McGrath St Kilda scores record three time win on The Block!
7th November 2021 – McGrath Estate Agents have again firmly cemented its winning imprint on The Block, Channel 9’s hit renovation series that aired Sunday night.
Agents Michael Townsend and Josh Stirling of McGrath St Kilda made The Block history as they scored a hat-trick achieving the winning bids in 2018, 2020 and again this year.
In the grand finale of The Block 2021, McGrath Chief Auctioneer, Scott Kennedy-Green, secured a winning bid of $4,044,444.44 for contestants, Sydneyites Mitch and Mark for their 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom property at 4 Bronte Court, Hampton in southeast Melbourne. This delivered $644,444.44 over reserve and a series win totalling $744,444.44 in prizemoney.
McGrath Founder and Executive Director John McGrath said, “We were thrilled to be chosen by Mitch and Mark to represent them and bring to market the best home on The Block. And this allowed our agents, Michael and Josh, to sell their home with great belief and confidence. A great result for them to win yet again, and also deliver McGrath their fourth Block win since the series began. We couldn’t be prouder of our entire team.”
The highly skilled Kennedy-Green in his eighth appearance since the show’s inception, presided over a hotly contested auction where towards the end two bidders competed for the gavel to drop in their favour.
“This home was perfectly positioned on a cul-de-sac and set behind a reproduced period façade. This contemporary family home was extremely well thought-out and configured, and as such had wide appeal to a variety of buyers.
“Having been involved with The Block over many years, the best results cater to a wide variety of buyers. This had a smart design strategy to capture the willingness of bidders at auction to compete.”
Kennedy-Green was emotional in reflecting on the ultimate win. “It was touch and go that I’d be able to be participate in this year’s auction due to the COVID lockdown. It was only when Victoria opened its borders that I was able to be part of today’s victory, and my fourth win as a Block auctioneer for McGrath.”
Agent Josh Stirling said he and his partner Michael Townsend attribute their three-time success as Block agents to running a disciplined process in marketing the property. “We’ve never relied on the juggernaut that is the TV Show… we focus on running a campaign and selling the property for the most money. We nurture our buyers and don’t take for granted the show will deliver the result.”
He adds, “McGrath always has the best marketing campaign and reach, and we work closely with our buyers to qualify them. We ran a tight campaign and strategy which we believe helped deliver us the winning result.”
Michael Townsend revealed that the underbidder saw the property late in the game through McGrath’s digital marketing campaign and this highlights the importance of not relying on the show to deliver the all important buyer competition.”
Mr Stirling said that COVID presented a challenge of one-on-one inspections which loosened up toward the end of the campaign. “But with a fairly small buyer pool, this worked in our favour as it gave us the opportunity to show all the bells and whistles to their full advantage. One-on-one’s in many ways are the best way to show a property.
“I think the average sales price in Bronte Court is well beyond the median. Good homes on good land in good areas will always sell well,” he concludes.
Over the years, McGrath Estate Agents has marketed eight properties for The Block Television Series. All auctioned by Scott Kennedy-Green, they have received the top price on five occasions and also won the show four times; the first time with John and Neisha in 2010, who pocketed $305,000 as winners for a
2-bedroom ground floor apartment in Vaucluse Sydney. This was followed by an impressive series of wins by McGrath St Kilda with Hayden and Sara in 2018, who won $645,000 for a 250 square metre in internal space of an apartment in St Kilda Melbourne. Again in 2020, they scored for Jimmy & Tam with a record $1,066,000 payday for a 5-bedroom Brighton home. And of course, the 2021 result.
View the winning property here: https://www.mcgrath.com.au/4-bronte-court-hampton-vic-3188-for-sale-505438
