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Upsizer beats investors to pay $2.1m for Fitzroy warehouse conversion

Upsizer beats investors to pay $2.1m for Fitzroy warehouse conversion

A professional woman in her 40s has paid $2.1 million for a three-storey Fitzroy warehouse conversion, a part of the former MacRobertson's chocolate factory.
The open-plan home at 215 Argyle Street had a quoted price range of $1.8 million to $1.9 million, and features three bedrooms, exposed red brick and a cathedral timber ceiling.
Nelson Alexander Fitzroy agent Henry Rutherfurd said there were two bidders: the winner, who was upsizing from her Richmond apartment, and a Tasmanian couple in their 50s looking to buy an investment property in Melbourne.
After an opening bid of $1.8 million, bids were slow to come, and the auctioneer paused the contest.
'After they came back out, the two of them [bidders] started the back and forth pretty quickly,' he said. '[The buyer] was on the phone to her financial adviser the whole time, which probably helped with the strategy.'
The vendor, a businesswoman who dabbles in design, was happy to take $1.9 million for the property, but raised the reserve to $1.95 million after she saw how well the bidding was going, Rutherfurd said.
There is no legal requirement for a vendor's reserve to be in line with their property's price guide.
The auction was one of 792 scheduled for Melbourne on Saturday.
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