Third attempt to auction off Bondi hoarders' house called off at last minute

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• Bondi hoarders’ house up for sale
• Bondi hoaders dodge forced sale of their home

A third attempt to auction off a dilapidated house packed to the brim with rubbish has fallen through at the eleventh hour.

The infamous home in Bondi was expected to go to auction on Thursday night against the wishes of its current owners in a forced sale by the NSW Sherriff’s office.

The home, which is owned by the Bobolas family, has fallen into disrepair after years of rubbish piling up.

In April the Bobolas family owed the Waverley Council $160,000 in outstanding debts for clean ups and legal costs.

Ric Serrao, the real estate agent enlisted to sell the property on behalf of the NSW Sherriff’s Office, said the auction was called off just 50 minutes beforehand.

Serrao was informed the Bobolas family had lodged a stay application and the matter would be heard in court on Friday morning.

It’s now the third failed attempt to auction off the property.

Just hours before the house was to be auctioned last year, it was cancelled after the Bobolas family paid Waverly Council the $180,000 they owed in cleaning and legal bills.

Two weeks ago the home was once again scheduled for auction, but was postponed on a technicality.

“We’ve had some very irate buyers,” Serrao of Raine & Horne Double Bay told Domain.

“Frustrating is an understatement,” he said. “We’ve had one interested buyer come from Brisbane and another from Melbourne.”

“It’s frustrating for many people, including the family involved.”

There were eight interested parties who registered on the night to bid on the home, that has a price guide of more than $2 million – far from the $25,000 Steve and Mary Bobalas purchased it for in 1970.

But the purchase comes with a catch. There were strict conditions around the sale including the buyer being responsible for moving on the owner, Mary Bobolas, who lives there with her daughters Liana and Elena.

Start of video transcript

The history of the property as I’m aware of it… we’ve been asked to represent the sale on behalf of the sheriff’s office. I’ve known of the property for over 20 years now, and the circumstances of the items behind us, so to speak. I believe that now there’s some closure at hand, and the property has been listed for auction for the 17th February.

We listed the property online at approximately 5:30pm yesterday. Overnight we had 53 email inquiries, 11 contracts have been called for. It’s going to be a well contested property, I would think.

We’re selling the property as land, approximately 553sqm in one of the most sought after streets of the area, given its location. I can’t really comment on the building side of it. I think the bricks and mortar are basically a bonus. As far as the estimated sales in the area, we’re trying not to taint the buyers perception on the sale process in terms of value. There was one that sold in the next street recently for just over 2.8 million, and then there have been others that have sold in Edward St and Francis St from 1.7 to 1.9 — so, quite a big range.

The auction will be held at the Double Bay Auction Centre on the 17th February. The clients that will be coming along obviously will be buyers that will have contract of sale requested.