Last year a couple came to the house and asked, "Is this property still for sale?" (as if they didn't know: they had already been to the agent and, on hearing the price, had thought it to be too expensive; however, I didn't know this at the time).
I walked them over the property and they kept saying, "We want land, we want land". Seven acres seemed big enough because a few days later I received their email, "We’ve made some preliminary arrangements with the bank, with a view to the purchase. We’d like to arrange for their valuer to come by and appraise the property" - click here.
Then the valuer arrived. I gave him all the facts and figures, and made the off-the-cuff remark that the last offer which I had rejected had been for $1.64million.
Guess what the valuation turned out to be? Yes, you've guessed right: $1.64million!
I've no idea how much this professional valuation influenced them but their subsequent email read, "We regret to tell you that we won’t be in a position to pursue the purchase of Riverbend, as much as we’d love to."
Click on image to enlarge
I replied, "'Riverbend' may have been a little too ambitious for you!", and suggested they look at a 1700 square metre property with a renovated fishing shack on it (marked "17" on the map's pink area). As I thought it overpriced at $950,000, I added, with tongue firmly in cheek, "... having us as neighbours across the lane adds thousands of dollars to the property!!! :-) " - click here.
May I ask you again to guess? Yes, you've again guessed right: they bought it for the full asking price of $950,000!
I was gobsmacked and had barely recovered when the adjacent uncleared 1700 square metre block (marked "16" on the map's pink area) came on sale and the same couple also bought it for the full asking price of $750,000!
That's $1,700,000 for a renovated wooden fishing shack on some 3400 square metres of land!
Versus $2,000,000 for "Riverbend"'s 2-storey brick residence (plus plus plus) on 29,200 square metres of land!
Methinks I'd better put the price up before people begin to wonder if there's something wrong with me or "Riverbend"! ☺
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ..." Indeed!
And here's the post-mortem some years later: the new owners put a high colour-bond fence around their combined two blocks which wasn't to the liking of the neighbours who went from house to house to get a signed petition to present to Council that this fence was not in keeping with the lane's rural setting. I had heard rumours of this and emailed the owners, adding that "I grew up next to the Berlin Wall and can handle any sort of fence, so this is not coming from me!" Predictably enough, Council asked them to lodge a Development Application for the fence which, also predictably, was rejected, and they had to pull the fence down again - except for that portion facing me as I had not been part of that abominable conspiracy. However, the damage was done and they put the properties back on the market: the block with the wooden shack sold in 2015 for $799,000 - click here - and the vacant block in 2017 for $525,000 - click here, resulting in a thumbing-big loss of $376,000, not counting stamp duty on the two purchases and advertising and agent's commission on the two resales. And all because of a fence they wouldn't have needed at all around Riverbend's seven acres!
