Brisbane agent sells home at auction he first tried to sell 13 years ago

Noel and Veronica Dowling were thinking about moving to Stradbroke Island for good in 2004. At the time, they got Grant Boman to have a crack at selling their property, but unfortunately a contract fell through and Mr Dowling fell ill. The plans were scrapped, and they decided to stay in 6 Hoad Street, Upper Mount Gravatt a while longer.

Mr Boman persisted. “Grant has been good, he’s been ringing every few months,” Mrs Dowling said.

Laughing, Mr Boman interjected, “I’ve been informative, some people might call me annoying.”

“He’s kept us abreast of the real estate market in the area for the last 13 years, so we always said we’d go with Grant if we resold,” Mrs Dowling said.

This time, the three-bedroom house went to auction. Four families were in the running to buy the home, but none were willing to kick off bidding.

Mr Bowman started with a vendor bid of $450,000, and things became more exciting. The house eventually sold for $615,000 to a couple who did not wish to be named with two kids, who already live in the area. “We’re renting just around the corner close to schools transport, going into the city and close to the shopping centre,” the husband told Domain. “We’ve got two kids, one at Upper Mount Gravatt and another at Mount Gravatt High.”

The Dowlings were happy to pass their family home of the past 30 plus years onto another family, and weren’t overly sentimental. In fact, Mr Dowling seemed happy to be rid of it.

“All I did was work on the bloody place,” he said. “It’d be good for a young person who can keep up the maintenance, mow the lawn, and take care of up the back.”

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The pair had paid a deposit on a home in a retirement village, and were tying up loose ends. Mr Boman was happy to help them move on to the next stage of their lives.

“It’s very satisfying, a long time in the making, but they’re a really great couple,” he said. “No hassles, sold today and they can pack up and get into the new place, they’re rapt.”

Earlier on Saturday, an enormous home on the Eagle Farm racecourse sold at auction with a suitably large crowd gathered. Close to 100 people came to see the sale of the five-bedroom home.

Overlooking the race track start line, the home was built to make the most of its exclusive view. An oversized window in the master bedroom looked out on the track, and a pool built into the deck made for another excellent vantage point.

“You could legitimately sit in your pool with a stubby and it would be the best corporate seat in town,” Auctioneer Haesley Cush said. “I could not think of a better position to watch racing in Australia.” Mr Cush and Ray White Ascot agent Leigh Kortlang did most of the legwork during the auction. After proceedings paused at $2.3 million, the pair facilitated lengthy negotiations between the bidders and vendors.

After nearly an hour of negotiations, the crowd had mostly dispersed, but the house sold for $2,425,000.

Ms Kortlang said the buyer didn’t even like horse racing that much.