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There is little reason to want to go on holiday if you are the owners of 312 Formosa Road at Gumdale.

The acreage estate has the look and feel of a Balinese resort, from the buddhas that greet you as you enter up the front path, to the soothing sounds coming from the water fountains as you lay bedside the pool.

It was an effect the owners were hoping to achieve when they set about building the property about 12 years ago.

At the time, ready to start a family and having grown up on acreages themselves, the owners went in search of a property that would offer the same freedoms and privacy that they had enjoyed as children.

They eventually stumbled upon the 2.5 acres at Gumdale and moved into a ramshackle house that stood at the front of the block, while they set about building their family dream home on the 2.5 acre plot backing on to it.

“There were a lot of early mornings being woken up to hammering and drilling, but it was worth it,” one of the owners said.

Not originally part of their master plan, but influenced by their designer, the owners fell in love with the Balinese theme.

“We loved that idea of indoor-outdoor living, where the inside spaces flow to outside. We’re entertainers, so there are plenty of outdoor areas with the space to have several people around.

Being on an acreage you don’t have to worry too much about the noise either.”

To add to the Bali resort-style authenticity, the owners sourced many of the materials used in the build, such as the stone walls and statues, from Indonesia.

As easy as it is to feel like you are living in a holiday resort, this property is and has always been a solid, functional family home, with interiors that have withstood the passage of time.

Over the years it has stood up to the demands not only of the owners but of their three children, aged between 8 and 11.

The house has four bedrooms, to accommodate a growing family, but the master bedroom, with its ensuite and walk-in robe, is located away from the others to give parents peace and privacy.

The heart of the home, however, is the kitchen, which features custom-designed cabinetry, a large stone benchtop and butler’s pantry.

The rest of the living spaces emanate from here, including the living room, dining room and an entertaining area with a large bar.

Elsewhere in the house is a cinema room, games room and study, which could easily be turned into a fifth bedroom if needed.

Outside the property has expanses of lawn and tropical landscaped gardens along with a pool, water features, full tennis court and basketball hoop. It is these things in particular and the active lifestyle that they present that the owners say they will find hardest to leave behind.

“We’ll miss that sporting lifestyle of being able to have a game of tennis, then go for a swim, and do activities with people when we entertain rather than just sit around.”

The family are moving to be closer to where their children attend school and the owners hope the house will go to a family who can enjoy everything they have over the years.

The estate is on the market open to expressions of interest.

The post Resort-style Gumdale home is like a Balinese resort appeared first on realestate.com.au.

FACE recognition in front doors, sunroofs in bathrooms, voice controlled lighting — even retractable pool diving boards.

No longer just for the rich and famous, smart technology is becoming as integral to a home as plumbing and electricity, with the potential to add hundreds of thousands of dollars in value.

Home buyers and builders are now demanding the latest ‘must-have’ smart features in their abodes as security, safety and spending more time at home become a priority.

Electronic Living founder Damian Cavanagh said smart homes were becoming as common as smart phones, with people realising the value of features like keyless entry, remote access to security cameras and voice activation.

“We are literally at ‘The Jetsons’ age now — the future is here now,” Mr Cavanagh said.

“It ties into this whole contactless thing. We want to do things, but we don’t want to touch them.

“One of the biggest drivers for modern families now is safety and security, with people spending more time at home and with the economy the way it’s going.”

Mr Cavanagh’s home automation company is working on what is being dubbed a ‘smart home on steroids’ in Brisbane’s inner north.

The custom-designed house will have out-of-this-world features such as a retractable, voice activated skylight in the ensuite, in-ceiling televisions, motorised custom paintings to conceal storage areas and smart lighting with custom programmed scenes such as: ‘Good morning’ and ‘Party time’.

The Kedron property has been designed by Base Architecture and is being built by Thallon Mole Group for a private client.

The three-level house will also include a glass-encased lift, a pool on the second level with a circular viewing window and a waterfall infinity edge, and a balcony bath weighing two tonnes.

Mr Cavanagh said smart home technology could add tens of thousands of dollars in value to a home at a minimum, and even potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We firmly believe the worst case scenario is whatever you spend (on smart home automation), you’ll get back,” he said.

“There’s now an expectation that if you’re spending $1.5 million or more on a home, you want it to be equipped with smart technology.”

Another smart home at 44 Reading St, Paddington, built by Graya Construction, recently sold for an eyewatering $4 million.

Rob Gray of Graya Construction said one of the main reasons the buyer paid bought the property was because he loved the integrated smart technology.

“It’s fast becoming the ‘must-have’ in luxury homes and all our clients are requesting it,” Mr Gray said.

“Not all can afford it, however, we strongly believe it adds the value to the home come resale.”

Mr Graya said the top five smart features most requested by clients included security, entry access control, audio visual, lighting and home entertainment systems.

Mr Cavanagh said demand for smart homes had “trickled down to the entry level market”, with project builders now approaching him for smart home solutions because their clients were requesting it.

“A household these days has an average of six or seven wireless devices,” he said.

“The demand for this is not going away anytime soon.

“We’ve had a real shot in the arm from a technology standpoint with COVID-19, particularly with people spending more time at home, now, and into the future.”

SMART TECHNOLOGY FEATURES THAT CAN ADD VALUE TO YOUR HOME

* Smart intercoms that can be answered remotely via phone and allow access to the home from anywhere in the world

* Unlocking doors and gates remotely via phone

* Entertainment mood settings

* Smart light switches

* In-ceiling television dropper (controlled by smart touch panel, smart remote or app)

* Motorised television slider, so when the client selects “watch tv” the panel moves out of the way to reveal the TV and it automatically turns on

* Voice control of whole home — individual commands such as; “Turn the lounge room lights on” or programmed scenes such as “Hey Google, good morning”, which recalls the scene of your choice.

* Home cinema

* AV equipment rack. Hidden away in a well ventilated cupboard so not to impede the interior styling of the home. Smart cabling runs from this central location, to each point in the house (TV’s, touch panels, ceiling speakers etc.)

* Control4 NEEO remote. This is a new product to market that controls everything in the home, similar to the app or touch panel, but giving the option for tactile buttons.

* Remote viewing of CCTV cameras

* Smart fire place (turn on/off) via voice command or smart control panels.

* Discrete landscape or in-ceiling speakers.

* Smart blind controls

The post Meet Brisbane’s smart home on steroids with a bathroom sunroof appeared first on realestate.com.au.

A SUBURB south of Hobart was the standout performer in the latest Affordable and Liveable Property Guide by PRDnationwide’s national research team.

Kingston was the only suburb named in the Top 3 for the house and unit market segments.

This report focuses less on traditional measures such as median prices and sale transactions, it also includes a range of factors such as low crime rates, access to amenities, unemployment at or lower than the state average, and the estimated value of development projects coming to the area.

PRD national research manager Diaswati Mardiasmo said the Kingston house market was a consistent performer in this report having made the Top 3 in 2018 and 2019 and the first half of 2020, too.

She described the suburb’s development pipeline as “healthy”.

“There is growing demand for property in Kingston,” she said.

“With direct access to the city, parks, a golf course, schools and shops, there are strong liveability benefits for Kingston residents.”

Diaswati said the suburb delivered consistent value to residents and investors alike.

Kingston’s houses and units have a vacancy rate below 1 per cent while rental yields return between 4.2 per cent (houses) and 5.5 per cent (units).

“The data also showed double-digit growth in the unit market from Q1 2019 to Q1 2020,” she said.

Kingborough expert Donna Paton from Fall Real Estate described Kingston as the “perfect place to reside”.

“Whether you enjoy the cafe, wine bar and restaurant vibe or swimming, kayaking, sailing and fishing on Browns River and the beaches, there is so much to enjoy,” she said.

“There’s a world class golf course, ovals, a sports centre and many wonderful parks and playgrounds.

“Whether you are buying a unit or a house, Kingston is an extremely sought after suburb, and for good reason.

“Everything you need is at your fingertips and the city and Salamanca are just a 15-minute drive.”

Donna said the last six months — despite COVID-19 restrictions — had proven to be a buoyant time in the Kingston property market. She said prices had remained resilient throughout due
to consistent demand and subsequent competitive offers on all types of property.

“Most homes have shown value increases,” she said.

“The secret is definitely out and both young and old are seeking to settle down in and around the fabulous Kingston area.”

Alongside Kingston, Bellerive and New Town houses and units and Geilston Bay and Lindisfarne houses were named the hottest suburbs in the Affordable & Liveable Property Guide 1st Half 2020 report.

The post Kingston top of the affordable, liveable charts appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Lap up some of the region’s best bay views from a luxury waterfront home that’s hit the market on an exclusive Queenscliff strip.

The Crows Nest property is the ultimate lifestyle address, with private beach access, an indoor 23m lap pool and a lift.

The three-level, three-bedroom house is poised to become one of the region’s most expensive homes if it achieves price hopes of $6.6m-$7.2m.

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RT Edgar, Point Lonsdale agent Felix Hakins said the uninterrupted views across Victory Bay to Portsea were hard to top.

“The views are magnificent and there are only a handful of properties that have got those views,” Mr Hakins said.

“I sold the one next door, (builder) David McDonald’s; there has only been that one come up there and now this one.”

He said the indoor pool, which sits alongside a spa and sauna, was the largest he had ever seen at a private property.

The house also has multiple spaces for entertaining, including a deck with views across to the Mornington Peninsula and another north-facing outdoor area with a built-in barbecue.

The open-plan kitchen, dining and living room and main bedroom suite are on the first floor, with two further bedrooms, a rumpus room/home office and the pool on the entry level.

The lift links both floors to the basement garage.

Mr Hakins said several potential buyers had arranged to take a look during the first days of the campaign, including some from Melbourne.

“We are still able to bring people down for private inspections and we have done a couple already,” he said.

“What we are finding with COVID is at the moment we are getting a lot of people that are planning to move down.”

A neighbouring property, at 18 Crows Nest Place, Queenscliff, set a price record for the Bellarine Peninsula town when it sold for $6m in 2016.

A lavish Lorne compound traded for $7.25m in January is the most expensive residential sale ever recorded in the Geelong region.

The post Luxury Crows Nest, Queenscliff home has exclusive bay views appeared first on realestate.com.au.

While most of the focus has been on single home construction, there’s been a boost for fresh off-the-plan project offerings in the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder scheme.

Following the hasty launch of the scheme in early June, the Federal Minister for Housing and Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar confirmed off-the-plan apartments were eligible for grants. According to the update issued by the Treasury, the unit construction must begin within three months of the sale date.

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The update further advises some discretion will be allowed where the start of building is delayed due to unforeseen factors outside the control of the parties to the contract. It allows a further three month extension.

However, if the buyer signs any contract to purchase an off-the-plan dwelling, but its construction had begun before the June 4 scheme start date, then the apartment does not qualify for the scheme.

More than 40,000 registrations have lobbed for grants from the $688 million fund, which will provide grants to people who sign a building contract by December 31, 2020.

“HomeBuilder is designed to generate immediate construction activity by encouraging those who may have pulled back from undertaking a new build or substantial rebuild in March when the pandemic hit,” Sukkar advised.

Some 7500 people in NSW have registered for the $25,000 grant, with a mix of home dwelling owner occupiers and off-the-plan apartment buyers. Eligible applicants must earn less than $125,000 a year as an individual, or less than $200,000 a year as a couple. The property value must not exceed $750,000.

Among the recipients are buyers in a new apartment complex which had its sales launch last weekend.

There were 26 mostly first home buyers when Tian An LFD launched its $320 million Auburn Square mixed-use project. Construction is set to begin by October, in order for the buyers to qualify for the grant.

Construction will commence in three stages with all up 427 apartments to be developed in the culturally-rich suburb.

Stage one will include 148 apartments in one-, two- and three- bedroom configurations spanning 10 levels.

Positioned in Auburn’s residential precinct, it is located 250m from the train station, minutes from Auburn’s famed Eat Street.

Prices start at $455,000 after up to $69,000 of government grants are applied. The HomeBuilder package is designed to complement existing NSW state government first homeowner grant programs, stamp duty concessions and other grant schemes. For off-the-plan contracts, the HomeBuilder grant will be paid on evidence of the title transferring to the new owner. Most of the sold Auburn apartments saw prices between $560,000 and $600,000.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to capitalise on the government’s new home buyer grants that are allowing many to enter the housing market for the first time,” CBRE agent Ben Stewart said.

Stewart advised buyers are currently only required to raise a five per cent deposit to secure a property, with the Federal Government matching this with another 5 per cent and new home buyer grants delivering a further $25,000 to purchasers. Stewart said most buyer inquiries were from young families looking to buy their first home.

The post Off-the-plan unit buyers eligible to recieve Federal Government’s HomeBuilder scheme appeared first on realestate.com.au.