A $600,000 Drummoyne unit sale plus $150,000 back rent windfall for long-lost Boston beneficiary

The vendor, a Boston, US-based beneficiary, will pocket the proceeds, plus about $150,000 from 22 years unallocated back rent.

The property last traded at $102,000 in 1986 when bought by a mother who died suddenly in January 1990 leaving a baby daughter and a scribbled note indicating her wishes.

The two-bedroom apartment remained on the rent roll of a Drummoyne agency, which has been directed by Ray White principal Chris Wilkins for about 10 years.

The Wrights Road apartment remained on his rental book – with the proceeds banked into the trust account and awaiting the discovery of the beneficiary.

She was initially hesitant on hearing of her windfall, thinking in part it ought to go to her father, and she disappeared again from contact for some years.

The sole beneficiary was more recently tracked down in Boston, according to the Inner West Courier journalist Victoria Craw, after Wilkins collaborated with Tim Eakin of law firm Eakin McCaffery Cox, administrator of the deceased estate, to hire a private investigator in the US.

Marketed by Ray White agent Aladdin Hassen following its recent redecoration, auctioneer Peter Matthews tweeted afterwards it was "a great story."

It was initially listed with a $625,000 asking price in January and then $550,000-plus hopes in the lead up to the auction. "It was a competitive auction," Wilkins said, saying it was sold to a young bidder buying her first home.