There’s a quirky coincidence in a couple of stories in this week’s feed. On the one hand you have a property that was so rundown prospective buyers had to sign a ‘no claims” safety waiver before they could inspect. 

But then there’s the view that even fixer-uppers are beyond the financial reach of many first-time home buyers.  It’s The Block effect with people thinking renos are so easy that they are competing for wrecks.

And there’s the tree-chopper who’s copped a $10,000 fine for disappearing a 24-metre Norfolk Pine.

That’s all in this week’s harvest of hilarity and horror from Leftfield Communications.

Free Reads

Domain

Couple drops $425k on NSW house so hazardous it required a waiver
A Blackheath property with no power, holes in the roof and asbestos walls sold at auction for $425,000 after buyers were required to sign a safety waiver in case the ceiling collapsed during inspection.

Last house in abandoned Welsh ghost village finally sells
The last house standing in an abandoned Welsh mining village has finally sold after years on the market.

Matildas icon and partner buy their first home after two-year search
Matildas striker Michelle Heyman and her partner Christine Aldridge have bought their first home together after a two-year search, with Heyman saying the experience gave her a new appreciation for what ordinary Australians face in the housing market.

How ‘six-month flip’ took seven years and came with unexpected guests
Jason Hotop bought a rundown Wellington seaside cottage in 2019 for a planned six-month flip and seven years later is still renovating, with a series of unexpected complications turning a quick project into something far more consuming.

Aussie cricket star Pat Cummins ramps up plans for $16 million home
Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins and his wife Becky Boston have lodged renovation plans with Waverley Council for their $16 million heritage home on Sydney’s eastern beaches.

Westfield heiress lists Bondi beachfront apartment for eight-figure price
Monica Saunders-Weinberg has listed her Bondi Beach apartment at $10 million to $11 million, nearly two decades after it was purchased for less than half the current asking price.

Olympic legend takes $850,000 hit on dream home
Grant Hackett has cut $850,000 from the price guide for his vacant Brighton block, dropping from an $8 million to $8.8 million guide to $7.25 million to $7.95 million as Melbourne’s prestige market softens.

Late PM’s compound fetches a shocking $574 million
Silvio Berlusconi’s Sardinian coastal compound, complete with a fake volcano, secret boat cave and nuclear bunker, has sold for a jaw-dropping price after nearly a year on the market.

Sydney homeowner cops hefty fine after tree loppers caught ‘red-handed’
A Killara homeowner has been fined $10,000 by Ku-ring-gai Council after a 24-metre Norfolk Island Pine was illegally removed from their property.

The mystery liquid turning a millionaire street bright orange
Homeowners on a $3 million average Los Angeles street have spent years battling a mysterious orange groundwater seeping past their properties, with no resolution in sight despite the affluence of the neighbourhood.

ABC Online

Brisbane tree protester taken down with cherry picker at unsanctioned Kurilpa Common community garden
A protester who spent 23 hours up a tree at an unsanctioned Brisbane community garden has been safely removed by emergency services using a cherry picker.

Real estate has been an easy target for criminals laundering money, until now
New anti-money laundering laws taking effect from 1 July will require real estate agents, conveyancers and lawyers to verify customers in the same way banks do, closing a loophole AUSTRAC estimates allowed criminals linked to China alone to launder $1 billion through Australian property in 2020.

Realestate.com.au

Common bank mistake costing Aussies a home
Overdrawn bank accounts left unchecked for more than 60 days can damage a credit score and cost young Australians a home loan approval.

The city where you can buy a $2.3m apartment… for your car
A city of ultra-wealthy car collectors has taken the luxury garage to new heights, with residents driving directly into their apartments via car elevator.

Inside Batman stars’ multimillion-dollar property deals
Batman franchise stars built and lost multimillion-dollar property empires off the back of their box office earnings.

‘Extortion’: Owners face losing homes over $167k ‘chequerboard’ demand
Condominium owners in Palm Springs, many of them retirees on fixed incomes, are facing six-figure demands from a landowner under a chequerboard ownership structure, in a cautionary tale about the risks of divided land title arrangements.

Former Lidcombe home of Salim Mehajer sold for $3.9m
The former Lidcombe mansion of bankrupt property developer Salim Mehajer has sold for $3.9 million after a previous 2024 mortgagee auction deal at $3.85 million failed to settle.

Adrian Portelli to fake bids: The Block scandals listed
A retrospective of The Block’s most memorable controversies, from fake bids and cheating claims to walkouts and auctions that exposed the strange dynamics of television property.

The end of the starter home: Why young buyers are now locked out of fixer-uppers
Rising renovation costs and falling investor competition have not translated into fixer-upper affordability for young buyers, with the economics of entry-level property remaining challenging despite the broader market softening.

Aussie man’s rare $3000 backyard find
Gavin Booth has discovered a rare white truffle colony under stone pine trees planted during the pandemic in his backyard, and is now in a battle with boxing kangaroos who have also taken a liking to the valuable find.

Swans veteran Bernie Evans aims for a Bentleigh East sale
Sydney Swans Hall of Famer Bernie Evans and his siblings are selling their late mother’s Bentleigh East unit with a $750,000 to $800,000 price guide.

Olympic champ Grant Hackett cuts $850,000 from Brighton dream’s price
Olympic gold medallist Grant Hackett has reduced his Brighton block price by $850,000 to a $7.25 million to $7.95 million guide, joining a growing list of Melbourne sellers adjusting expectations in a softer market.

Premiership Hawk James ‘The Freak’ Morrissey lists Glen Huntly home
James Morrissey, three-time Hawthorn premiership player, is selling the Glen Huntly home he has owned since retiring from the AFL after 106 games.

Gold Coast developer Jim Raptis offloads waterfront mansion in huge $18m deal
Prolific Gold Coast developer Jim Raptis has sold his Paradise Waters mansion for around $18 million, one of Queensland’s biggest house sales of the year on a block originally purchased for $3.175 million in 2002.

Shrinking properties force home brewers to go compact
The decline of the quarter-acre block is claiming an unexpected victim as home brewers find smaller backyards no longer accommodate their DIY beer setups, forcing a shift to compact indoor brewing systems.

Real Commercial

10 wild moves that defined Adrian Portelli’s year
Adrian Portelli has spent the past year pushing into fuel, groceries and television while keeping one foot in property, the sector that made him famous.

Port Augusta businessman slams council over mural approval rule
A Port Augusta business owner had to seek development approval to paint a 60-metre mural on the outside of his own building.

Clever way Aussie coffee pop-up makes $1k day
Twenty-two-year-old Melbourne operator Kane Lobo turned around his Squid Bar coffee pop-up by removing all surcharges and moving to upfront pricing, going from losing money to clearing more than $1,000 a day.

‘Embarrassing’: FIFA tells Albo homeless Socceroos need a base
FIFA has joined calls on the federal government to provide the Socceroos with a permanent base, with Football Australia seeking $50 million toward a $3 billion-plus infrastructure push ahead of the World Cup.

Sydney butcher offers 24-hour access to fresh meat with unique vending machine
Wholesale butcher The Meat Man has installed a 24-hour meat vending machine at its Sydney premises, giving customers access to fresh, high-quality cuts at any hour.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

Can’t find a rental? Buy a $4.6m home instead
A City Beach buyer purchased a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home before auction for $4.6 million specifically to avoid the rental market, in a result that illustrates the extremes the rental shortage is pushing some buyers toward.

Lane Cove residents fear being swamped by data centre tsunami
Lane Cove residents are fighting plans to transform a small business precinct into AI data centres, with one homeowner warning of a 100-foot wall of generators, fans and cooling towers running 24 hours a day and threatening his ability to stay in the area.

Holiday home owners feel pinch from tax changes
The combination of policy and tax changes announced this year is making holiday home ownership less financially attractive, though a potential silver lining is greater short-term rental availability at peak times as owners reconsider their holdings.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Anger from Sydney’s swing vote: Moore Park golf course carve-up begins
Moore Park golf course is being carved up this week, temporarily shrinking from 18 holes to 10 as the Minns government presses ahead with its plan to create new parkland in Sydney’s east.

‘Waiting for a miracle’: How the cost of building a Sydney house skyrocketed to $1m
A Sydney father of six has shelved his dream home build after surging costs and a late design change blew out his budget, forcing him back to renting while he waits.

After 12,000 people spoke, Sydney council revamps parking plan for six beaches
Randwick City Council has dramatically scaled back a contentious coastal parking strategy after more than 12,000 submissions, reducing metered spaces at six beaches and introducing concessions in one of the most significant community consultation reversals seen in Sydney this year.

Westfield heiress offers $11m Bondi Beach pad for sale
Monica Saunders-Weinberg, daughter of late Westfield co-founder John Saunders, has listed a three-bedroom Bondi Beach apartment opposite the beach at $10 million to $11 million as part of a broader reconfiguration of her $67 million Sydney property portfolio.

Zip co-founder Larry Diamond pays $17m for Dover Heights mansion
Zip Co co-founder Larry Diamond and his wife Ashlyn have paid $17 million for a six-bedroom Dover Heights mansion with Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House views, taking out a NAB mortgage to complete the transaction.

The Age

‘Offensive and unlawful’: Big Build contractors slapped as ex-watchdogs back royal commission
Victoria’s labour hire regulator has launched an unprecedented attack on the state’s Big Build mega-contractors, describing them as the head of a rotting fish in a corruption-plagued construction sector and calling for a royal commission into the industry.

Rockin’ the suburbs: The hidden factory shaping Melbourne’s music culture
Above a foyer wrapped in posters of music legends, John D’Aquino runs the factory that quietly supplies Melbourne’s live music industry, keeping the flame lit for a city that defines itself by what plays on its stages.

The Daily Telegraph

Golf bosses slam government as fences go up at historic Moore Park course
Golf Australia CEO James Sutherland has warned Sydney is losing one of Australia’s hardest-working public golf assets as other state governments invest millions to expand the sport.

Union slams ‘pretty patio’ plan that would bulldoze major supermarket and 1000 jobs
Australia’s largest retail union has joined business groups in opposing Clover Moore’s $150 million Town Hall Square proposal, warning the project would bulldoze a major supermarket and eliminate more than 1,000 Sydney jobs.

The Gold Coast Bulletin

How a community showdown sparked The Spit’s billion-dollar transformation
The Gold Coast Spit precinct that once sparked public rallies and political battles is now absorbing billions in development with barely a protest in sight, after a single community meeting changed the conversation entirely.

Mick Fanning-backed Gold Coast wave pool to start work after $4m state funding
Australia’s first wave pool resort, backed by surfing legends Mick Fanning and Rabbit Bartholomew, is set to begin construction within months after securing $4 million in state funding.

The Adelaide Advertiser

British midwife who reopened Whyalla Hospital’s birthing unit faces $72,000 fee over property purchase due to visa bungle
A UK midwife, who reopened Whyalla’s birthing unit, has been slugged $72k after purchasing a house – with the ATO refusing to waive the fees.

The West Australian

Fremantle Dockers star Murphy Reid commits to WA by buying a $2.35 million East Fremantle home
Fremantle Dockers 19-year-old Murphy Reid has purchased a $2.35 million four-bedroom East Fremantle home, a move the purple army hopes signals the Victorian’s long-term commitment to Perth.

The Newcastle Herald

Harbourside eyesore no more: wrecking ball headed for Queens Wharf
Demolition of the western Queens Wharf building in Newcastle begins next month, clearing the way for a new chapter in one of the city’s most prominent waterfront precincts after years of the site sitting as a harbourside eyesore.

Famous Newcastle hotel could reopen as part of massive apartment precinct
The historic Cambridge Hotel could be reborn as a family-friendly food and beverage venue within GWH’s 600-plus apartment Cambridge Quarter Precinct planned for Newcastle’s west end.

The Illawarra Mercury

Got a car in Gwynneville? New housing proposal has strict parking rules
A draft planning proposal for three to six-storey apartments in Gwynneville requires developers to provide on-site parking, responding to community concern about congestion in the area’s already-pressured residential streets.

The Southern Highlands News

‘Makes me emotional’: The local mums driving a village revolution
Berrima Public School parents have launched a locally grown Highlands Grown apparel line after months of volunteer effort, with the project drawing an emotional response from the community behind it.