First home buyers nab bargains

PHOTO: 18/46 Coogee Bay Rd, Randwick. Agent Steve Brajak with buyers Aldo Losurdo, 28, and Ashley Choi, 30. Source: Supplied

Aldo Losurdo, 28, and his partner, Ashley Choi, 30 bought an apartment in Randwick ahead of its scheduled online auction last night and they reckon they got a bargain.

The two-bedroom apartment with undercover parking at 18/46 Coogee Bay Rd sold for $812,000 through Steve Brajak and Nicholas Armstrong-Smith of Century 21 Armstrong-Smith Bondi Junction.

“It was a pretty good bargain considering the location and condition of the apartment,” says Losurdo.

Brajnak says his vendor needed to sell urgently and was “ecstatic” to have locked in a sale during the coronavirus crisis.

He’d only bought it a year ago, paying $785,000 which was a good deal at the time. But the vendor is now out of pocket, when $31,000 stamp duty and other costs such as legals are considered.

Brajak agreed the young couple had done well to secure it yesterday. They could have opted for a darker unit “ripe for renovation” two floors lower that was slightly cheaper.

But Losurdo and Choi’s unit was in far better condition with lovely parquetry floors and was full of natural light.