CASE STUDY · ELWOOD VIC · 3 MIN READ
Three bidders, sold above the last bid
A renovated period home a short walk from the beach, taken to auction, passed in at $1,530,000 and negotiated to $1,550,000 straight after.
The result
Passed in at $1,530,000, sold post-auction at $1,550,000 · 29 days to auction. The owner paid $6,900.
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Address | 377 Barkly Street, Elwood VIC 3184 |
| Property | 3 bed, 1 bath, 242sqm |
| Method | Auction |
| Campaign opened | 17 July 2026 |
| Days to auction | 29 |
| Result | Passed in, sold post-auction |
| Sale price | $1,550,000 |
| Unreserved fee | $6,900 · full service auction campaign |
The property
A renovated three bedroom period home on 242sqm in Elwood, a short walk from the Ormond Road shops and the beach. Roughly $80,000 of recent work had gone into it: cosmetic work throughout, a new front fence, new climate control, new landscaping and a rebuilt garage.
This campaign ran differently to the others on this page. Rather than a vendor led private sale, it was a full service auction campaign with Ben running the process end to end.
What the valuation said
The owners ran a free AI valuation on 23 June, before the campaign existed. The automated model spread itself across $1,380,000 to $1,820,000. The Unreserved layer refined that to $1,545,000 to $1,815,000, medium confidence, adjusting up for the recent capital works.
A second valuation on 7 August, once the campaign was in market and fresh comparable sales had landed, tightened the range to $1,500,000 to $1,700,000 and lifted the confidence rating to high.
The property was quoted to buyers at $1,450,000 to $1,550,000.
| Valuation, 7 August 2026 | Figure |
|---|---|
| Automated comparable range | $1,330,000 to $1,750,000 |
| Unreserved refined range | $1,500,000 to $1,700,000 |
| Refined midpoint | $1,600,000 |
| Confidence rating | High |
| Listed at | $1,450,000 to $1,550,000 |
| Sold for | $1,550,000 |
What the campaign did
Six enquiries came in through realestate.com.au across the campaign, alongside open homes on the Thursday evening and Saturday morning of each week.
The auction was held on site on Saturday 15 August with three registered bidders. A third buyer registered on the morning and opened the bidding, taking it to $1,480,000. The other two pushed it to $1,530,000, and the property was passed in. Negotiating straight after the auction, we met in the middle between the vendors’ target of $1,570,000 and the buyers’ position, and the home sold for $1,550,000, at the top of the quoted range and inside both AI valuation ranges. The deposit was paid in full that weekend.
| Channel | Count |
|---|---|
| realestate.com.au enquiries | 6 |
| Domain enquiries | 0 |
| Other portal enquiries | 0 |
| Total email enquiries | 6 |
| Buyer calls connected by the AI line | 0 |
Counted from the listing going live to the day the sale was agreed. Enquiry counts are the portal notification emails themselves, not a dashboard figure.
What it cost
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Sale price | $1,550,000 |
| Commission at 2.2%, typical for the state | $34,100 |
| Unreserved fee | $6,900 |
| Difference kept by the owner | $27,200 |
The commission figure is a typical selling rate for the state applied to the sale price. Actual agent rates vary by suburb and by negotiation.
Key takeaways
- Three registered bidders, passed in at $1,530,000 and sold post-auction at $1,550,000, $20,000 above the last bid.
- The sale price landed inside both AI valuation ranges, and 3.1% under the refined midpoint from eight days before auction day.
- Quoted $1,450,000 to $1,550,000 and sold at the top of that range.
- A full service auction campaign for $6,900 against roughly $34,100 in commission at 2.2%.
How the days are counted: from the listing going live on the portals to the day the sale was agreed, not to the day contracts were signed. Contracts on this sale were signed on 15 August 2026.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ben Williams
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Ben spent 15+ years as a licensed estate agent and conducted over 2,000 auctions before founding Unreserved. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Property & Valuation) from RMIT and is licensed across VIC, NSW, QLD, SA, and WA.