Eight-year-old boy Michael Hamdan was the winning bidder at a Greenacre auction. Photo / News Corp Australia
Eight-year-old boy Michael Hamdan was the winning bidder at a Greenacre auction. Photo / News Corp Australia
He is just 8 years old but Michael Hamdan could be Sydney's youngest property investor.
The southwest Sydney resident was the winning bidder at the auction of a cluster of five one-bedroom studios in Greenacre Saturday, beating out competition from six other registered bidders.
The homes on Juno Pde were snapped up under the hammer for $970,000 after going to market with expectations of about $800,000.
Selling agent Mark Saleh of Harcourts-Greenacre said the 8-year-old's entry into the auction was met with astonishment from the crowd of onlookers.
"I've never seen anything like it," Saleh said. "All the other bidders were a bit shocked."
Hamdan led much of the auction, placing the opening bid and came into the sale with a strategy to "slow bidding down", according to his property developer father.
"He was enjoying playing monopoly with the bids," the dad said. "We made it a fun experience."
The boy was unable to directly buy the property because of his age, but his father said he purchased the investment properties for him.
His son handed the cheque to the sellers as part of the transaction.
The property developer said he wanted his son to be involved in the purchase of the former housing commission units so he could learn as much as possible about Sydney's pressure cooker property market.
"I'm trying to teach him everything I know," he said. "I used to get very uncomfortable bidding at auctions, I know what it's like. I hope this will build up his confidence."
There was a high level of competition for the properties. Photo / News Corp Australia
The father-son team will renovate the properties and rent them out.
"(Michael) will be involved every step of the way … he will make the choices," the dad said, adding the child would be picking out fittings and fixtures with his guidance.
Auctioneer Rob Trovato of Auction Services was calling the bids and said there was a reasonable level of competition from the other bidders, who were mostly investors and other developers.
The younger Hamdam stood out, Trovato said. "He attempted some low-ball bids which had to be knocked back, but a lot of people try that … the two of them were having a bit of fun with it."
ING research showed the average age of Sydney first homebuyers was 38.2, up from 34.7 in 2005.
"The property market is difficult to get into," the older Hamdan said. "I wanted to train my son up … we saw this as a good investment."
