Looking for Flat

The Office of Fair Trading action has cast a shadow over the work of real estate agents.

Agent Pam Collins (above) had been looking forward to the auction of one home she’s selling – a renovated three-bedroom, two-bathroom penthouse on the beachfront – but now her heart is filled with dread.

“It can be so hard to estimate what certain properties will sell for,” she says.

“This is the perfect example. There aren’t any comparable properties around, it’s a complete one-off. As a result, how can you hope to accurately predict the price?

“There’s nothing like it in Freshwater and similar places in Manly have roads in front of them, between them and the beach.”

The flats or houses, for auction on June 14 through Richardson & Wrench Freshwater-Manly, and with a price guide of $1.9 million-plus, was built 37 years ago but, in all that time, has changed hands only twice, so has little sales history to fall back upon.

“It can be very hard for agents in this kind of situation,” says Collins, who’s been an agent for 20 years. “There could be a huge difference in the market at any time.”

Bye bye!