Quakers Hill home sells at ‘insane’ auction to next door neighbours

An “insane” auction in Quakers Hill had a neighbourly twist. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

What may have started out as a neighbourly stickybeak turned into a successful purchase for a Quakers Hill couple.

An auction at 49 Eastern Rd has been described as “insane”, with next-door neighbours Aravind and Lavanya Dondapati buying the home after their first walk through on Saturday morning.

For their first auction, it was not an easy win with nine of the 15 registered bidders keen to fight to the bitter end.

Ray White auctioneer Perry Edmondson-Clark led the auction, which started with an opening bid of $800,000 before it quickly leapt in $50,000 increments to $1 million.

But it didn’t stop there, rising with bids of $20,000, $5000 and $1000.

Successful bidders Aravind and Lavanya Dondapati only decided to walk through the home on the day of the auction. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The three bedroom home was popular due to its location in a popular local school catchment.

MOREGWS Giants chief buys $16m mansion

Real winner in Musk vs. Zuckerberg title fight

The final three bids were just $500 increments before the three-bedroom home went under the hammer for $1,101,500.

Mr and Mrs Dondapati said they were thrilled after the fast auction.

“It made me so stressed out and nervous,” Mrs Dondapati said.

The couple had viewed the home less than half an hour before the auction.

Mr Dondapati said they had been thinking about buying an investment property.

“When we saw next door come up we thought we’d take a look,” he said.

“We like the area and it’s a really quiet street, too. We hadn’t really been looking much.”

The home is the couple’s first investment, with the auction another first.

“We weren’t sure how it all worked, but we had a lot of help,” Mr Dondapati said.

Neighbours on the other side also watched on. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

The auction attracted a big crowd with 15 registered bidders. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

MORE: Larry Emdur’s shipping container house sells for big discount

Why developers are knocking back buyers with big money

Ray White Quakers Hill principal Josh Tesolin said the result was $201,500 above reserve.

“We are stoked,” he said. “Four weeks ago a home in the street sold just over $1 million so this is $100,000 over that.

“The location in the Quakers Hill Public School catchment really generated a lot of interest.

“The home was sold by its original owners who are planning a lifestyle change with their daughter. We sold their daughter’s house in Schofields last week for $1.3 million.”

Mr Edmondson-Clark described the auction as “insane and fun”.

“When you walk into an auction with double digit registrations you know it’s going to be good,” he said.

Happy sellers Susan and David Robinson after the auction with auctioneer Perry Edmondson-Clark and agent Josh Tesolin. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“To have nine active bidders fighting … it shows auctions are an unmatched way of creating the most amount of competition.”

There were 765 auctions scheduled in Sydney this week, with 895 listed for next week at the start of the Spring season.