Young builder lists spectacular Nundah home but he's just grateful for hot water

Renovating and selling can make you money but it’s a rough, relentless slog — just ask Fraser Waterman.

The 26-year-old builder has just completed his second house to “flip” in less than one year, which he managed to do at the same time as working six days a week for one of Queensland’s largest construction companies.

He’s enormously proud of his latest achievement, 57 Nellie Street, Nundah, but at this stage he’s just grateful for hot water and a bed without possums.

“I had no hot water for 10 months. I was only able to lock the house up a month ago. Before then I’d get woken up in the middle of the night with possums on me,” he laughs.

“Let’s just say I lived pretty rough while I was doing this house. You have to be pretty motivated to do something like this.”

Indeed. Mr Waterman works six days a week, so he was only able to get on the tools at night time and one day each weekend.

It was a big job, or as Mr Waterman describes it, “a complete mess”. “I saw the potential in it as soon as I found it but it was in such a bad state, no one else could see it,” he says.

“I could see how it would be amazing and I wanted to create something different for the area, something that no one else would have.”

Mr Waterman completely reconfigured the home and built, literally from the ground up, a contemporary four-bedroom, two-bathroom residence. With huge, light-filled open plan living spaces, it wows with its luxury fittings and bespoke timber features.

“I suppose in a lot of ways I have given too much of myself to this project in terms of the quality of workmanship and level of finish that has been applied to it, let alone the monies I have put into it,” he says.

“The finished product could not have been achieved without the personal contribution I made.”

Nestled in a quiet tree-lined street, Mr Waterman’s cottage strikes an impressive facade — but it’s the interiors that really wow. With sleek, contemporary lines, a huge marble kitchen, timber floors and a huge rear yard running off the alfresco dining area with built-in kitchen and BBQ, it’s testament to the level of detail Mr Waterman applied.

Now that he’s living in the comfort of a completed home, sans possums, Mr Waterman is ready for the next big project.

He plans on buying as close to the CBD as possible. “There’s a lot of personal sacrifice involved when you do something like this but it’s worth it. There were times I thought to myself ‘what have I done?’ but I knew I had to keep going.”

The house is for sale through Ray White Ascot elite agent Damon Warat and will auction on site at 1pm on April 29.