Nick Papas sold a one-bedroom harbour-view apartment in Darlinghurst for $830,000 after bringing the auction forward and conducting it digitally via Zoom in response to overwhelming buyer interest.
Nick Papas faced an unusual challenge three weeks into his Darlinghurst campaign — too much interest arriving too early.
The one-bedroom harbour-view apartment at Unit 71/220-234 Goulburn Street had generated 81 inquiries and 41 inspections by early April, with four separate buyers all wanting to make pre-auction offers. Rather than manage a drawn-out negotiation or risk losing momentum, Nick made a tactical decision: bring the auction forward and conduct it digitally.
“Due to the amount of interest and the offers coming forward prior to auction, we actually called the auction forward on a Monday night and did it digitally over Zoom,” Nick said.
“All the buyers were online registered to bid, the auctioneer was online watching the auction and taking the bids, and myself and my associate agent were online with the buyers assisting them where we needed to.”
The property sold on 13 April for $830,000 after 24 days on market — $80,000 above the $750,000 buyer guide.
The buyer and the competition
A Newcastle-based investor working with a buyer’s agent secured the property, viewing it as both a cashflow investment and a potential Sydney bolt-hole. Three unsuccessful bidders remain active in the area, with Nick referring one to another listing and connecting another with the buyer’s agent who represented the successful purchaser.
“We are very big on providing that service and buyer excellence,” Nick said.
Location and lifestyle appeal
The Darlinghurst property sits in East Sydney’s inner-city fringe, where one-bedroom apartments typically spend 36 days on market. The 11th-floor position in the refurbished Panorama 220 complex offered north-facing harbour views extending toward the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, with Crown Street and Oxford Street retail precincts within walking distance.
At inspections, buyers consistently commented on the harbour views and the lifestyle positioning — prestige inner-city living under $1 million.
Behind the scenes preparation
The property had been tenanted for nine years. When the tenant gave notice, Nick’s team assisted with their relocation before commencing presentation work.
“We gave it a nice fresh coat of paint, did the floors, and then went in and got the property styled professionally through Purple Feather Styling,” Nick said.
“They really set the property up right for the buyer that was looking to buy in that area — great for a single person or a couple.”
The marketing strategy combined high-quality photography showcasing the harbour views with video content distributed through social media and the major property portals. Nick also used building ownership data from ID4Me and RPData to target existing apartment owners in the complex, several of whom owned multiple units. One of the underbidders was an investor who also leases property through Nick’s agency.
What drove the result
Nick attributes the competitive outcome to transparency rather than scarcity tactics.
“What’s working really well in the current market conditions is just transparency — buyer guides that are realistic, buyer guides where people are going to make offers at those guides and those offers are going to be accepted or very much considered,” Nick said.
“By being able to have good, honest, transparent conversations with buyers, letting them know that if this is going to be the final offer, we are going to sell, that just really got buyers to understand that they’re dealing with a serious and motivated seller.”
The vendors were delighted with the outcome. “They said to me, ‘Nick, we really had a price in mind and you exceeded that.’ They were just excited that we did everything we could to get the best value for them but remained ethical throughout the process.”
About the Agent
Nick Papas has ranked among Australia’s top 100 agents on multiple occasions across a 20-year career and has been internationally recognised for performance. With his personally trained team, Nick sells over 130 properties annually across values ranging from $100,000 to $10 million. He specialises in development sites, apartment blocks, and off-the-plan projects, providing consulting services to builders and developers. Visit Nick’s website for more information or call Nick on 0414647302.