Sydney real estate: Rat infested home gets hottest auction in 10 years, sells $730k over guide
1 Rothwell Rd, Turramurra attracted 25 bidders at auction.
It may not look like much to marvel at – but a modest three-bedroom house in Turramurra that recently had a rat infestation became the stage for an epic battle between property buyers this weekend.
The auction for the dated house on Rothwell St drew 25 registered bidders and the intense competition pushed the price $580,000 above the vendor’s reserve.
The $2.23m price paid under the hammer was also a whopping $730,000 above the price guide.
Selling agent Jeremiah Ebeid of Belle Property Pymble said the auction result had “the housing crisis written all over it”.
The price was $580,000 over reserve.
“At this price point, in this part of Sydney, it is very difficult to buy anything,” he said.
“It’s gruelling to see many buyers go through it. They look for 18 months and then, at $1.5m, you face 25 bidders. That’s what you have to compete with to buy in Turramurra.”
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Mr Ebeid added that this was the most popular auction he had seen in the area in 10 years.
The deceased estate, last sold in the 1980s, had been poorly maintained in recent years and there had been issues with both rats and termites, the agent explained.
Some of the interest had come from families wanting to renovate the home, but the eventual buyer at auction was a builder who intended to knock it down and replace it with a new build.
“The families who wanted to salvage the house were tapping out of the auction at about $1.8m. The builders had deeper pockets,” Mr Ebeid said.
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Auctioneer Clarence White said the home was in “original condition” and even those who planned a smaller-scale renovation would still have to do “a fair bit of work”.
“It was a very strong auction with a lot of bids,” Mr White said.
240 Ryde Rd, West Pymble sold for $265,000 over reserve.
A similar home in Pymble with mould issues also attracted intense bidding when it went to auction a few hours after the Turramurra house.
The property on Ryde Rd – part of the A3 and one of the busiest streets in the area – had been repossessed by the bank midway through the marketing campaign, according to the sales agency.
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Eight buyer parties registered to bid and the home sold for $1,765,000 – $265,000 over reserve.
Mr Ebeid, also a lead agent on the sale, said the mould inside was “terrible”.
“Walking into the house you could tell straight away it was a risk to your health staying in there. You could smell it,” he said.
The West Pymble house had mould issues.
“The owner had bought the home in 2021 and it was used as a share house for three years. There was something like eight students in the house. They didn’t maintain it. It was neglected year in and year out.
“It was a very unusual sale because the bank became involved but it lined up in the end.”