deb: 38C Grey Street sold for $3,420,000 (prize money $430,000)
• Jesse and Mel: 38E Grey Street sold for $3,378,000 (prize money $388,000)
• Mitch and Mark: 38A Grey Street sold for $3,374,000 (prize money $384,000)

He made further odd-numbered bids before winning the home for $1,400,001.01.

At the time, he planned to provide the house to parents of sick children staying at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

He resold the four-bedroom property in 2016 for $1.73 million.

At a much higher price point, Mr Wallis last year sold a stunning trophy home on the Sunshine Coast for $18 million, one of the biggest real estate deals in Queensland in recent times.

The seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom beachfront residence in Sunshine Beach last traded in 2013 when Mr Wallis paid $7 million – well below its original price guide at the time of $14 million.

During Saturday’s Block auctions, he was a prolific bidder throughout the day and snapped up Mitch and Mark’s house for $3.374 million.

At one point he bid $3,308,050, with auctioneer Damien Cooley describing the extra $50 increment as “half a litre of petrol”.

When ahead in the bidding, he called for the auctioneer to “now bang it” and knock the house down.

“Does it come with these scratches on the floor?” he asked.

Selling agent Graeme Wilson quipped in reply: “Yeah, at no extra charge.”

Earlier, he was heard to ask the Consumers Affairs Victoria inspectors in attendance whether they could help investigate his refrigerator repairman, whom he claimed had “turned his fridge into a freezer” and ruined $5000 worth of wine.

The inspectors referred Mr Wallis to their website for further information.

Asked later for his impressions, he called the auction “slow” and “stupid”.

“I’ve never been at an auction where people get five minutes’ think time.”

He said he had “never watched the show” but liked all five homes.

Unsure what he will do with the home at this stage, he will not live there but said he may again offer it to the Ronald McDonald House charities.

Later, during the second auction, for Tess and Luke’s house, he asked auctioneer David Wood, “Do you get any discounts if you buy two?”

In a departure from trends over recent years at The Block auctions, Mr Wallis was one of two buyers to not use a buyers’ advocate – the other being the purchaser of Tess and Luke’s house, barrister Rick Horsley, SC.

Deb and Andy’s house was bought by advocate Frank Valentic, believed to be on behalf of a local family. Fellow advocate Greville Pabst purchased Jesse and Mel’s house, believed to be on behalf of a Melbourne-based couple, while El’ise and Matt’s house was purchased by Glen Smith on behalf of his Australian friends living overseas.

DWS Group began as a one-room operation in 1992 and now employs more than 800 staff, according to its most recent annual report.

Mr Wallis also made an appearance as a bidder at the auction of a former Scout Hall in Middle Park in 2015.

Public records show he owns a string of other properties across Victoria, including a South Melbourne terrace, a one-bedroom apartment on St Kilda Road, a Middle Park property, three Albert Park terraces and a unit in Bendigo.