Wednesday, 15 March 2017

A $2 MILLION GIFT FOR THE KIDS

Stars like Cate Blanchett and her husband, former Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Andrew Upton, have done it. Their three sons weren’t even teenagers – Dashiell was 12, Roman, 9 and Ignatius, 5 - when their parents bought them a $2 million waterfront apartment in Elizabeth Bay in 2014. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that just three years later, a surgeon and his wife were happy to splurge $2.3 million for a 1969-built two-bedroom unit overlook- ing the beach at Clovelly on Saturday. Little matter that their kids were just aged 3 and 1. Raoul and Rebecca Pope, of Bronte said in the post- auction euphoria: “It’s just a great investment for our children ... this was a rare opportunity in a market that’s going northwards. “We wanted to give the kids some leverage into the property market.” The sale, through Craig Sewell of Mint 360, looks to be just the tip of the iceberg. Kaila Conklin of buyer’s agents Intergen pointed out other stars who have done it “Bryan Brown bought for his daughters, Colin Friels and Judy Davis and George Miller – they’ve all bought for their children,” she said. “They’ve all got the money.” And Ms Conklin said the trend of parents gifting property for their children was gathering pace. “That’s where our company has evolved from – Intergenerational wealth – providing for the future,” she said. She’s currently helping a young couple buying a property as an investment for their 11-year-old and also grandparents helping their 20-something grandchildren. Rebecca and Raoul Pope and the “They’re just wanting to set them up,” Ms Conklin said. $2.3 million unit that they bought for their children aged 3 and 1, on Saturday. The façade is above.