Renovator’s delight comes with smashed toilet and ceiling

A toilet is smashed and the ceiling is caving in – but plucky renovators looking to snap up a bargain are still expected to flock to this three-bedroom country home, located just an hour’s drive north of Adelaide.

On the market for $385,000, 15 Ralli St, Balaklava is ideally suited to house flippers, with several renovated properties of similar character and size worth upwards of $700,000, said selling agent Lisa Curnow, of Elders Real Estate.

“It’s definitely a renovator’s delight. It would certainly suit a builder (who could restore the house themselves),’’ Ms Curnow said.

“We’ve got other (renovated) grandeur homes in the district that are (selling) in the $700,000 to $800,000 vicinity so…you could put (spend) a couple of hundred grand on it and not overcapitalise at all.

“The (best) option would be to knock off that back bit (of the home) and completely redo the wet areas and the kitchen – you could even add on a master and ensuite.’’

Supplied Real Estate 15 Ralli Street, Balaklava

The character home at Balaklava is in need of a renovation.

But there’s no doubt it’s packed with potential and even comes with a pool.

A new kitchen has already been installed.

While laws prevented the house being rented in its current state, Ms Curnow said it could still be lived in by owner-occupiers, with the vendor having resided there for the past two decades.

She said the bathroom was the worst part of the home, where soil movement had caused the ceiling to collapse onto a toilet below, cracking the cistern and destroying the toilet pan but leaving a stunning stained-glass window intact.

A separate toilet nearby is still in working order.

Ms Curnow said there was also cracking in the modern kitchen, visible on the outside of the home but hidden behind gyprock and cabinetry inside.

“It was just the movement of the ground (that has caused the damage),’’ she said.

“That corner of the home, over time and with age, has moved and the ceiling has fallen in.

“There’s some structural work and underpinning (required) so you would need a professional to do that but they (builders) are becoming more and more affordable, actually, as time goes on.’’

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However, a smashed toilet has left many buyers asking `what happened here?’.

One of the main living spaces has cracks in the wall.

The floorboards have already been polished.

The house, built in 1919, is set on a huge 2250sqm block on two titles, with four large front rooms boasting original, beautifully preserved timber floors.

There is also a saltwater swimming pool with solar heating, several sheds with power and concrete floors and a large backyard that Ms Curnow said was perfect for “bonfires or (creating) a BMX track or something for the kids’’.

She anticipated interest in the property would be strong.

“It’s a great price point and … I’m expecting to see a lot of people that want to come and see what’s involved in renovating it,’’ she said.

“Some people will see it and go, ‘Hell no, absolutely not’, and others will go, ‘Fantastic, this

is exactly what I’m looking for’ and they will sink their teeth in and off they go.’’

– BY LAUREN AHWAN

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