How a blank cheque offer won the battle for a luxurious apartment
A Sydney home seller has pocketed a huge price for their luxurious property after a determined buyer showed their agent a signed blank cheque and invited them to fill in whatever price they wanted.
The offer was made during an open inspection of the three-bedroom Barangaroo apartment, and proved to be too persuasive for the sellers to turn down.
Despite being reluctant to sell their home, the owners signed the paperwork and accepted the cheque with their own asking value.
Their price: $6.58 million.
The eye-watering sum was $1.5 million above the price the sellers expected to make on the waterfront property, which was scheduled for auction just a few weeks later.
It was not the only staggering offer the sellers received for the apartment on 601/19 Barangaroo Avenue.
Another buyer reportedly showed selling agent Peter Li a banking app on his phone and offered to transfer the money to Mr Li directly to lock in the sale.
“The successful buyer was the guy who brought his cheque book, he lived in the building and wanted to upsize to a three-bedroom apartment … this was the last three-bedroom option available,” Mr Li said.
“Five million was our initial price guide, we sold this for $1.5m more than the initial price guide – about 30 per cent.”
“The vendor was determined to go to auction, but changed her mind when she saw the price we had already achieved. The same apartment sold (at the) off the plan launch for $2.95m. Now it’s more than double.”
Despite Sydney’s current housing crisis, Mr Li believes many wealthy buyers are heading to Barangaroo.
“The results that we are seeing in Barangaroo are extraordinary. People are moving away from Point Piper to Barangaroo … they are finding it difficult too, as no one is currently selling there.”
“Apparently, Barangaroo is immune to the current market slow down.”
Image credits: realestate.com.au