In 2000 during the Sydney Olympics, Jan and Andy Purcell were walking around North Bondi when they saw a duplex in need of a little love.
The duplex was going to auction, and they thought they’d have a go at trying to purchase it.
“Every man and his dog were there,” Jan said.
“It was dilapidated, unlivable, the right hand side had completely collapsed”.
“It had been owed by a blind man, who’d died.”
After selling their business in Brisbane, the Purcells had planned to move to the Gold Coast but were in Sydney with family when out for a walk they saw the property and decided to go to the auction.
They won the auction for $1,410,000 and Gold Coast was in the trash.
It may seem like they paid peanuts for the home now days, but Jan explains it took another $1mill and 8 months of renovations (new foundations and a major rebuild), before they could move in.
They also extended the living areas by removing the sunroom, added balconies to make the most of the beautiful views and so much more.
And now some lucky buyer out there is going to snap up this property when it goes to auction later this month on August 19th. Raine and Horn Double Bay/Bondi Beach principal Ric Serrao and son Christophe have already had interest at $16million, which is not a bad return if you ask me.
“Rarely do properties with such character and views come up in this area, this could be one large home or home plus income,” Mr. Serrao said.
It’s going to be an absolute deal in the area with a nice hefty return on investment for the Purcells as well.
