When Matt and Jaime Wilson purchased a run-down, three-bedroom Bundanoon house for $455,000 in August last year, they knew they had their work cut out for them.
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Matt admits it was "an absolute wreck of a house" and was in need of a complete overhaul, from the exterior through to the bathrooms and kitchen.
But what the couple didn't realise was how much the Southern Highlands home could be worth just 12 months down the track, fetching $1,165,000 last week after just one week on the market.
With a six-figure amount in mind, Matt and Jaime were shocked when their real estate agents at Harcourts Southern Highlands gave an appraisal above $1 million.
"We just looked at them and said, 'C'mon, you're joking aren't you?'" said Matt.
"And then it even surpassed what they'd said as well, which was really good.
"It's pretty crazy, I think the neighbours are pretty stunned as well."
Selling agent Paul Macefield said he received offers on the property just two days after it was listed with a price guide of $1 million to $1.1 million.
"We quickly raised it to $1.05 million to $1.15 million because we had offers of $1.05 million within the first day that it was on the market," he said.
"There was two parties competing for it so that pushed the price up.
"One of the people making offers was making offers off the virtual tour ... the people that bought it got a permit to come out of Sydney and looked at it two days in a row and they were really keen."
Mr Macefield, who also sold the house to Matt and Jaime last year, said after the extensive refurbishment it's "basically a new house".
"There was no real structural issues with the house, cosmetically it needed a lot of work," he said.
Alongside fully renovated bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen, the works included installing a new roof, reverse cycle air conditioning on both levels, extensive drainage works, plus a new shed that doubles as a workshop or office space.
It's not the first time Matt and Jaime have renovated, they previously completed a "light renovation" on another Bundanoon property prior to taking on this project.
Matt said the pair weren't working full-time last year due to the pandemic, which allowed them to focus more time and energy on the renovation.
"I don't like calling us as flippers, I don't like that term so much, we like to live in the house for a little bit," he said.
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While the plan was always to renovate and sell the property, he said it was a hard decision to leave, but with three children, they're now in search of something bigger.
"It's actually a little bitter sweet because we love the place, it's one of the nicest places we've been in," he said.
Matt and Jaime have grown fond of Bundanoon and plan to stay in the area for their next project.
With a population of 2729 according to 2016 census data, Bundanoon has been previously overlooked given its distance from Sydney and Canberra, said Mr Macefield.
"But the market there has been very strong for the last five years because it's a really nice village with beautiful topography, lots of history and a really strong and active community that's quite welcoming - it's an easy town to move into," he said.
"So we've seen in the last 18 months, there's been very strong price growth in the town because there is only a small stock of properties and there's a huge demand now because everybody's realised what a wonderful place it is to live."
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