Upgrader: professional upgrading from apartment to house
Suburb: Surry Hills
Price: $2.5m
Land: 134 sqm
Brief
Ready for a change from Elizabeth Bay, this high-powered female executive wanted space, but was very aware that the budget was tight for her preferred areas. Initially, we were brought in on an urgent evaluation and negotiation basis for a single property but, when the price moved beyond what the client was willing to pay, this went to a full search.
Challenge
In determining value, land size matters. And, in places like Paddington, every sqm counts. Paddington holds the title for the most expensive land per square metre nationally! As the search progressed and it became clear to our client that Paddington might require too great a compromise on space, we started to explore Surry Hills and beyond. Making a decision solo can be challenging, so our role here was to furnish as much information as possible to ensure each decision was fully informed.
Solution
Our role is to make the client aware of the trade-offs in any decision. Generally speaking, we do not recommend buying property that is on a major road – the asset is likely to underperform the surrounding market. However, given the ongoing disappointment in the space available in other properties, we showed this off-market opportunity and it was love at first sight. With a width of 5.5m, enormous grand rooms and space galore, the property exceeded the criteria in so many ways. And in this instance, our client felt the benefits far outweighed the compromises.
Result
There were a range of short-listed properties on this search, but the budget reality meant that the Paddo properties were on almost half the land and internally were a third smaller. Discovering this off market listing through our real estate agent contacts, we were aware that changes to traffic flow, new alternative routes, bike lane widening and speed restrictions all combined to make this road more appealing than it has ever been in the past. During our due diligence process we were heartened to see a house sell in a nearby, much busier road, for a record price. When the client’s bank valuation came back 8% over the price we negotiated, there were very broad smiles.
“Ultimately I got access to my new house off market which I otherwise would not have seen, and Mark paid for himself many times over.”
