Hi, Adrian Bo here, and today I’m at Leete Park right on Dudley Street in Coogee to discuss the recent evolution of Dudley Street itself as well as two stellar auctions last weekend that I had and a few other interesting stories from the Coogee, Maroubra, and Randwick areas which I specialise in as an agent and auctioneer. Firstly, Maroubra has a new, high-profile resident after a recent purchase by radio star Merrick Watts and his wife Georgina. The property being a converted church with, not surprisingly, very high ceilings, was bought for $3.75 million, the couple having recently sold their warehouse conversion home in Lilyfield for $6.2 million. So they’re definitely lovers of high ceilings. This leaves plenty of room in the kitty for them to add value to their Maroubra home. So welcome to the Bra, Wattsy!!! Staying in Maroubra, RCC last week tabled a document they call the Plan of Management regarding the future shaping of Maroubra Beach. The document has been put into the public domain in order to generate thoughts and feedback about how the area’s community land will be managed moving forward. This will include the beach itself, Mahon Pool, Jack Vanny Reserve, Arthur Byrne Reserve, Broadarrow Reserve, John Shore Park, as well as existing facilities, like both the surf clubs, the Pavilion Beachfront cafe, the skate park, the children’s playground, and the outdoor gym. RCC have put up an online survey which I will link to below this video, the consultation period running until the 25th of May, which is next week.

Now, back here on Dudley Street, a few years ago, there was a bit of a stoush between RCC and the local residents regarding what was referred to as the Dudley Street Heritage Conservation Area, particularly about the properties that you can see behind me here. The area under discussion included the numbers 38, 40, 42, 46, and 44 Dudley Street as well as 122 Mount Street, but also was proposed to be extended to include numbers 37, 39, and 41 as well as five properties on Brook Street. Now, the heritage conservation area was established and 40 Dudley Street was spared being heritage listed, which is the house that I sold at auction last weekend. It was a terrific result and a great example of why the heritage conservation area was established here. It is an interwar 1914 home that I sold at auction for $5.3 million, being somewhat described as a late Arts and Crafts-style bungalow which had later infill of the front verandah. It had been held in the same family for over 40 years, so a very important sale that occurred on Saturday. Building up to the auction, I could see that the open homes were generating considerable interest after our online social marketing system generated 28,000 web impressions and 26,000 social and digital media views. There were four registered bidders and my hammer finally came down at that $5.3 million mark. A great result for the vendors and a wonderful opportunity in this prime location being on 635-square metres of land, as you can see here behind me. According to the records, Dudley Street has 55% owner-occupiers and 45% rentals.

There have been two apartment sales this year on Dudley Street. Last year, 13 apartments sold on Dudley Street, as well as three houses, being numbers 37 and 39 and 96, all for considerably lower prices than what I achieved at my auction at number 40 Dudley Street. Now, last Saturday, I also took an apartment to auction, which was number 7/2 Clara Street in Randwick, which was an oversized two-bedroom apartment as part of a deceased estate. The initial price guide was $850,000 but again, after a massive online marketing campaign, we generated 11 registered bidders that included investors as well as first-home buyers and my hammer finally came down well over the reserve price for $1.035 million, another example of why my unique selling propositions work so well, which do include: free professional property video once you list with me worth about $800; free social media and digital marketing strategy once you list with me worth about a thousand dollars; I act as the agent and the auctioneer, providing a very high degree of intimacy with both you the seller, the buyers, and the property itself; I have the most social media followers of any agent in Australia; and me and my team are all university educated. The market is very healthy indeed, which has caused more properties to be listed recently. This has slightly reduced open home attendances, but using our unique marketing systems, we are continually generating record prices. If you have some ideas and feedback regarding the Maroubra Beach precinct going forward, council would love you to go through their survey. Enjoy the blue skies that I’m enjoying here today and the cooler temperatures in our amazing, beautiful local neighbourhoods and always remember, your home is worth more with Adrian Bo.