Cosmopolitan Kensington

34 Hardiman Street in Kensington
Photo: Domain

Now that the summer season’s upon us, it’s been a big sigh of relief for real estate agents (including buyer’s agents!) to take a well-earned break.

January is a time when many agencies take a breather and run on skeleton staff for the early part of the month. Agents have a chance to take holidays and put their feet up for a bit.

This also means that new listings are slower, auctions are non-existent for the better part of January, and houses that haven’t sold over the December pre-Christmas run-up are open for inspection.

What I find exciting about January as a buyer’s agent are the new auction properties coming on the market for February and March, and the bargains that can be found amongst the properties that have to sell.

Searching for Property in January

This interesting gem in Kensington caught my eye when it first hit the market for a February auction.

Not only did it have all of the features and attributes for a capital growth outperformance property, it suited my client’s SMSF property criteria perfectly.

The property had a very low maintenance backyard – exactly what my client was looking for
Photo: Domain

SMSF properties, otherwise known as Self-Managed Super Fund properties, are not to be selected lightly – there are some significant and important aspects to SMSF property selection that can’t be overlooked.

“I was keen to target a suburb with a heartbeat, a vibrant village atmosphere and ample public transport options.”

The regulatory company and bare trust paperwork is just the beginning, and the task can only be taken on once a qualified financial planner or accountant has established all of the foundations for the fund’s purchase.

Dates of registration, dates of contract signing and ownership entity are all crucial.

Why Kensington?

I had carefully selected Kensington, Flemington and Moonee Ponds as options for this purchase for a few reasons.

With a budget in the mid-$800,000s my client required a fully renovated home. I was keen to target a suburb with a heartbeat, a vibrant village atmosphere and ample public transport options.

Hardiman Street offers its residents an easy walk to the shops, two train stations and access to all of the cafes, bars and restaurants that Kensington has on offer. 

The streetscape is pretty and showcases an array of renovated Victorian houses and terraces akin to something you’d see in a picture.

The kitchen had beautiful high ceilings and natural light
Photo: Domain

The Property

The property itself though… wow. The clever architectural use of natural light through voids, skylights and high ceilings, combined with the stunning detail in both the bathroom and the kitchen, made this house a stunner.

Every aspect met the brief, and then some. Knowing I had to appeal to the agent and the vendor to pull the sale forward from the scheduled auction date, I gathered as much information about the campaign and the vendor’s expectations as I could.

“There are some significant and important aspects to SMSF property selection that can’t be overlooked.”

The vendor’s price expectation was fair and their plan was to upscale their home. Was this going to be a purchase I could coordinate easily?

With the help of the agent, yes. We negotiated a fair price, use of the campaign photographs for the purposes of advertising for a tenant prior to auction, and a long enough settlement date to meet our SMSF requirements and give the vendor time to find their new home.

A perfect win-win, really!

My client can look forward to a quality tenant, strong capital growth, great depreciation and a low maintenance property in his portfolio.

The information or opinions contained in the commentary are general in nature and should not be construed as investment advice or financial product advice. Any research or analysis contained within the commentary is specific to the execution of a purchase brief provided by a licensed adviser. Cate Bakos is not licensed to provide advice on regulated financial products and the information should not be relied upon to in determining the appropriateness of SMSF property purchases.

For more information about Kensington, read our suburb profile here.

Photo: Pricefinder

Points of Interest in Kensington, Postcode 3031

Kensington Community High School
Kensington Primary School
Kensington Station
City of Melbourne