Retired Olympic snowboarder Johanna Lyle lands gnarly auction win
15 Barningham Street, Brunswick, sold a whopping $185,000 above its reserve.
Retired Olympic snowboarder Johanna Lyle has flipped her Brunswick home for a gnarly profit in a competitive auction.
The 15 Barningham Street house sold for $1.835m, a whopping $185,000 above the reserve.
Despite the result Ms Lyle compared the nerves leading up to the auction as similar to those experienced at the highest levels of her sporting career.
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“I was really nervous, it felt pretty similar to the Olympics — so it brings back a lot of memories,” she said.
Ms Lyle competed in the 2006 and 2010 Winter Games as well as World Championship events.
The home’s update included adding a pool and deck to the backyard.
Johanna Lyle at the home in 2017.
She now runs homewares business Siesta Home and renovates homes alongside her husband and Metro Steel Windows boss, Josh.
Over the past seven years the pair updated the three-bedroom Victorian era home from rundown to a runaway auction success, but were still shocked at yesterday’s price — having decided before the auction that $1.8m would be their “unbelievable” result.
“We are pretty ecstatic,” Ms Lyle said.
The buyers were also ecstatic with their purchase.
The home was extended during the Lyles’ renovations.
When the pair bought the home it had cracks in the walls and a concrete backyard. Their efforts included restoring the block-fronted facade and renewing the front yard, extended the rear of the home and adding a pool after removing the concrete and landscaping the rear garden.
Four bidders contested the auction from a $1.55m vendor bid from Jellis Craig auctioneer Rob Elsom.
Another three prospective buyers in the crowd never got the chance to make an offer.
Exposed brickwork in the bathrooms capture the area’s gentrifying character.
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“It’s a solid result,” Mr Elsom said.
“There’s massive demand for family homes, anything with three or four beds in the inner north has a queue of people trying to buy them.”
Despite this, the majority of bidders were younger professional couples in their 30s or downsizers.
He noted that those who had been fortunate enough to keep their job during COVID-19 appeared to be making a strong start to their property plans in 2021.
Period details and the home’s high ceilings were retained during the overhaul.
The buyer, a professional couple, will move into the home and said the auction had felt very competitive as they bought for the first time in nine years.
After doing a “few auctions” in their time, Josh and Johanna Lyle backed Mr Elsom’s claims.
“My read is that the market is doing well at the moment,” Ms Lyle said.
They are now looking for their fifth renovation project together.
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