On the night this Snowy Mountains property on Lake Jindabyne’s foreshore was set to be auctioned, Jindabyne experienced its biggest snowstorm of this year, with road closures and power outages around the region.

But mother nature was no impediment for agent Sally McCoullough of First National Real Estate Kosciusko, who had partnered with online sales platform Openn Negotiation to host the auction, with buyers able to bid from the comfort of their living rooms.

After just 14 days on market, 12 bidders took part in the Openn auction, and in 73 bids, the 3-bedroom apartment sold for $1,618,000, an incredible $518,000 above reserve.

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WILLIAMS MEDIA spoke to Sally McCoullough about the sale.

What special features were buyers attracted to in this property?

This is the ultimate Snowy Mountains waterfront property, with a premier location on Lake Jindabyne foreshore, a large enclosed deck with a northerly aspect, unsurpassed lake and mountain views and walking distance to all town amenities.  It’s unlikely that any future development will gain approval to build such a complex on the Jindabyne foreshore again.

It’s a fantastic base for winter only 30 minutes to the ski resorts and it’s perfect for a summer escape to enjoy walks along the lake, fishing, watersports and mountain biking, with the added bonus of a secure boat shed.

Why did you choose to use Openn Negotiation? 

We are experiencing huge demand and competitive bidding for lifestyle holiday properties in Jindabyne. The Lake Jindabyne foreshore location of this townhouse is highly sought after and rarely comes on the market so I knew interest levels would be high.

The transparency of the Openn process gives buyers full confidence to put their best foot forward and the online nature of the auction allows buyers to bid from anywhere – an important factor in our market as the majority of purchasers for this type of property reside in metropolitan areas such as Sydney or Canberra.

You had a lot of interest in a short amount of time, can you run me through the campaign?

The first bid came in at $900,000, sight unseen, within 2 days of listing the property. The bidding climbed rapidly with 11 other bidders registered in the following days, most sight unseen with physical inspections to follow.   With so much interest early on, combined with limited inspection opportunities due to the property being sold fully booked as short-term holiday accommodation, the reserve was met early and there was no point waiting for the full 4-week campaign and risk losing interest from any interested parties.  The final stage of the auction was brought forward by two weeks.

$518k over reserve is a massive result! What did the sellers think?

Most of our demographic are from the more affluent Sydney suburbs and they compare prices to Sydney waterfront properties which can sell upwards of $5-6 million.

The price guide was $1m-1.1m based off recent comparable Jindabyne auction sales in a very hot market. With the reserve of $1.1m met prior to the final stages, the vendors had the luxury of confidence that their price had been met and anything achieved over and above during the final stages of the auction was a bonus. As the bids kept coming in and the price rose half a million dollars above reserve, the vendors were in disbelief and questioned whether it was for real! I assured them it was!

Has using Openn helped grow your business?

Yes it has. In this highly competitive market, buyers like the transparency Openn offers as well as the convenience of bidding mid-week from the comfort of their home.

The auction was able to go ahead via online platform Openn Negotiation despite the biggest snowstorm of the year causing road closures and power outages around the region.

Related reading:

Buyer frenzy: coastal property smashes reserve after 114 bids

Jindabyne mortgagee sale hits $79k over reserve