Your Domain: Upsizing family's extensive renovations pay off at auction, house sells $129k over reserve

A $100,000 renovation has paid off for a Melbourne family whose south-east suburban home has sold for $129,000 above reserve.

Sellers Kyra and Shaun, and their 16-month-old daughter, sold their red brick Cheltenham home last weekend at auction after squatting through renovations for six months.

After

Before

“It was built in the late ’60s and it hadn’t really had anything done to it, I would say, since then. Very eclectic style, lots of interesting colour choices,” Shaun said.

“So we basically knocked down every wall, all the plaster, all [of] the roof, all the floors. Just everything was back to studs.” said Keira.

The home’s modern upgrade, which included adding a bathroom and removing walls to create an open plan living area, was a big drawcard for those who had inspected the home.

“It’s trendy, it’s in style. The renovations are just perfect the way it’s been presented. Taste is just spot-on,” said the auctioneer and selling agent of the home, Tom Grieve from Ray White Carnegie.

Despite the home being in a great location and renovated to their standards, Shaun and Kiera were hoping to upsize to a large home after the arrival of their daughter.

“We’ve loved living here, it’s been really popular amongst our friends. People love coming here and hanging out – and we love it as well.” said Shaun.

“We initially thought that the house was huge and that we’d have all our children here and that it would be fine. But then as soon as we had her we were like ‘woah’. Just the amount of stuff she has – it’s everywhere.”

Once the first bid kicked off, offers bounced between two keen bidders for most of the proceedings. Shaun and Keira put the home on the market once bidding reached $940,000 and it was only up from there.

“I never expected anything like this,” said Keira as the couple watched on surprised at how fast bidding had moved.

It was the very first bidder who placed the final one of $300 to buy the home for $1,069,000.

“At our reserve, I was happy. But no, that was amazing,” said Keira.

“I was a bit nervous but fortunately I got it just where I wanted it to be. I got it for the price I wanted to pay. So I’m feeling ecstatic. It’s great. It’s a great feeling,” said the new owner of the home.

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