The Port Melbourne site of this year’s The Block caused another stink in the neighbourhood when the winning apartment in the former smelly soap factory complex sold for $2.6 million.
That meant a profit of $715,000 over the reserve price – and The Block 2017 title (earning an extra $100,000) for Queensland couple, Will Bethune and Karlie Cicero.
I visited the finished apartments in August and, for me, Will and Karlie’s was the standout winner.
I met them and they talked about working as a team – Will’s an electrician and Karlie is a quantity surveyor whose job is planning what’s needed on big construction projects – and their coordinated approach showed in the beautiful work they did on their apartment.
They were excited by the history of the building – the home of one of Melbourne’s most famous businesses, J. Kitchen and Son, which used a stinking mass of fats and oils to make soap and candles in the 1850s.
They salvaged what they could from the demolition work, which was carried out for the apartments to be built and featured artefacts from the 1930s when this building was completed.
But what will cause a stink this time around is the prices paid for these apartments, which are, after all, jammed in by new-build apartments at the side and back, which means most don’t even have a decent view.
Just read these figures and bear in mind that the median house price is $1.3 million in Port Melbourne and $625,000 for a unit.
Sacha and Julia from Melbourne were runners-up and made $660,000 when their Hollywood-style apartment sold for $2,590,000.
Dan and Carleen, the oldest couple on The Block, took $525,000 back to Perth after their apartment reached $2,490,000.
Chris and Kim took home $425,000 in profit when their apartment sold for $2,350,000 after some rather bizarre tactics by their auctioneer.
He had said the property was “on the market” – which means it will be sold – then tried to force a better price out of the leading bidder at the time on $2,200,000. She refused.
He then offered Chris and Kim the option of delaying the completion of the auction to see if they could get a better price later.
They refused – earning plaudits from everyone for saying: “We’re not greedy. We’re more than happy.” With the $320,000 profit they were guaranteed at that point, why wouldn’t they be.
So the auction continued and, blow me down, up pops Nicole – the buyer’s agent who had already bought most of the other apartments on behalf of her clients.
She enters the bidding at that point and wins again with a bid of $2,305,000 – giving Chris and Kim $425,000 to take home, but leaving a dissatisfied bidder who was ousted by the agent’s tactics.
But the favourites on the night were always going to be Geelong primary school teachers Andy and Ben, who had never done any building work in their lives – ever.
They told me they had just seven days to decide if they would quit their jobs to join The Block.
In all honesty, their apartment was the least impressive – but you couldn’t fault their passion, larrikinism and general good humour.
They were smart enough to change the design for their build and squeeze in an extra bedroom and bathroom – which paid off on the night.
The boys went nuts as the price went over the $2 million mark. The failed (and dissatisfied) bidder from Chris and Kim’s auction came in on this one and, with much relief (“finally”, she said) won the auction with a $2,250,000 bid.
The boys took home $510,000 profit.
Perhaps the most prescient part of the show was the promo for the following night’s Nine News in Melbourne.
“Too few buyers, too many apartments,” the promo said. “Has the apartment market gone bust?”
Not on The Block it hasn’t.
Live News
