REIV senior auctioneer of the year Luke Banitsiotis will take the reins of this year’s Good Friday Appeal (GFA) Charity Home Auction by Villawood Properties and Henley at Coridale, Lara. 

The Woodards Blackburn estate agent just claimed his third REIV Auctioneer of the Year win, following earlier gongs in 2018 and 2019, making him a prime asset in the annual GFA no-reserve auction and key fund-raiser for Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital. 

This year’s Charity Home is a spectacular Henley Electra 35 on a 512sqm lot at Villawood’s Coridale community. The home is directly opposite the new $7.6 million Club Coridale with its swimming pool, gymnasium, multi-sports courts, parents/child and function areas and more. 

Luke is looking forward to making the April 7 Good Friday auction a relaxed, entertaining and fun event.  

“Auction day is a critical one for interested buyers and the vendor, this can be stressful for some. The auctioneer has an opportunity to create an environment that allows people to relax and focus on the property.  

I’ve been doing auctions for nine years, the one thing that works a treat is keeping everything really personable, light-hearted and friendly,” he says.  

Constructed and fitted out by a small army of tradies and suppliers who donated their time and goods, the Charity Home auction is a grand community effort which will feature a large family street party and a crowd of hundreds.   

The fact the auction proceeds all go the Royal Children’s Hospital resonates strongly with Luke, who has conducted numerous charity auctions over the years. 

“I’ve done lots of Kids under Cover cubby house challenge auctions, and others too,” he says.  

“The Good Friday Appeal Charity House is an absolute honour to call because of the world class Royal Children’s, it supports.  

“They do great work and I have friends and family who’ve been through its doors and come out with a clean bill of health.”  

The GFA Charity Auction home will feature luxury fittings and fixtures, professional landscaping, pizza oven, ducted heating and air-conditioning and window coverings – everything a buyer needs to move straight in.  

All the furniture and decorative pieces inside the home, donated by various suppliers, will be included in the auction price. 

The auction promises to be an exciting event with Luke, one of the best in the business, at the helm.  As REIV President Andrew Meehan says: “Witnessing agents, who are the top of their game, kick into action to drive great results for this wonderful cause, is a great privilege.”  

Just how much the no-reserve auction will raise has hopes running high. Last year’s Henley home, at Villawood’s Redstone community in Sunbury, raised a record $1.082 million. 

“I’ve spent plenty of time in Geelong and on the Bellarine Peninsula, I’m very familiar with the area,” says Luke.  

Regional Victoria and outer Melbourne have performed very strongly over the last few years so we should have a strong result.”