Real estate agent reveals the unusual reason the owners of a sprawling mansion sacrificed $100,000 when selling the property
- A mansion on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula has sold recently for $7.35million before going to an auction
- Rather than go to auction, owner of the home accepted an offer $100,000 less than they could have received
- Property’s agent said he had never seen personal choice trump financial concerns until the seven-figure deal
- The owner decided ‘last few dollars aren’t going to affect our lives’ and had personal connection with buyer
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The owner of a multi-million dollar mansion sold the home for $100,000 less than they could have received at auction because the buyer had two young children.
The 20-acre home in Merricks on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula fetched $7.35million in a recent sale – with the seller choosing to settle before going to auction.
Rather than sell the property to the highest bidder at a private auction, the owner instead chose a young family with whom they had a strong personal connection.
A luxurious 20-acre home in Merricks on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula fetched $7.35million in a recent sale – but the owner chose a buyer based on personal reasons rather than take the home to auction
The three-bedroom home was sold to a family with two young children rather than an older couple whose children had all moved out
‘The vendors chose a buyer over a dollar amount. They chose who they wanted to sell the property to,’ Andrew Hines of the property’s agent Kay & Burton Flinders told the Australian Financial Review.
The successful bidders were a couple in their 40s and 30s with two young children, while an identical offer which lost out was from an older couple with kids who had flown the nest.
Mr Hines said he had never a situation before where the nature of the buyer trumped the size of the offer.
‘We advised our client to hold a private boardroom auction,’ he said. ‘The vendors turned around and said “We don’t want that. We’ve discussed it and we would really like to sell it to these people.”‘
‘They stood firm and said “we have made our decision. The last few dollars aren’t going to affect our lives but we’re going to feel fantastic selling it to whom we choose to sell.”‘
The three-bedroom house called ‘Merrifield’ has views over Western Port Bay, a personal vineyard and under-floor heating.
The highly-desirable property has views over Western Port Bay south of Melbourne, a personal vineyard and under-floor heating
The agent selling the property said he had never had a situation before where the dollar figure in the offer was considered to be less important by the owner than who the buyers were
‘They stood firm and said “we have made our decision. The last few dollars aren’t going to affect our lives,”‘ agent Andrew Hines said
Mr Hines said the hardest part of the unique situation was telling the other bidder they had been rejected for personal reasons, and not because of the money involved.
The seven-figure sale is commonplace in one of the peninsula’s most sought-after areas and on one of Merricks’ most desirable roads – Thompsons Lane.
Previous sales in the town include a $4.2million deal for a four-bedroom property overlooking the bay, and a $3.5million sale on Thompsons Lane for a six-bedroom home with its own olive grove.