218 Wilston Rd, Newmarket
3 Bed / 1 Bath on 989sq m
Features: An original condition Queenslander with a huge grassed backyard.
Bidders: 10 (5 active)
It’s been two months since Brisbane builder Ian Calder more than tripled the value of a home on Hamilton Hill for $5.025m and he plans to do it again, this time in Newmarket, after picking up an original condition Queenslander for $1.58m at auction today.
The three-bedroom house, on an elevated 989sq m block at 218 Wilston Rd, Newmarket, is next to the $3.17m former party home of radio host Greg “Marto” Martin, and 10 registered bidders were prepared to take on the mammoth restoration.
“Packet of nails and a brush, you’ll knock her into shape in five minutes,” Ray White auctioneer Phil Parker joked in front of 40 onlookers. “Okay, maybe six.”
Mr Calder stood in the backyard with his back to the home’s peeling exterior and let the other bidders do the heavy lifting in the early stages of the auction.
An opening bid of $1m was less than the land value and was met with a reply of $1.1m from a Grange couple standing next to wheelie bins at the bottom of the rear stairs. They were looking for a home to make their own.
The aged property had not been owner-occupied since it was bought as an investment by Rosa Parrella for $25,750 in 1979 and a tragic set of family circumstances had preceded the sale of the property.
Mrs Parrella and her husband, respected Hendra businessman “Charlie the Barber” Parrella, sat on white plastic outdoor chairs in the single wooden garage beside the grassed backyard and listened on as bidders tried to shorten the increases from $100,000 to $1000 within minutes.
“You should be down at the comedy club,” Mr Parker said when a phone bidder attempted to put $1000 on top of the current $1.45m bid.
The phone bidder adjusted the bid to $1.46m and it was accepted.
With the Grange bidder pushing to have the property put on the market, the auction was paused to negotiate at $1.51m with Ray White Wilston principal Alistair Macmillan and Mr Parker approaching bidders with pen and paper to write down the figure that would lead to a sale under auction terms.
“No chance mate,” said one bidder when shown the figure.
The reserve price was never reached, but after discussions with Mrs Parrella in the garage, a revised bid of $1.525m was accepted and the auction resumed with the house guaranteed of selling to the highest bidder.
It was at this point that Ian Calder joined the auction, raising the offer to $1.55m. The opening bidder returned fire with $1.56m but Mr Calder sealed the deal with a winning bid of $1.58m. He plans to renovate and move into the home.
