This house at 38 Cramond Street, Wilston sold at auction for $1.03 million.
LUCY Martin and Mawson Croaker returned to Australia from Chile on separate international flights and had planned to be together in Melbourne when their former Brisbane home went to auction on Saturday.
Instead, Ms Martin was in lockdown in Melbourne with their son Finn, 7, while Mr Croaker, who returned a few weeks later, was diverted to Sydney after Melbourne closed its airport to international arrivals. He heard about the auction result while in mandatory hotel quarantine.
“Either way, we’re handling this so much better than Chile is,” Ms Martin said.
“You have to get a permit from the police to leave your house over there.”
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Umbrellas or raincoats were a prerequisite to leaving home in Brisbane on Saturday and that did not stop 30 people attending the auction of 38 Cramond Street, Wilston.
It was a wet auction day in Brisbane on Saturday.
The four registered bidders included Libby and Jeremy Davis from New Farm who came with their 18-month old daughter, resuming their property search this month after taking a break during Queensland’s COVID-19 lockdown.
“There’s not many going on to market at the moment,” Mrs Davis said.
“We went to another property not long ago but it was under the new Brisbane runway flight path so it was too noisy. We only looked at this one last weekend.”
SEE WHAT ELSE IS FOR SALE IN WILSTON
Noel Gibson and Denise Pickering were looking for a home closer to the city that could accommodate older children and loved the separate downstairs living space.
“We’ll probably retire to the Sunshine Coast but at the moment, the city is where we want to be for the next 15 years or so,” Mr Gibson said.
Ray White auctioneer Phil Parker accepted an opening bid of $800,000 from a phone bidder in Stafford and bids continued in $25,000 lots until $950,000 with Mr Gibson and Ms Pickering in front.
Ray White auctioneer Phil Parker at 38 Cramond Street, Wilston
“Tell a joke or something,” Ray White Wilston principal Alistair Mcmillan said as he and lead agent Jessie Hall left to negotiate with parties privately.
“The Brisbane Broncos,” Mr Parker replied, taking the edge off auction nerves. “At least they’re consistent.”
“It’s pretty nerve-racking,” Ms Pickering said. “We first saw this house about five weeks ago. Going to auction means there’s just so much time to think about it. The advice we got was don’t bid first and if it doesn’t happen, it was not meant to be.”
Denise Pickering of Ferny Hills and Noel Gibson of Kedron.
But after 12 months looking for their first home together, Ms Pickering and Mr Gibson agreed to increase their bid to $1.03 million. The four-bedroom house with an inground pool on a 405sq m corner block was announced on the market and sold unchallenged for that price. It last sold in 2011 for $715,000.
The crowd congratulates the new owners of 38 Cramond Street, Wilston.
“We’ve done a lot of renovations since we bought it in 2011,” Ms Martin said.
“We put the pool in, renovated the bathroom and ensuite, put in built-in wardrobes, plantation shutters, did the concrete driveway and put bi-fold doors along the deck.
Bi-fold doors open out to the deck.
The main upstairs living areas.
“We wanted a bit more but considering what’s happening at the moment, we are happy with the result.”
The upstairs bathroom.
The family moved to Chile in South America two years ago before being transferred to Melbourne this year.
Ms Martin said she was looking forward to her family being reunited after her husband is released from quarantine on Wednesday.
“But I think he’s thinking of coming up to Brisbane to see his friends for a few days before he comes to Melbourne and into lockdown with us.”
The sale of their Brisbane house makes Cramond Street at Wilston the busiest street for home sales in the inner-north suburb. Three houses have sold on the street this year.
Ray White Wilston agent Jessie Hall said she had 40 active buyers looking for homes in this area with budgets ranging from $500,000-$1.5 million.
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