It went up for auction last Thursday after being held in the same family for around 70 years. This house, which sits on just over 1/2 an acre happens to be located halfway between the township of Bangalow and Byron Bay on the Northern NSW Coast - great location with great rural and coastal views.
It had all the right features to turn her into a luxury hinterland holiday retreat.
We were very keen to purchase her, despite the rusty old fittings...
And underneath the technicolour carpet...
were these fabulous timber floorboards, which were in mint condition.
And the neighbours seemed really friendly as well...
We organised all the necessary inspections, etc and we were so keen to purchase her I even thought about how I would furnish it:
Last Thursday evening it was auctioned-off at the school hall, along with four other properties located in and around Bangalow. Mark just happened to be away on business that week (and without a babysitter) I packed up the four kids and drove down to bid. For the record, I will never take the children to another auction again.
The auction proceedings commenced with a 3-bedroom property located approximately 7 kms away from the one above. It was positioned on an elevated 5 acre block with lovely rural views. It sold for $410,000 which I thought was good value. At this point I started to get a little excited and thought we were in for a chance - we were only going to buy if we could get it for a good price.
The one I went to bid on was the last house on the list. Bidding started at $550,000 and rose quickly from there. It ending up selling for $810,000 - and no, I wasn't the winning bidder. I find it incredible that these small, country towns are still fetching city prices - particularly in this market.
I'm sure there'll be another just 'round the bend...
Yikes. Jason went to an auction last week too...to perhaps make an opportunistic purchase (but more for curiosity) on a home very close to us. $1.92M was the final bid by one of two phone bidder before it went behind closed doors (dodgy?) and it is now for sale by negotiation. Needless to say we were not even in the running...
ReplyDeleteOh my lord, that is insane... Beautiful house though, I can see why you were taken with it. Lovely part of the world too.
ReplyDeleteWow! Have to say I'm not surprised as it looked like a spectacular location and those untouched houses are like hens teeth. What a shame you missed out, I was so looking forward to all your reno ideas. Cannot bear to think of you at an auction with 4 smalls going wild, you are some piece of amazing! mel x
ReplyDeleteHoly cow! Cannot believe our eldest boys are a matching set! Would never ever have guessed from your blog ( or large family size) as we are way too worn out to contemplate more than two. Even more admiration for your recent auction antics. Goodness, wouldn't we have a lot to share over a coffee, undermount sinks AND our first borns. mel x
ReplyDeleteYes indeed! Raising a "complicated" + 3 extras is a very tough gig and certainly not for the faint hearted. Hard for others to fully comprehend because they look so "normal" but when you consider that there are 1 in 100 diagnosed, we are bound to run into others out there. As you know it's both physically and mentally draining - I guess I'm just lucky that I can cope with very little sleep. xx
DeleteOh what a shame, it looked like a great little cottage. Fingers crossed something better is around the corner.
ReplyDeleteShame...it looked like a lovely little house!
ReplyDeleteBut you are right...there is always another one.
I hope whoever bought it will take care to retain its lovely character when they fix it up!