18 Alfred Street KEW

Comments on 18 Alfred Street KEW

This style of home normally doesn't excite me, I think it's battle fatigue perhaps - seen too many, at too high a price, too low a quality for what they are.

18 Alfred is an exception - it is a modern "Asian style" mansion built to a very high quality.

I find style interesting these days - in less than a decade French Provincial and Mock Georgian and the various reincarnations have turned into what we know and call the Asian style - who said the world is not getting closer.

Anyway this home, come Expression of Interest day (March 6th) will set a Sackville Ward benchmark or indeed send a message about a changing 2018 market.

Apart from lack of garden at the rear - which is a positive for some - a southern light orientation - which by its design and multiple window light sources, has largely been overcome – it’s hard to fault.

Underground garaging - a nice simple configuration, lift (which worked for me), quality fixtures and fittings, flow, flooring and so on - as you can see an almost perfect score, for the building if taking in isolation - the build quality is very high.

It’s the price asked and method of sale determined, that will be the challenge to the buyer.

Despite the market - $8m and maybe $9m - off market last year at that ask? - $8m plus is a strong number to try and achieve, but this is a quality home and this is Sackville ward. I think it was 81 at the other end on slightly bigger land that did get above that number a few years back.

So, the number while a challenge for both buyer (will there be multiple buyers in this market) and seller is doable.

What it will all come down to is the method of sale - how the dance turns out.

Do you make an initial thrust and parry prior to the deadline date or do you sit back in the bleachers, biding your time, watching, watching to see what happens below?

The seller will have their plan and in this unknown commodity called the early 2018 market, you will need to have yours and if prudent you should have multiple prongs to its strategy, to test at various levels, without losing the prize (if that is your main aim).