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By Ellen Lutton
November 5, 2023
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An ambulance on set for a medical emergency. A history-making result. And that
was all just in the first auction. Photo: Nine
THE 5 BIGGEST SHOCKS OF THE BLOCK 2023 AUCTIONS
By Ellen Lutton
November 5, 2023
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Season 19 has been a spicy one. A couple of plot twists early in the season
quickly paled into insignificance, completely outstripped and overtaken by the
chaos and drama of the contestants.
These auctions were never going to be benign.
Sitting through an auction is usually a very nerve-racking experience for most,
but The Block 2023 Hampton East auctions? We’ve got whiplash.
STEPH AND GIAN’S ENTIRE AUCTION
Steph and Gian were fan favourites, but their winning result remained a
bombshell. Photo: Nine
Fan favourites Steph and Gian came out as clear winners on auction day but
watching the event unfold was absolutely wild.
The speed of it was breakneck. Within milliseconds of the auction starting,
Danny Wallis jumped in with a bid of $3,999,999.99, and auctioneer Tom Panos
declared the property was on the market. In the first bid, Steph and Gian made a
$649,999.99 profit.
20 Charming Street, Hampton East VIC 3188
5 Beds4 Baths3 Parking
View listing
Before everyone has even had a chance to stop gasping in disbelief, Panos called
the property once, twice – and then buyer’s advocate Frank Valentic put in a bid
of $4 million.
Cue more gasping until someone in the crowd yelled out, “Stop, there’s something
wrong,” and the cameras panned to one of the bidders, who had collapsed.
The auction paused as Dave “Hughsey” Hughes and other bidders rushed to the
woman’s aid. Producers called 000 and the crowd was cleared from the deck.
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An ambulance arrived and a medical team attended to the woman – who intended on
buying one of the houses – and the auction remained stalled until she was
eventually well enough to be walked out.
What goes into selling a property on The Block?
How do agents deal with the pressure of Australia's most talked about property
sale of the year?
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1.
Fans reflect on 20 years of The Block
The Block fans lined up in droves to inspect the Charming Street properties.
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1.
Splurge or Save: Brett and Kirsty's work from home room
The Block's Brett and Kirsty on where they splurged and saved when creating
their comfy home office.
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1.
When the auction crowd returned, they were hushed and looked slightly
shell-shocked. The $4 million bid was with Frank Valentic. The auction was
called once, twice, and the final call was made.
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Then: “$5 million”.
Adrian Portelli – a prominent investor known as “Mr Lambo” and a serial Block
bidder – had raised the bidding by a crushing $1 million in one fell swoop.
There was more gasping from the crowd, jaws on the floor from contestants, and
tears and laughter from Steph and Gian.
The auction was done and dusted in three bids. Sold, for $5 million, to Adrian
Portelli. Steph and Gian had made the biggest profit in 20 years of The Block
– $1.65 million.
ADRIAN PORTELLI BIDDING AGAINST HIMSELF
Adrian Portelli made three of the four bids at Eliza and Liberty's auction.
Photo: Nine
Serial Block bidder Adrian Portelli wasn’t taking any chances this year. There
were some houses he wanted – at what appeared to be any cost – and luckily for
Eliza and Liberty, their House 5 was on his hit list.
His first bid of $4.1 million came swiftly after Danny Wallis’ opening bid of
$3,099,999.99.
It chalked up an immediate (and massive) profit of $850,000 for Eliza and
Liberty.
22 Charming Street, Hampton East VIC 3188
5 Beds4 Baths3 Parking
View listing
But why stop bidding if you’re having fun? Portelli bizarrely bid against
himself, unprompted, raising the price by a whopping $100,000 to $4.2 million.
The others were done; Frank Valentic said he was out and Danny Wallis said, “He
can have it,” but Portelli bid against himself again, calling out $4.3 million.
Auctioneer Nick Renna of Jellis Craig laughed and said to the crowd: “This is
the strangest auction I’ve ever done in years.”
That’s an achievement in itself.
The hammer fell and the property sold for $4.3 million after only four bids –
three of which were made by Adrian Portelli, and two of which were made against
…. himself.
DANNY GOES HOME EMPTY-HANDED AND SEETHING
Serial Block bidder Danny Wallis left empty-handed. Photo: Nine
Melbourne philanthropist Danny Wallis made his first appearance on The Block in
2012, buying Mike and Andrew South’s house in his signature bidding style for
$1,400,001.01, and since then he’s been a standard fixture on auction day.
He’s forked out millions of dollars on The Block properties over the years, and
the properties he buys are often rented out or used for charitable purposes.
Last year he handed Omar and Oz a history-making profit when he bought their
Gisborne home for $5,666,666.66 – a whopping $1,586,666.66 over the property’s
reserve of $4.08 million.
But this year he couldn’t catch a break. He was completely outbid by Adrian
Portelli in House 4 and 5 and then he made just one single bid for House 3.
He opened the bidding for Kyle and Leslie‘s House 1 but before he could even
finish reading his bid aloud he was cut off by Adrian Portelli who outbid him
(again).
He countered with a second bid, but was again swiftly outbid by Portelli, who
looked on a mission to secure his third property of the day.
Looking frustrated by this point, Wallis refused to participate in the auction
again and didn’t make a single bid for Leah and Ash’s House 4.
14 Charming Street, Hampton East VIC 3188
4 Beds3 Baths2 Parking
View listing
He remarked to reporters on his way out that House 4 and 5 sold for “too much”
and when asked why he didn’t push harder to win Houses 1, 2 or 3, he told
Domain: “They’re junk.”
His sister, who’s stood next to him at every Block auction, wrangling his dog,
added: “[They’re] high maintenance for investment properties, which is what we
have to consider.”
Maybe next year.
HOUSE 3’S SHOCK $65,000 PROFIT
The Block 2023: Kristy and Brett were left devastated by their result. Photo:
Nine
After the huge numbers that were shelled out for House 4 and 5, all eyes were on
Brett and Kristy as they walked in to watch their auction unfold. Expectations
were high and the literal million-dollar question was: Can this momentum be
sustained?
But it was different from the very first bid. Danny Wallis did not open with a
$3 million-plus figure. The first bid was $2.75 million – $220,000 shy of the
$2.97 million reserve.
18 Charming Street, Hampton East VIC 3188
5 Beds4 Baths2 Parking
View listing
It turned out to be a two-horse race between buyer’s agent Frank Valentic and
buyer’s advocate Marty Fox snr of White Fox Real Estate. What played out was far
more like a normal auction experience – the pair duked it out in small(er)
increments, then it stalled, then started again, then stalled, then started
again. It was by far the longest and most tense of the auctions.
The hammer fell at $3.035 million, netting Kristy and Brett a profit of just
$65,000.
Kristy later blamed her agent for the tepid auction, telling reporters he had
“shit the bed” and changed strategy.
“He pretty much revealed what our reserve was to the auction [crowd],” she said.
What her agent, Sam Inan of Belle St Kilda, had, in fact, revealed was that
house was on the market – but only after Fox bid $2.97 million and Valentic then
asked, “Are we on the market?”
Inan told Domain afterwards that his hands were tied.
“With Consumer Affairs [Victoria] in attendance it’s very hard not to answer
truthfully,” he said. “You can sometimes say, ‘Look I’ll answer you when I’m
ready.’ But the reality is, with Consumer Affairs there – and they’re knowing
what the paperwork says – it’s very, very hard to do anything but tell the
truth.
“They actually followed me around during the break and said, ‘You’d better make
sure you reiterate that it’s on the market – I don’t think everyone heard you.’
”
He said the disappointing results for Houses 1, 2 and 3 were not a direct
consequence of his calling House 3 on the market.
“When I spoke to some of the buyers that didn’t bid on our properties they said
they didn’t see the value in our homes, full stop,” he said.
“It had nothing to do with whether they were cheap or affordable on the day.
They just didn’t like them.”
LEAH AND ASH HAVE YET TO SELL THEIR HOUSE
The Block 2023: Leah & Ash's property failed to sell on auction day. Photo:
Nine
The Brisbane couple from House 2 are serial renovators but their house-flipping
experience wasn’t enough to get them over the line on auction day.
Their auction was short and sharp – it stalled after one single opening bid of
$2.9 million.
16 Charming Street, Hampton East VIC 3188
5 Beds4 Baths2 Parking
View listing
Their agents, Halli Moore and Noel Susay of Buxton Hampton East, took a break to
confer with the couple, who decided to pass the property in.
They told Domain afterwards they had seen how the previous two auctions played
out and, given they were still $70,000 short of their $2.97 million reserve,
couldn’t risk the house selling without netting them any profit at all.
“As soon as we saw that there was a $2.9 [million] bid out, it felt really slow.
You can see it in Danny’s face and you can also see it in Adrian’s face when
they lose complete interest. And I sort of straight away knew,” Leah said.
Their sole bidder, Frank Valentic, had first rights to negotiate with them after
the auction passed in. No deal had been inked as of Sunday.
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