Yahoo Finance 8-year-old snaps up 5 Sydney properties for $1 million
A number of eager Sydney property buyers were outbid at an auction over the weekend – by an eight-year-old boy.
On Saturday, youngster Michael Hamdan purchased not just one, but five one-bedroom studios in Sydney’s south-west suburb of Greenacre for just under $1 million.
Beating out competition from six other bidders, the eight-year-old purchased the five properties for $970,000, to the astonishment of the auction crowd.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Harcourts Greenacre selling agent Mark Saleh. “All the other bidders were a bit shocked.”
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Hamdan placed the opening bid and even entered the auction with a strategy to “slow bidding down,” reported realestate.com.au.
As he wasn’t able to directly buy the properties due to his age, his property developer father made the purchases on his behalf.
“He was enjoying playing monopoly with the bids,” the father said. “We made it a fun experience.”
He wanted his son to be involved in purchasing the property so he could learn about Sydney’s property market sooner rather than later, the father added.
“I’m trying to teach him everything I know. I used to get very uncomfortable bidding at auctions, I know what it’s like. I hope this will build up his confidence.”
The father plans on renovating and then renting out the properties, with his son involved “every step of the way”, such as picking out the fittings and fixtures.
“The property market is difficult to get into,” said Hamdan senior. “I wanted to train my son up … we saw this as a good investment.”
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