Family’s snap move snares $860k pad
WHEN a Queensland family visited a Pacific Pines home to watch it go under the hammer at the weekend, they never intended to walk out the proud new owners.
They registered to bid on the four-bedroom house at 41 Harmsworth Rd halfway through the auction after realising it was in their price range.
The bidding started at $740,000 and quickly climbed to $838,000 before pausing so the agent could negotiate with the sellers.
It was then the family took their chance to register.
They took a quick look around the house again to make sure they were comfortable with their decision then fought it out with one other bidder until their offer of $860,000 was the last standing.
They were shocked when the hammer went down.
After a few deep breaths and a walk around the property to calm down, the news sunk in and they couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces.
“We were looking at properties because we decided to make the move to the Gold Coast finally,” the buyers said.
They had been looking at houses in the area for two weeks so decided to attend the auction at the last minute just to get a feel for how they worked.
“I said, ‘we’re not even bidding, we just have to see what it’s like’,” they said.
“We came to look, not to buy.”
They were glad they backflipped on their decision because the home was just what they were looking for and on offer at a good price compared to other properties they had seen.
They loved its location and hilly views.
“This house is better than some that we’ve looked at,” they said.
Marketing agent Sebastian Ross, of Ray White Sovereign Islands, said it always made for interesting auctions when prospective buyers registered to bid halfway through.
“It has happened to me twice before. We have expect the unexpected.”
Mr Ross said there were four registered bidders all up and about 30 spectators.
He said the sellers were just as happy with the result as the buyers.
“The sellers are he said.
While Mr Ross said auctions to ecstatic,” WITH ALEISHA DAWSON & JESSICA BROWN weren’t often held on properties in the suburb, he believed this sale proved they could be worthwhile.
“That’s a really good case study (to show) that auctions do work,” he said.
According to latest CoreLogic data, the median sale price for a house in Pacific Pines is $530,000.