Author Topic: Lachlan Murdoch paid $4.4 million for neighbouring mansion to protect his view  (Read 6155 times)

mustachepungoeshere

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When faced with the prospect of their neighbours adding a third storey and rooftop terrace to a home, which is set directly in front of their Bellevue Hill Georgian mansion, it appears the Murdochs took another course of action and bought the house – and the DA-approved plans with it – for $4.4 million.

https://www.domain.com.au/news/lachlan-and-sarah-murdoch-surreptitiously-bought-their-neighbours-bellevue-hill-home-for-44-million-20180318-h0x914/

Miss Piggy

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Pocket change.

marty998

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This NSW taxpayer thanks Mr Murdoch for his stamp duty contribution.

partgypsy

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Honestly if I was that rich I would do something like that too, to protect my view.

honeybbq

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Honestly if I was that rich I would do something like that too, to protect my view.

Right? Me too.

Icecreamarsenal

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In Mustachian parlance, should read:
Lachlan Murdoch spends 0.0004% of his net worth to protect his view.

chouchouu

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I learned to sail at the same yacht club he is a member of. I remember my instructor told me she advised him not to buy a maxi yacht and instead just borrow or sail with others since you don't use a maxi yacht that often and upkeep, mooring etc is so expensive. I was impressed he was diligent enough to be economical about his yacht ownership.

Laura33

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Eh, when you've already paid $23M for a mansion, apparently with plans for an extensive renovation that the neighbors opposed, paying another $4.4M to protect the view and get rid of said neighbors seems like a reasonable investment.  At least there are much stupider things he could have spent that money on. 

(Like, you know, a $23M house that requires extensive renovations.  But that's just me.)

Dicey

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I learned to sail at the same yacht club he is a member of. I remember my instructor told me she advised him not to buy a maxi yacht and instead just borrow or sail with others since you don't use a maxi yacht that often and upkeep, mooring etc is so expensive. I was impressed he was diligent enough to be economical about his yacht ownership.
Which might be why he had enough spare pocket change to buy his neighbor's property. Also, it's not like he blew the money. He got something that adds to the value of his estate. I agree with this POV:

In Mustachian parlance, should read:
Lachlan Murdoch spends 0.0004% of his net worth to protect his view.
I was going to add it's not like he spent it on hookers and blow, or rock hoppers and Yeti coolers, but I wasnt sure if there was a trendier name for those lifted, off-road trucks, the tallest of which tend to be driven by short guys, so I asked Google. Sonofabitch, look what a laugh good ol' Google served up:

https://axleaddict.com/trucks-vans/truck-names

The article is actually titled "101 Badass Truck Names". *Facepalm* Badass, my ass.

Samuel

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That's one hell of a guesthouse...

Prairie Stash

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Eh, when you've already paid $23M for a mansion, apparently with plans for an extensive renovation that the neighbors opposed, paying another $4.4M to protect the view and get rid of said neighbors seems like a reasonable investment.  At least there are much stupider things he could have spent that money on. 

(Like, you know, a $23M house that requires extensive renovations.  But that's just me.)
Is it actually a smart investment? How much would his $23 millon property decline in value with a poor view. Can anyone guess what the combined value of the properties would be if the cheaper property had indergone a renovation?

As crazy as it sounds, this may have been a smart choice (if you negelct that buying a $23 million property is crazy).

chouchouu

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Eh, when you've already paid $23M for a mansion, apparently with plans for an extensive renovation that the neighbors opposed, paying another $4.4M to protect the view and get rid of said neighbors seems like a reasonable investment.  At least there are much stupider things he could have spent that money on. 

(Like, you know, a $23M house that requires extensive renovations.  But that's just me.)
Is it actually a smart investment? How much would his $23 millon property decline in value with a poor view. Can anyone guess what the combined value of the properties would be if the cheaper property had indergone a renovation?

As crazy as it sounds, this may have been a smart choice (if you negelct that buying a $23 million property is crazy).

I would say it's a decent investment. Sydney high end real estate is always in demand and has a big market with Chinese billionaires buying trophy properties. We're also growing our population so it's extremely unlikely property values will go down in the long term even though there is an expected market correction soon-would probably effect more lower end property.  High end sydney real estate tends to for three things; heritage, harbour front and views. Especially considering a view of Sydney Harbour is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. At the high end of the market spending roughly 20% of your house value protecting a major selling point is probably worth it.  It is what makes those suburbs prestige compared to similar sized properties equal distance from the city.

mustachepungoeshere

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I learned to sail at the same yacht club he is a member of. I remember my instructor told me she advised him not to buy a maxi yacht and instead just borrow or sail with others since you don't use a maxi yacht that often and upkeep, mooring etc is so expensive. I was impressed he was diligent enough to be economical about his yacht ownership.

Paul Clitheroe recommends only buying yachts third-hand.

This is the guy who named his yacht Balance.

Laura33

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Sounds like the house was for sale for "more than $4M" as is.  So at most, he really bought a $4M house and a $400K view.  And with almost $35M sunk into the primary house, $400K is chump change for the value he gets.

Although I bet the approved plans significantly increased the value of the house.  Still, the house as-is has to be worth a considerable amount, especially with the almost 6000 square meter lot.  And it probably has some views, too.

seattlecyclone

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I appreciate that he did that. Around here, neighbors who oppose other neighbors building larger buildings blocking their view would simply tie up the building permit in red tape while lobbying the city council to change the zoning on the land. Buying the property seems like a much more honorable solution.

alsoknownasDean

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In an area like that, I'm surprised that it was only worth $4.4M.

UnleashHell

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In an area like that, I'm surprised that it was only worth $4.4M.

maybe its value was depressed because of who lived next door....

marty998

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In an area like that, I'm surprised that it was only worth $4.4M.

maybe its value was depressed because of who lived next door....

Murdoch wouldn't actually spend a lot of his time there. Lifestyles of the rich and the famous and all that jazz. Gotta outrun those paparazzi too who stake out the area.

calimom

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I once read that cosmetics baroness Estee Lauder paid the potato farmers that surrounded her home in the Hamptons to plant clover. Sot that Estee could look out the windows of her part time abode and see clover, clover, clover as far as the eye could see.

Potatoes are ugly and for the proletariats!

marty998

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I once read that cosmetics baroness Estee Lauder paid the potato farmers that surrounded her home in the Hamptons to plant clover. Sot that Estee could look out the windows of her part time abode and see clover, clover, clover as far as the eye could see.

Potatoes are ugly and for the proletariats!

Sunflowers would have been nicer.

Dragonswan

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I appreciate that he did that. Around here, neighbors who oppose other neighbors building larger buildings blocking their view would simply tie up the building permit in red tape while lobbying the city council to change the zoning on the land. Buying the property seems like a much more honorable solution.
Yeah, couldn't he have just bought the air rights over the house thus preventing the owners from building up?  Or do that not have that in Sydney?

TheGrimSqueaker

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I once read that cosmetics baroness Estee Lauder paid the potato farmers that surrounded her home in the Hamptons to plant clover. Sot that Estee could look out the windows of her part time abode and see clover, clover, clover as far as the eye could see.

Potatoes are ugly and for the proletariats!

Sunflowers would have been nicer.

With clover the farmers could have double-dipped in a big way if they went in for beehives. Honey production has a nice ROI once you get past the initial investment for nucs and hives, but if you've got something reliable for the bees to collect pollen from. Clover is among the best.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!