17 May 2013

Girasole utterly unloved at auction

| johnboy
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Property Observer has the sad tale of Crace’s rotating house Girasole not even getting to the starting line at auction:

Co-selling agent Stephen Bunday of LJ Hooker Dickson told Property Oberserver there had been no registrations despite attracting an “enormous amount of curiosity”.

“On the night, nothing happened at all, ” said Bunday, who is selling the Ross Norwood-designed house alongside fellow LJ Hooker agent Anthony Sorace.

The house at 12 Indi Close is now listed for sale by negotiation.

“We will try and sell it in the next couple of weeks. If it does not sell, the owner will move into it,” he says.

“It may be ahead of its time,” he added.

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OpenYourMind said :

I note the Allhomes ad does state that Giralsole won’t be built out. Assuming that’s true, sitting on that little covered outdoor area and watching the scenery change as the house rotates would be pretty cool – kind of like your house is a revolving restaurant!

Be a lot cheaper to buy a few big tv screens and put them side-by-side with a slowly sideways scrolling screen saver. And then it wouldn’t matter if you got built out, either!

grunge_hippy said :

3 words.

it’s. in. gungahlin.

It’s 3 words, not 3 sentences.

…Continuing on the sustainable living theme, electricity for the home is provide [sic] by 24 photovoltaic cells situated on top of the four car garage

Does anyone else think that is rather ironic?

OpenYourMind7:33 pm 19 May 13

There’s plenty on the internet about Jon Favreau drawing on Elon Musk as inspiration. Eg. http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-inspired-tony-stark-of-iron-man-fame

I note the Allhomes ad does state that Giralsole won’t be built out. Assuming that’s true, sitting on that little covered outdoor area and watching the scenery change as the house rotates would be pretty cool – kind of like your house is a revolving restaurant!

GardeningGirl4:44 pm 19 May 13

OpenYourMind said :

For the film, the director states Elon Musk was an inspiration for Stark’s character. Hell, Musk even gets a cameo in IM2 and Musk lends his SpaceX factory for some scenes.

Oh, and looking at the round house on AllHomes it is very nice. It may be in Crace, but it looks like its in a nice spot, well unless it gets built out.

It faces some nice undulating grasslands, I think there’s some high tension power lines in the distance but otherwise a pleasant view that will not be built out.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd3:42 pm 19 May 13

As far as I know, avengers movie stark is based purely on ultimate comics stark.

Like most kick-arse novel concepts, they run at a loss.

OpenYourMind11:15 am 19 May 13

For the film, the director states Elon Musk was an inspiration for Stark’s character. Hell, Musk even gets a cameo in IM2 and Musk lends his SpaceX factory for some scenes.

Oh, and looking at the round house on AllHomes it is very nice. It may be in Crace, but it looks like its in a nice spot, well unless it gets built out.

justin heywood9:48 am 19 May 13

enrique said :

Unfortunately it’s in the wrong area…

In relation to comparable properties it is way over-priced.

Accoring to TFA, “Pre-auction expectations were above $1 million. Bunday says the property is worth around $1.2 million when the value of the land is factored in.”

Girasole has the following basic attributes: Crace, 4BR, 2BR, 704m2 block, 173m2 of living space.

A basic search in allhomes filtering on just Crace, 4BR and 2BR gives 13 other compariable properties with an average price of around $683,000

Filtering down even further to only show similar buildings with a minimum block size of 600m2 and minimum living space of 150m2 gives 5 other compariable properties with an average price of around $687,000.

Sure, you’d pay a premium for the fact that Girasole rotates 360degrees, but I don’t think it’s worth an extra $350,000 or so on top of other comparible properties in the area.

Had it been built out on acreage with sweeping views to the mountains or ocean, then it would be a different story. A premium buyer with enough disposable income and interest might have been willing to pay for that. They’d be happy to live up the luxury and show if off to their friends out their on their ‘country estate’ or seaside retreat’ but nobody in that position would be interested in Crace.

Similarly, somebody with sufficient means to afford a similar sized property in Crace would likely be pushing it to be able to afford Girasole.

I truly hope it sells. It is a fantastic concept and is such a great way to dramatically improve the ‘liveability’ of a home while reducing its energy footprint. There should be more of them!

An excellent post but I think you are making the assumption that people buy their homes on a purely rational basis (block size/house size/suburb etc.)

There is surely an emotional component in the calculation, which may well justify the price for some people. The home is innovative, unusual and not unattractive, and surely, to some, preferable to an ugly little box in O’Connor for similar money.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd said :

dungfungus said :

damien haas said :

dungfungus said :

EvanJames said :

You can sell anything. For the right price.

Except electric cars.

There were more hybrid cars sold in 2012 than Ford Falcons.

I said electric, not hybrid.
Dazzle me with your statistics on how many electric cars were sold in 2012.

Not very well informed, huh?

It’s taken you this long to figure that out?

OpenYourMind12:44 am 19 May 13

dungfungus said :

damien haas said :

dungfungus said :

EvanJames said :

You can sell anything. For the right price.

Except electric cars.

There were more hybrid cars sold in 2012 than Ford Falcons.

I said electric, not hybrid.
Dazzle me with your statistics on how many electric cars were sold in 2012.

This is all a bit off topic, but Tesla has just turned a tidy profit making all electric cars. Not only is the Tesla S an incredibly cool car, the guy who started Tesla is so cool that they used him as a template for Ironman’s Tony Stark!

Read some old Iron Man. No Template Needed.

grunge_hippy said :

3 words.

it’s. in. gungahlin.

And not even in the “good” part.

grunge_hippy8:59 pm 18 May 13

3 words.

it’s. in. gungahlin.

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd8:40 pm 18 May 13

dungfungus said :

damien haas said :

dungfungus said :

EvanJames said :

You can sell anything. For the right price.

Except electric cars.

There were more hybrid cars sold in 2012 than Ford Falcons.

I said electric, not hybrid.
Dazzle me with your statistics on how many electric cars were sold in 2012.

Not very well informed, huh?

Mysteryman said :

poetix said :

arescarti42 said :

“It may be ahead of its time, he added.”

Or horrendously overpriced.

Or in the wrong suburb.

Or a total waste of time.

Wasn’t built by “a thinker” and that’s why no one is interested.

Well at that price it would send me into a spin.

Anyone with $1.2M in their back pocket sure as **** won’t be buying in Crace. And the greenies who think this is a good idea couldn’t afford a house anywhere anyway.

poetix said :

arescarti42 said :

“It may be ahead of its time, he added.”

Or horrendously overpriced.

Or in the wrong suburb.

Or a total waste of time.

Counterintuitive and weird – that’s why no-one wants to live there!

dungfungus said :

damien haas said :

dungfungus said :

EvanJames said :

You can sell anything. For the right price.

Except electric cars.

There were more hybrid cars sold in 2012 than Ford Falcons.

I said electric, not hybrid.
Dazzle me with your statistics on how many electric cars were sold in 2012.

hybrid cars use electric motors as motive power

damien haas said :

dungfungus said :

EvanJames said :

You can sell anything. For the right price.

Except electric cars.

There were more hybrid cars sold in 2012 than Ford Falcons.

I said electric, not hybrid.
Dazzle me with your statistics on how many electric cars were sold in 2012.

dungfungus said :

EvanJames said :

You can sell anything. For the right price.

Except electric cars.

There were more hybrid cars sold in 2012 than Ford Falcons.

Move the Lodge there.

GardeningGirl10:10 pm 17 May 13

LSWCHP said :

It’s a nice idea, but Crace? Crace? An amazing experimental house, yes! (Voice rises in pitch) But in Crace? For more that a million bucks? (Voice rises to shrill squeak) What could they have possibly been thinking?

I have to say though, there have been less innovative houses sold in Forde for over a million which makes even less sense to me. In Forde? For more than a million bucks? (shrill squeak)

Deref said :

Ahead of its time or just bloody s stupid? You decide.

It’s not stupid at all. We need innovators like Andriolo to do these sorts of things more and more in order to shake up the status quo.

With exponential population growth around the world and dwindling resources we can’t keep doing things in the same old ways. We need to start trying out new ideas and building techniques so we can learn and come up with better solutions.

Good on him for having the guts to take a punt and do something that was obviously going to make people wonder ‘what on earth?!’. He’s already made his mark in history now. Whatever happens people will look back and talk about/analyse/learn from/incrementally improve/perhaps even replicate what he’s done with Girasole.

I’d say visionary but let’s not blow too much smoke up his ass 😉

EvanJames said :

You can sell anything. For the right price.

Except electric cars.

It’s a nice idea, but Crace? Crace? An amazing experimental house, yes! (Voice rises in pitch) But in Crace? For more that a million bucks? (Voice rises to shrill squeak) What could they have possibly been thinking?

Ahead of its time or just bloody s stupid? You decide.

GardeningGirl4:41 pm 17 May 13

I agree with most of what’s said above, and add that I’d be nervous about calling a plumber, will something like that be harder/more expensive in terms of maintenance?
I like the house but I’m not sure it’s a great concept except in specific circumstances involving really special locations. Houses that utilise the benefits of the sun without needing to expend energy moving around have been working successfully for years, for the average new house block an affordable low-tech solution is going to work better I think.

Worth $750k, they expected $1mill.

I have no idea whatsoever why they weren’t swamped with offers.

HiddenDragon3:26 pm 17 May 13

Crace – that’s actually an onomatopoeic word, defining the sound of a Girasole grinding to a halt.

Holden Caulfield2:54 pm 17 May 13

EvanJames said :

And of course, there’s all the buyers who refuse to go to real estate auctions on principle. Do the hard yards and sell it properly.

What’s “properly” and why is an auction not doing the hard yards?

Unfortunately it’s in the wrong area…

In relation to comparable properties it is way over-priced.

Accoring to TFA, “Pre-auction expectations were above $1 million. Bunday says the property is worth around $1.2 million when the value of the land is factored in.”

Girasole has the following basic attributes: Crace, 4BR, 2BR, 704m2 block, 173m2 of living space.

A basic search in allhomes filtering on just Crace, 4BR and 2BR gives 13 other compariable properties with an average price of around $683,000

Filtering down even further to only show similar buildings with a minimum block size of 600m2 and minimum living space of 150m2 gives 5 other compariable properties with an average price of around $687,000.

Sure, you’d pay a premium for the fact that Girasole rotates 360degrees, but I don’t think it’s worth an extra $350,000 or so on top of other comparible properties in the area.

Had it been built out on acreage with sweeping views to the mountains or ocean, then it would be a different story. A premium buyer with enough disposable income and interest might have been willing to pay for that. They’d be happy to live up the luxury and show if off to their friends out their on their ‘country estate’ or seaside retreat’ but nobody in that position would be interested in Crace.

Similarly, somebody with sufficient means to afford a similar sized property in Crace would likely be pushing it to be able to afford Girasole.

I truly hope it sells. It is a fantastic concept and is such a great way to dramatically improve the ‘liveability’ of a home while reducing its energy footprint. There should be more of them!

And of course, there’s all the buyers who refuse to go to real estate auctions on principle. Do the hard yards and sell it properly.

arescarti42 said :

“It may be ahead of its time, he added.”

Or horrendously overpriced.

Or in the wrong suburb.

“It may be ahead of its time, he added.”

Or horrendously overpriced.

You can sell anything. For the right price.

I think you mean Crace JB.

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