It was last October when the entertainment industry couple acted on their property upgrade desire, after ascertaining the renovation costs on their Bronte house didn’t justify the location.
They instead signed a contract to reputedly buy a double-fronted Paddington terrace from Susie Kelly, the co-founder and owner of Industrie clothing with her husband, Nick, for a rumoured very bullish $6.35 million, a record for the southern side of Oxford Street.
After finding a buyer of their redundant unrenovated Bronte house proved even more difficult than anticipated, Collette and Galafassi are accused of changing their mind on the Paddington purchase instead buying again at Bronte for $5.5 million, with NAB funding, from the eventual buyer of their own $3.5 million Bronte house.
Their property fickleness even spread to Hollywood, as the couple recently accepted an undisclosed offer on their Los Angeles pied a terre, which they bought in late 2010 for $1.33 million. They had been asking $1.325,000 for it.
The Paddington terrace house was sold again through McGrath agent Ben Collier in a deteriorating prestige market.
Designed by architect Anthony Gill and completed in 2009, the five-bedroom, four-bathroom house on a 360-square-metre block sold for a record for the southern side of Oxford Street, Paddington.
Consisting of two classic Victorian terraces combined into a palatial single residence, the contemporary tri-level family retreat had been reinvented after the merger of two terraces costing $2.15 million in 2003 and $1.865 million in 2005.
Their 1885 Bronte weatherboard cottage that cost $4.4 million in mid-2009 sold for $3.5 million through its McGrath Estate Agents listing agent Bethwyn Richards.
Property lawyers say the Supreme Court could find the Paddington contract binding and the entertainment industry couple could be forced to pay the shortfall, plus costs.
This article first appeared on Property Observer.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
