Grace Jones and Thomas Dickson get creative online to find dream Mary Valley home

A young Queensland couple struggling to find their first home have taken unsual steps to beat their rivals and, within just two days, they found properties better than anything they’d seen on the market.

Grace and Thomas are thinking outside the box to hunt for their dream home in the highly competitive market as a result of COVID-19.

A recently engaged couple from the Sunshine Coast were struggling to find their dream home within the booming rural property market until they had a bright idea to think outside the box.

Grace Jones and Thomas Dickson were finding it almost impossible to find what they were after in the highly competitive Sunshine Coast and Gympie regions, so decided to try something different.

“We were finding that many of the acreages were being snatched up by interstate homeowners looking for a change in lifestyle, or investors seeking to benefit from changes in the market,” Mr Dickson said.

With no luck using traditional house hunting methods, the couple decided to create a website outlining a bit about themselves, the type of house they were looking for and their budget.

They started advertising on Facebook using a well-constructed post to find off-market properties, targeting homeowners who were interested in horses, hobby farming and rural lifestyle.

“I thought Tom was being a little too hopeful initially, but he was convinced it was worth a try,” Miss Jones said.

“So over the weekend we designed a simple website and Tom set up some Facebook ads.”

Mr Dickson said within two days, they had found properties better than anything they had seen on the market.

“We were very surprised to see that after only two days of running ads, we received a phone call for a house that suited us better than anything else on the market,” he said.

“So I doubled our advertising budget.”

The couple’s Facebook ad that has been getting them all the attention from local homeowners.

Over the past week they have inspected several properties, with a steady stream of new inquiries coming in.

“For every $10 we put into Facebook ads, we are finding a new off-market property,” Mr Dickson said.

“We've already gotten over 3000 views … I can’t imagine how long it would take to deliver that many letters.

“The cost in printing and fuel would be substantial.”

The couple, who are looking for a rural gem to house their horses, hope they are getting ahead of competitive buyers through their unique strategy.

“We’ve been approached by real estate agents because they know we are serious and by sellers who are in the process of getting their house ready for the market,” Mr Dickson said.

Miss Jones said they were trying to target homeowners who shared their passions and who owned houses they could raise their future family in.

“I think many sellers are looking for this connection to pass on their loved homes,” she said.

Miss Jones said despite their success so far, they were still in the market for their forever home.

“We’ve seen some beautiful homes that we are very interested in, but because it’s still early days we’re staying open to new offers,” she said.

”We’re not in rush, but I wouldn’t be complaining if we found our dream home tomorrow,” Mr Dickson said.

Visit Grace and Tom‘s website for inspiration: https://grace-and-tom-want-to-buy-a-farm.com.au/