There’s a few cliché phrases in real estate (think, ‘location, location, location’), but the one that fits best in this instance is ‘buy the worst house in the best street’. Although, they both ring true in this project.
Now, to be fair, there was nothing wrong at all with this lot. I just selected it as it was priced the cheapest. Why? Well it was smaller than most, faced south and was the most west in the estate. When developers price a land release, they can’t make them all the same or else the pick of the litter would simply sell first leaving the runts, so they have to come up with some subjective difference. Things like land size, frontages and easements play the biggest part. But if you think about it, once completed, does a buyer check the estate land plan and compare the minor block size differences, small council easements etc. compared to the neighbours? No, they don’t. What they do is assess the home, its inclusions, function and feel. 

As such, I always go to the cheapest lots, analyse why, look for its ‘faults’ and decide if they are an issue after construction, and then compare it to the highest priced lots. If there’s little difference post-construction, then you can pick up $20-50k uplift by selecting the right block. One other quick note on this, often blocks are priced lower if they face south and away from the sunshine, but think about it: you want the sun in your backyard – to your outdoor living areas, right? So look for this common ‘dumb’ mistake in house marketing and pricing. This site was 15 meters wide, faced south (yes, a north facing back yard), was four homes to the sand dunes, and had a small sewer easement (1.5 x 1.5) in the front yard which wasn’t even noticed once landscaping was complete. A home was designed for the beachside market with a cute open plan kitchen and some funky urban treatments like high ceilings, window seats, and polished concrete with a spacious indoor-outdoor living element. It wasn’t the intention, but having partners in this project, they decided to keep the home and still own it now, renting it out through our property management business.