I'm going to an auction this morning

A flat in Marrickville. I'm only interested if it goes for what I think is below market value, but of course an auction is the market.
The agent is not very pro-active, so we'll see. He has been talking down the condition of the flat, but it's pretty good. Public Trustee is selling, so a sale before auction was not an option.
Yesterday I went to the Strata Managers office to look over the books and meeting minutes. It's easy to do that and there is no point paying someone else $250 to do it. Amazingly, the strata manager told me nobody else had paid for a report or done a read through themselves. I don't get that at all.
I learnt that there is a $3,000 Special Levy next year, which isn't the end of the world. I'm wondering what the protocol is at the auction of me piping up and saying, 'Hey, what can you tell us about the big Special Levy next year?'

 

Do you intend to ask this during the auction or before the auction starts ,it would work better to ask just before they start and ask any questions the unknown may gut the punters down if your standing down the back where you can watch everyone and everything,i seen people ask or throw a spanner in during the process half way through and it does not work once your in that zone at a auction..good luck..

 

I

I'd ask a friend to come along , register and get them to ask.

 

Always use any information to your advantage - raise the issue but call it large or significant not the actual amount.

 

It will go for high 5s, I reckon. I would only be a buyer around mid 5s. Let's see.

 

The market has spoken.
It went for $645K to a very determined and strangely tall young couple.
There was no way she was not going to get it. She set her jaw, stood tall, and was slapping other bidders down with $10K bids and then $5K ones at the end. It was brutal.

 

Cripes! Admittedly, a great location but either they're crazy, or I'd better get some fresh valuations done when this settles.

Or maybe they have inside word about the proposed rezoning around the Dulwich Hill station.

 

I take that back. What the heck happened to Marrickville this past month?

$717,200 - 2/1/1 - 2/38a Ewart St, Marrickville, NSW 2204 - Property Details
$735,000 - 2/1/1 - 6/2 Henson street, Marrickville, NSW 2204 - Property Details
$830,000 - 2/1/1 - 1/68 Ewart Street, Marrickville, NSW 2204 - Property Details (art deco)
$912,000 - 2/1/1 - 29/18 Cecilia Street, Marrickville, NSW 2204 - Property Details (oversized apt)

That stuff would have been 10%-15% cheaper about a year ago.

 

Yes, Marrickville is still steaming ahead. I thought things had quietened down a bit.
I had the feeling that the tall, determined girl got up this morning and said to her tall boyfriend, 'I'm not missing out this time.'
The under bidder looked like an investor. He didn't seem all that disappointed when she finally slapped him down.

 

Looks like he came up a bit short

 

If that's the case, All of a sudden 645 (gulp!) Doesn't sound so nutz....

Congrats if any of you have a place in Marrickville!

 

Did you end up saying anything about the special levy?

 

I'd say @Depreciator also has a vested interest in Marrickville commanding high property prices...

 

Cecilia St is a great complex - we bid on two properties before being beaten on max budget (could have afforded to pay more but not worth the return) but it's one of the better complexes in the suburb albeit high strata fees to maintain the center garden.

We were going to bid recently on a much more downmarket apartment closer to the railway line but found a perfect apartment in Allawah.

Will be interesting in 2020+ etc if I regret not purchasing on the new metro line, the real problem is finding nice blocks as most of the apartments aren't that great in marrickville even if the suburb with all the restaurants etc have great capital growth potential.

If I had the money I'd be buying up one of the bigger semi's in the area (not the bathroom in the rear but the upstairs/downstairs wider ones).

 

No. The people bidding wouldn't have been phased. The tall, determined girl would have just given me a withering gaze.

 

Yes, lots of the apartment stock in Marrickville is old, but older buildings have low fees and the growth is there. Some new, flash buildings are coming online which will keep a lid on prices for the older flats especially and there might be a few vacancies till the supply is taken up. There is a new building called Wave on Illawarra Road. It's a good looking one and a sign of the fact that developers need to build more interesting stuff for the people who want to live in Marrickville. There would be at least 50 in that building and the developer has kept all of them to rent out.
My flats in older buildings have grown well in value so far, but they will have a pause. Goodness knows what my PPOR would be worth now. When we bought it in 2002 it was the highest sale to date in Marrickville.

 

I know this is years later, but worth the shot. How was the health of the strata at the time?

 

No idea, we never ended up buying there and arent in the market to buy more investment properties in Australia due to the changes at the ATO with expat taxes.

My feeling on the market is i'd still like to buy an IP in the Marrickville area etc.