Buyers ride away with Brisbane’s biggest auction result after unusual negotiation tactic pays off

A ride-on mower nudged a seven-figure auction over the line in Morningside on Saturday.

Agent Dion Tolley, of Place Estate Agents Aspley, says it was the fortuitous sighting of a Kubota mower that clinched the $1,262,500 sale.

The result was the biggest reported sale price of the Brisbane auction weekend, which weathered extreme conditions, including flash flooding and hail.

The five-bedroom house on a whopping 4047-square-metre allotment is only six kilometres “in a straight line” from the CBD, the agent says.

“Look, it was rural land, a big house with plenty of room for a few sheds, but it is always in the back of your mind it could be developed down the track,” Tolley said.

“So close to the CBD, you never know what’s around the corner.”

Five serious buyer groups had repeatedly inspected the property during its marketing campaign.

About 50 people attended the auction, which moved slowly from its opening vendor bid of $1 million.

A genuine bid of $1.025 million launched competitive bidding up to $1.1 million, where “it got a bit stale” before pausing at $1.25 million, Tolley said.

At this point, private negotiations began between the buyer, who was standing on the right wing of the house near the pool, and the vendor, “who was in the left wing.”

The agent agreed it sounded “a bit like a political drama”.

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During negotiations, the buyers and their four children, keen to move to the spacious property, suggested a 21-day settlement, which was rejected by the vendors as “just a little bit too quick to pack up a family house [after 16 years] with three children”, Tolley said.

“Our job is to get the most for our vendors, and we got to $1.25 million, but were trying to negotiate for more when the buyers, who had seen the ride-on mower three days prior during an inspection, asked if the Kubota could be worked into the deal.

“They indicated they would raise their offer if so, and, when the vendors agreed, it was a perfect win-win situation,”he said.

“The vendors had to get rid of it, anyway, to downsize, and the buyers offered another $12,500.

“It was smart on behalf of the buyers, and shows you just have to think on your feet sometimes.”

Despite Saturday’s gloomy weather, Brisbane’s auction market recorded a small week-on-week lift.

The city-wide clearance rate increased to 33 per cent, up 2 per cent on the previous week, according to latest Domain Group data.

Of its 101 scheduled auctions, 59 results were reported including 21 sales worth $7,017,500 in total.

One of these was a dated three-bedroom house on a prime 577-square-metre corner block in Paddington, which sold under the hammer for $901,000 to a local man.

Agent Elizabeth Wright, of Belle Property Paddington, admitted she had doubts before the auction.

“Yes, I was very concerned in the morning that it would be a very long day, a wash-out, because of the rain,” she said.

“For some reason, Brisbane seems to shut down when there is any rain around, close the doors, put the socks on and not bother coming out, but they actually turned up [to all our auctions].”

Bidding kicked off in the mid-$700,000s before moving quickly to $885,000, and a final battle between the buyer and the under-bidder.

“To tip over $900,000 for this kind of property sets a very positive precedent about the demand right now,” Wright said.

“The buyer is a local man with other investments; the under-bidder is mad for a purchase.

“I see a very busy year ahead in the run-up to Christmas, based on what we saw out there on Saturday, and despite the rain,” she said.