Iso cabin fever brings out buyers on Brisbane's northside

AS AUSTRALIA moves into its ninth week of iso, many of us are all too familiar with the feeling of living just a little too close to our friends and loved ones.

This is especially true for the growing number of Australians living on top of each other in apartments and townhouses who are now out in force looking for their dream home - complete with enough space to save a relationship.

Ray White New Farm Premium Property Specialist Christine Rudolph saw this firsthand after receiving four competing offers from renters in one week on a Californian bungalow at 5 School Rd in the northside suburb of Hendra.

After a fierce battle, Brisbane couple, Amy and Ryan, came out the winners buying the beautiful home for $885,000 through Ms Rudolph.

None of the buyers had seen the property prior to COVID and some had not even considered entering the property market before this. They also wanted to take advantage of some of the lowest rates in history to help them buy their first home.

Interestingly, it was the rustic tin shed at the back of the property that sealed the deal for the successful buyers and was the first thing Ryan inspected before even looking inside the house as having a decent man cave was high on his priority list.

“What attracted us to the house was the big block, location, presentation and character of the home and gardens not to mention the shed for Ryan - I think the shed sold him alone,” Amy said.

“We originally had not been looking at Hendra but with the current economy we're stoked to jump into a suburb we thought was out of our price range.”

The local couple, currently renting in Bowen, have been looking for their dream home for 18 months and after more than 30 inspections and two unsuccessful offers they are thrilled to finally call themselves homeowners.

“We were absolutely ecstatic when we found out the house was ours,” Amy said.

“We tried to hold in our containment as we had gone through the process of a contract before.

“Once we went unconditional we could really relax knowing we had locked it in and we have looked at photos of it daily and now are just counting down until settlement.”

Ms Rudolph said this is the perfect time to list your home with so many eager buyers like Amy and Ryan excited to secure their slice of Australia’s real estate market.“It's a great time coming out of COVID for sellers to jump in and capitalise on the shortage of quality supply and the optimism we are seeing. It's a terrific time to take advantage of this buyer optimism,” Ms Rudolph said.

“We have an advantage for our sellers of making sure that every buyer who we take through their doors is a genuine, highly qualified prospect.

“It's definitely been a juggle for many of our sellers who are working from home and then having to get their homes ready for inspection, however, the payoffs have been great in that we are achieving sales for them.”