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| Hand out-Photos |
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| Hand out-Floor plans |
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| Hand out-Details |
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| Level 1-Living room |
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| Level 1-Kitchen (Ceiling lights, Pantry) |
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| Level 1-Kitchen (Tiled floor, Bench top, Sinks, Cabinets) |
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| Level 1-Storage |
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| Level 1-Living room, Entrance door |
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| Staircase |
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| Level 2-Landry |
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| Level 2-Bathroom (Basin, Bathtub) |
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| Level 2-Bathroom (Bathtub) |
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| Level 2-Bathroom (Shower) |
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| Level 2-Bedroom 1 (Master bedroom, 3.3m x 3.3m) |
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| Level 2-Bedroom 1 |
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| Level 2-Bedroom 1 |
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| Level 2-Bedroom 2 (With a balcony, 3.6 x 2.4m) |
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| Level 2-Bedroom 2 (Balcony) |
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| Level 2-Bedroom 2 |
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| Level 2-Bedroom 1 (Walk-in closet) |
For the first time in my life, I observed the process of selling an apartment at an auction today!!
Around 2:50pm, I arrived the apartment. A young handsome real estate agent was showing the apartment. I saw many Asian-looking people (Mainly Chinese speakers) and some Australians there. I was surprised to see that those Chinese-speaking people didn't spend a lot of time looking at all the details in the apartment--they were in the apartment only for 3 minutes or so!! (Maybe they were not intending to live in this apartment by themselves, but renting the space for someone else???) The agent said that the whole apartment was renovated recently. Many room fixtures (e.g., Kitchen tiles, Kitchen ceiling lights, Bench top, Basin, Bathtub, Shower, Bathroom tiles, Closet, Carpet) seemed brand new, indeed.
I was surprised to see all the furniture already set in the rooms. But the agent guy told me that those furniture are there for the demonstration purpose only so that the buyer has to furnish by him/herself. The whole apartment was decorated beautifully. White walls, beige carpet, and other furniture were white, beige, or transparent colours. Quite neutral colours so that this would appeal to more people. But bright and vivid colours (e.g., Red, Green, Blue) were used for bed pillows or a cushion cover to make nice focal points.
Some descriptions from the handout:
-Sun drenched living and dining area leading onto a practical balcony.
-Updated kitchen with stainless steel appliances and ample storage.
-Master bedroom with walk-in robe, second bedroom with built-in robe and own balcony.
-Neat bathroom with bath and separate shower.
-Oversized landry room providing storage/study space, under stairs storage/wine cellar.
-Brand new carpet throughout and freshly painted.
-Security intercom, extra long lock-up garage offering additional room for storage.
-Well maintained building with low strata levy.
-The building was built in 1981.
On the handout, I saw the floor plans, which seemed to be drawn by autoCAD. I've been using autoCAD to design the interior spaces for my school assignments, too. I was quite moved to discover that I could read the floor plans now (cuz I didn't have any clue before I started my school).
From 3pm, the auction started at a nearby park outside. About 50 people were there. On the handout, the price guide was indicated as "Over $650,000". The auctioneer guy announced to start the auction from $600,000. 4 men perticipated the auction. The price went up quite dramatically, like "$620, $630, $640, $650, $660..." The price was often going up $10,000 every time!! (Wow!) As this was the first time for me to see the auction, I imagined that the price would go up a bit by bit, like $1,000. The final price was $755,000. The Asian guy (about 30's?) who won the bidding clenched his fists in triumph and looked very happy.
今日、人生で初めて、アパート物件のオークション販売を見学しました。１９８１年に建てられたビル内のアパートで、築３３年目です。立地はシドニーの中心地まで徒歩１５分程の便利の良い場所。リノベーションをして、ペンキも新しく塗り、カーペットも新しいものに取り替えたとの事。アパート内に階段があり、一階はキッチン、リビングルーム、バルコニー。２階は２つのベッドルーム、バスルーム、ランドリールームです。バスルーム内にはバスタブとシャワーが備わっていました。写真では家具が見えてるけど、これはオークション用にデモンストレーションとして見せてるだけで、実際には家具付きでは無いです。
オークション物件を見学に来てたのは８０％がアジア人で、中国語で話す人達ばかりでした。しかし、この人達ったら、３分位でザーッと駆け足で簡単に物件見るだけ。自分達が実際に住む為の物件を見に来てると言うよりは、誰かに貸して家賃収入を得る為の物件を探してるって感じっぽい。（だって自分が実際に住む物件なら、もっとジロジロと細かいとこまで見るでしょう？３分で駆け足で見るだけじゃ、詳細まで見れないし。少なくとも私には無理！）
オークションは今日の午後３時から、アパート近くの野外公園で行われました。大体５０人位が輪になって集まっていて、真ん中に木製のこづちを持ったオークショナーが立ってました。まず＄６００，０００（日本円で６０,０００,０００円からオークションがスタート。日本で物件買った事が無いので、６,０００万円が日本と比べて高いのか安いのかよく分からないんだけど。東京の中心部まで徒歩１５分の築３３年の２ベッドルームアパートって、もっと高いのかなぁ。。。誰か知ってたら教えて欲しい。興味津々）
オークションに積極的に参加してたのは男性４人。＄６００，０００からスタートしたオークションは＄１０，０００単位で（１００万円づつ）、どんどん値段が上がっていきました。私、オークション見るのって初めてだったから、てっきり１０万円単位でもっとゆっくり上がっていくんだと思ってました。最終的には＄７７５，０００（７，７５０万円）で、オークショナーのきづちがゴンゴンゴンゴーンと鳴り響きました。オークションで勝ったアジア人風の男性が、両手をガッツポーズにして「やったー！！」と大喜び。彼の英語を聞く限りでは、移民独特の訛は無く、多分オーストラリアで生まれ育った感じです。自分の娘を抱っこして、ほっぺたにチューをしてました（こういう大げさなジェスチャーも、オーストラリアで生まれ育ったぽい）。オークションで負けた男性達は苦々しい顔をしてました。オークションの見学、とっても面白い体験でした。
