Accused domestic violence perpetrator Sam Wood and his alleged victim, wife Snezana Wood, are set to launch the sale of their jointly owned $7 million home in the affluent Melbourne bayside suburb of Brighton as soon as Wednesday.
The sale comes as the 46-year-old fitness entrepreneur awaits his next court appearance over the alleged violent assault of his wife while on a family holiday in Noosa on October 3. Wood was last week denied bail following a hearing in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court, and is now being held in custody in the Brisbane Correctional Centre.
A source close to the couple who was not authorised to speak publicly told this masthead on Tuesday that an on-market sales campaign for the expansive Hanby Street home was set to go live in the next 48 hours.
The couple committed to buying the almost 1300-square-metre property in September last year and settled on the $7.15 million purchase in mid-January.
Having owned the property for just nine months, the couple and their four children have not lived in the home, and are instead residing in another Brighton property, which they do not own.
The five-bedroom residence, which boasts a tennis court and a pool, has been empty since the Woods took possession and is generating no income.
The title reveals the Woods own the property as joint proprietors, with the property mortgaged to ANZ.
The couple share three young daughters, with Wood also stepfather to Snezana’s 21-year-old daughter, Eve, from a previous relationship.
Since Wood was taken into custody last week, Snezana and her children have returned to Melbourne.
The multimillion-dollar real estate sale continues the fallout from Wood’s dramatic arrest. Billionaire businessman Dennis Bastas, who purchased Woods’ 28 by Sam Wood fitness empire in 2022 when it was valued at $71 million, terminated the former reality TV star as the public face of the enterprise after the alleged violent assault. Police allege Wood threw his wife against a wall and tried to strangle her after an argument.
For the past month, agents to the sale Jellis Craig, had been working with the Woods to carry out a cosmetic renovation to the property.
The couple also own a home in Mt Martha on the Mornington Peninsula, which they bought in 2020 for $2.7 million and have since renovated. It was rented to Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher late last year, when the band was on the Melbourne leg of its international tour.
Wood shot to fame on The Bachelor Australia in 2015, where he met Snezana. The couple married three years later and in the 11 years since have become red carpet regulars, carving out a lucrative picture-perfect life on social media as influencers.
While the market for residential real estate in Melbourne is challenging, the home is expected to benefit from a change in zoning that could boost the large site’s redevelopment potential.
The home was previously in a Neighbourhood Residential Zone, but now sits within a Housing Choice and Transport Zone designed to increase medium density housing supply near public transport and activity.
The zoning allows a standard height of up to four stories no taller than 13.5 metres, which could increase its attractiveness to developers.