Auctions - Open Houses - Over the weekend

Over the weekend I attended 2 auctions and 1 open house.

The first house was being auctioned in Mountainview Parade, Rosanna. The house was a double fronted house and was last renovated about 10 years ago. It had "million dollar views" and was located close to schools, university, hospitals and train stations. It was a three bedroom home with 1 bathroom and 1 car garage. The real estate agent was Hocking Stuart, Ivanhoe .

When we arrived at the house, we were overwhelmed by the amount of people who had turned up for auction day. My partner and I decide to place bets on what it would sell for. I thought it would sell for $830,000 and my partner said it would sell for $803,000. The auction started with an opening bid of $580,000. The agent accepted the bid and then accepted increases of $10,000. Before we knew it the price of the home was in the high $700,000's. The home eventually sold for $828,000. The agent valued the home at $630,000-$680,000.

The second house was in Landscape Drive,Doncaster East. The home had no price range advertised on the internet but when requested the agent replied by writing "We are looking at offers above $700k going to Auction"

The house was auctioned by Philip Webb, Doncaster East. The house was on a corner block. It had 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a two car garage. The house was 33 years old which meant it required a lot of renovation. The house was close to The Pines, schools, transport and parks. It was family home with a huge rumpus area. The auctioneer was late in starting the auction due to late arrivals. Finally the auction was underway. The opening bid was a vendor's bid for $690K. Ongoing bids were to go up by $20,000. I think the $20,000 bids put people off a little because it took a little while for people to place a second bid. Finally someone put up their hand and offered $710,000. This allowed the auction to proceed. The house eventually sold for $820,000.

The open house I went to see was in Parker St, Williamstown. The house is currently being advertised for $950,000 to $1050,000. We spoke to the staff from Hocking Stuart, Williamstown. The real estate agent mentioned that the house sold three years ago for $950,000. We therefore asked if the house was being under quoted and he said no. If the owners bought the property at $950,000, why would they quote $950,000 to $1,050,000 three years later?

It will be very interesting to see what the house sells for in the 2 weeks.