Melbourne’s lockdowns and second wave were the last straw for the young family and in September they paid $675,000 for 13 River Ave in Echuca.
Originally from Swan Hill, Ryan said he and his wife had loved living in Hawthorn but had always had ideas in the back of their minds about one day returning to regional Victoria.
Their new home settles today; and they should be able to visit soon to see what they got for their money.
From 11.59pm on November 8, Echuca is expected to re-open its doors to visitors from metropolitan Melbourne.
“We really want to see the house we are about to call home,” Ryan said.
“We were lucky because Josh Rankin, a mate, lives in town and he was able to go around and do the inspections for us,” he said.
“After COVID forced our hand we were lucky to find a place like this. The block is a little over an acre, it is right on the river and there will be plenty of room for our boys – Tom, 10, and Billy, 8.
“When we told them they could get a dog in Echuca it was a done deal.”
Ryan said the online auction was “a really good way” for them to get involved.
He said being in Melbourne meant a lot of Facetime visits, a lot of phone calls with the agents and a lot of time in front of the computer.
“We watched how much easier life was in regional areas compared with what we were going through in Melbourne and we just wanted to pack up and get out of here,” Ryan added.
“The sale was helped by Troy (O’Brien) and Sharon (Henson) who put up with all our calls and Sharon even did a video from the front door to the river to show us how close it all is,” he said.
“On auction day I put on my Geelong jumper and scarf for luck and it must have worked because the house is ours – it just didn’t work a few weeks later when it really mattered.
“That was also the only downside to our Melbourne home, it’s in Hawthorn.
“And I am hoping Mr Atley (principal Brendan Atley) at St Mary’s is reading this and will make some room for the boys in the 2021 school year,” he laughed.
Charles L King First National director Troy O’Brien said his office has been “inundated” with enquiries from Melbourne.
“People who were thinking country one day are insisting on it today; retirees have brought plans forward but we are also seeing young families like the Quirks,” he said.
“All of a sudden a lot of people want to get out of Melbourne and not go back.”
Troy said he had also been amazed by the number of people happy to shop online only – something he had never seen on this scale.
And he said it has been accelerating since his company introduced the online sales platform Openn Negotiation and the River Ave property was the first they have sold with the program.
“There have been many ongoing challenges for the real estate industry throughout COVID-19 restrictions and that has forced us to adapt, and a big part of that change was online auctions through the Openn Negotiations platform,” Troy said.
“It is a system that gives Melbourne buyers direct access to the local market even if they still can’t get here and we have three more Echuca homes listed on it now – 130 Hume St, 1 Murphy Way and 138 Pakenham St,” he said.
“Despite some obvious changes we have discovered online auctions suit some vendors to market and sell their property by the most transparent method of auction and also allows buyers to openly negotiate on price.
“With 13 River Ave we had four registered bidders and a total of 24 bids, with the property eventually selling for $115,000 above the reserve – the online sales have helped keep the market moving.”
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