Melbourne’s west: Off-market sales rob sellers of $50,000 bounty – realestate.com.au

A Melbourne real estate agent has revealed interstate investors are buying up homes in the western suburbs before locals take a look.

But the sellers who agree could cost themselves $50,000 or more, nearly a year’s wages for some sellers, if they don’t make their homes available to the broader market.

YPA Wyndham City auctioneer Abdul Merabi said a growing number of agents in Hoppers Crossing and surrounding suburbs, where home prices typically topped $700,000, were selling homes off-market to interstate investors — without anyone publicly advertising the sale.

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While this could result in a quick and easy sale for sellers, Mr Merabi noted that this was not always in the best interests of the seller.

Yesterday the estate agent sold 30 Thorpe Ave, Hoppers Crossing, under the hammer for $685,000, with four bidders vying for the three-bedroom house.

The amount was $65,000 above the house’s reserve price – and a similar amount above the best bids from investors before the house hit the market and ultimately went under the hammer.

Inside, the decor is still retro, right down to the red carpets.

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An investor still claimed the keys, and Mr. Merabi said he could not remember the last home he sold to an owner-occupier in the area in the $500,000-$700,000 price range.

He estimated that properties in that affordable category have risen 5 percent over the past three months — largely thanks to investors.

“There are enough buyers and customers to sell this way (outside the market),” Merabi said.

“Any property I list in Hoppers Crossing at these prices, I am confident I can sell within a week.

“But sometimes we try that investor market and the price is still a little bit lower than we think it should be, and so we go to the broader market – and we get a higher result.”

The agent estimated that in many cases, home sellers could be shortchanging themselves by nearly $50,000 or $60,000 by accepting an offer before really considering whether an off-market offer was really the best they would get.

The problem is believed to be in Melbourne’s most affordable suburbs, with prices typically below $800,000.

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“And that extra $60,000 isn’t huge for the agent, but for the owner it could be close to the annual salary,” Mr Merabi said.

Property Home Base founder and buyer’s agent Julie DeBondt-Barker said the problem was prevalent in Melbourne’s suburbs, with average house prices below $800,000, with interstate buyer’s agents often overpaying for homes.

“It’s really wrong,” Ms. DeBondt-Barker said.

“The sad thing is that homebuyers in Victoria are losing out. The first-home buyers are being pushed away, and they may think it’s just really quiet – and not knowing that the sales are happening off-market.”

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