Damien Cooley highlights "nothing left on the table" auctioneering style in The Block win
So the foreman Keith was the closest to estimating the selling price when he suggested $2 million quite early in the latest season of The Block.
No-one else went closer - not even the realAs guesstimate website algorithms which struggle factoring in emotion.
Jellis Craig’s Andrew McCann and Carla Fetter again lead an auction campaign to deliver a win for the provocative couple, Deanne and Darren Jolly on The Block Triple Threat.
This was the second win for the Jellis Craig sales team, having previously secured a win for the Voss brothers on The Block Glasshouse last year.
The televised auction saw, 4/27 Darling Street, South Yarra go under the hammer with five buyers.
Supported by the Sydney auctioneer Damien Cooley, Jellis Craig sold the apartment for $2.29 million against its ultra-conservative reserve of $1,455,000.
The entire block of the then 12 apartments had been bought for $5.69 million before the four townhouse conversion, so the reserves didn't even match the initial pre-renovation acquisition costs.
Gotta love the Deanne and Darren comeback win on The Block - walking away with $935,000 in funds will see them re-enter the property market after selling in Surrey Hills. That's after they take their girls on a spontaneous holiday.
But the other big winner on the night was their auctioneer Damien Cooley who yet again showed up the locals for his sale topping auctioneering results.
He's won four times for his clients.
Sure this time they had the best apartment with the key features of the biggest balcony space and undercover access from the garage.
But Damien Cooley secured the decisive last bid from the buyers agent Nicole Jacobs to possibly win the night for Deanne and Darren.
He then had to see if it was enough, which it was.
Damien Cooley showed the merits of the auction system which currently puts most of his Sydney vendors in the plum position of getting more out of buyers than they would ever dream.
Obviously the Block silliness triggered higher than sensibly expected prices.
Comparable sales of townhouse apartments in South Yarra have ranged between $8,000 and $10,000 per square metre, while the Block apartments fetched between $12,000 and $13,000/sqm.
Just before Damien conducted the auction Deanne’s last words were “leave nothing on the table”, and Damien did just that.
The couple would have finished in second place if he had not secured a final bid of $32,000, winning the series by just $25,000.
Buyers agent, Nicole purchased the property on behalf of a couple with teenage children. The family was downsizing from their large home in Brighton who no longer wanted the responsibility of maintaining a backyard and pool.
They loved the idea of purchasing a home with everything included and plan to sell the entire contents of their Brighton home (minus a few valuable items) and keep all of Deanne and Darren’s winning furnishings and styling.
Photos: Supplied