Your Domain: Three generations and seven people bid farewell to their home at a bittersweet Sydney auction

Three generations from the same family – seven people in total – said goodbye to their five-bedroom home at a hard-fought auction last weekend.

87-year-old Anne, her daughter Vivian, her son-in-law, and her four grandchildren have lived under the same roof for three years.

“My brother and I grew up here, and when [my] dad passed away in 2017, Mum was left here on her own. She just asked us to move back,” Vivian told Your Domain. “It’s a bit chaotic but it’s great. We are loving, big-hearted family.”

Vivian’s passion for cars meant she, her partner and their children were moving to Southern Tablelands south-west of Sydney. She is hoping the move would allow for more quality time with her children – and to be closer to local race tracks.

For her mother Anne, saying goodbye to her home of 36 years was emotionally-charged.

“Well, it’s going to be a cut-off from the life we had – it’s just been so long,” she said.

The campaign promoted the home as a “diamond in the raw” that needed a bit of “polish” with the right renovations.

The home was 14 kilometres north-west of the CBD in Ryde, a suburb known for its access to shopping, job opportunities outside the CBD, and Macquarie University.

The property’s location in a quiet street was a big drawcard for buyers as was its family-friendly size, with a large kitchen plus walk-in-pantry and linen press, and a double lock-up garage.

“We have had over 100 groups of prospective buyers coming through,” agent Vincent Goh of Stone Real Estate Beecroft said ahead of the auction.

“They’ve [coming] from the inner west seeking greener pastures. They see that this is a lovely place to raise a family.”

Vivian and her mother had high hopes as they settled into their living room ahead of the auction, setting the reserve at $1.45 million.

“In my dreams we’ll go over the reserve. I’d like to be one of those places that went ‘oh we went over by $300,000’ – that would be great,” Vivian said.

As proceedings began, the auctioneer asked the crowd to not be shy – and shy they weren’t. An opening bid of $1.3 million kicked things off nicely for the family of seven.

Bids of $20,000 between four bidders pushed the price to $1.4 million in no time, after which things slowed down to bids of $10,000 to $5000.

At $1.445 million, Vivian and her family started to consider putting the home on the market despite it being $5000 short of its reserve.

After some debate, they agreed to.  Thankfully, the bidding continued, with the home selling for $1.515 million – $65,000 over the reserve.

While it wasn’t the $300,000-over-reserve story ending Vivian had in mind, they were pleased with the result.

The lucky buyer was bidding for her son and his family. A home so full with family memories (and family members) would continue its tradition.

Your Domain airs at 10am on Saturdays on Nine. Catch up on all episodes on 9Now.