There’s nothing a first-time buyer dreads more than showing up on auction day and seeing a boomer with a lot of cash holding a paddle.
But at a sale in suburban Adelaide, the elderly buyer among them wasn’t just looking to boost his investment portfolio with another rental property.
In fact, the elderly gentleman who made the winning bid for the corner lot at 96 Gage Street in Firle, in the east of the city, had very different plans in mind.
He ended up spending $1.275 million on the 7,000-square-foot home, but will never live there or rent it out to tenants.
Instead, the house is a very generous gift to their children and grandchildren.
The man, described as a “local buyer”, wanted to give younger members of his family a better start in life by making it easier for them to access property.
‘A local buyer ended up purchasing the house… a mature gentleman who bought it for his family, to prepare them for their future,’ said Ray White Woodville agent Peter Kiritsis. Real estate.com.au.
“He said that his children and grandchildren would benefit from this… so they are very lucky to have someone like him.”
The house at 96 Gage Street in Adelaide’s Firle (pictured) was purchased by a grandfather for his children and grandchildren.
The baby boomer spent $1.275 million on the 7,000-square-foot home, which was built in the 1960s and decorated in the 1970s.
The attentive grandfather outbid 11 people for the 1960s-built home, which features a collection of eccentric wallpapers and rugs from the early 1970s.
Mr Kiritis believed the house would have been “state of the art” at the time of its decoration.
He added that the house reminded many potential bidders of “their grandparents’ or their aunts’ house… because it is so well preserved.”
“When kids would walk in, they’d take two steps and gasp and say, ‘Where am I? What is this place?’… So there’s no doubt this was a very special house to sell,” she said.
The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home was described in the real estate listing as “a conventional style single family home on a corner lot.”
The median home price in Firle has increased by 8.3 percent to $1,040,000 over the past 12 months and from $717,000 over the past five years.
More than 700 buyers have shown interest in the area in the last month, probably due to its proximity to the CBD, but only nine homes have been sold in the same period.
The baby boomers’ shock move comes just days after news broke that a Perth couple bought their children a $1.26 million home with water and city views and an outdoor hot tub to live in while they go to university.
Ray White Woodville listing agent Peter Kiritsis said the house reminded many hopeful bidders of “their grandparents’ house or their aunts’ house… because it’s so well preserved.”
The Bank of Mum and Dad helped the university students after their parents bought the house in Como, a southern suburb of Perth, just 6km from the CBD.
The house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and is just a 15-minute walk from Como Beach.
Ray White South Perth agent Jack Shaw said Domain The house was purchased by a farming family for their children to live in while they attended college in the city.
Buyers paid $1,268,000 for the home at Saturday’s auction, beating out seven other bidders.
College students can entertain friends in the “outdoor entertainment area” or on the “private front patio with new grass” and catch up on their studies in the outdoor hot tub.
The median home price in Firle has increased by 8.3 percent to $1,040,000 over the past 12 months and from $717,000 over the past five years.
The house is just a half mile walk from Preston Street shops and 0.8 miles from Angelo Street shopping district.
“Because Beach is so well regarded and the home is in a highly sought-after area, it is all one level and renovated, plus there are no ownership fees,” Shaw said.
‘The sellers are buying land on the outskirts of Perth and are very happy with the result under the hammer and with no strings attached.’