Buyer snaps up Wavell Heights home before it hits the market

ONE Brisbane buyer was so eager to secure their new home that they swooped in on a three bedroom property at 14 Cressey St, Wavell Heights before the listing went public.

Ray White Wilston selling agent Grayson McIvor sold the post-war property for $750,000 to a buyer who saw a teaser video on Mr McIvor’s Instagram before the official listing date.

Mr McIvor said the sold price comes close to the suburb record for a post-war knockdown property sale in the tightly held Wavell Heights area.

“The property can be easily renovated or removed. It’s neat and tidy and in one of the most desirable pockets in Wavell Heights,” Mr McIvor said.

“The suburb has attracted a lot of younger families, young professional couples and a touch of the older demographic. In the last five years, Wavell Heights has taken a leap up for entry level buying and there’s definitely some strong growth in the area.”

The buyer, who lives locally, was on the market looking for something like the three bedroom home for a while when they saw Mr McIvor’s video.

“They knew that they had been looking for a while, they wanted a development site to put a new build on and were planning to knock it down and rebuild while initially using it as a rental,” he said.

With recent events creating uncertainty for many Australians, Mr McIvor said this sale is just another example of the confidence still very much present in the real estate industry.

“I find there’s still a lot of confidence out there from buyers and the competition and demand are still there, we just need to deal with it differently and continue to adapt with time,” he said.

“There’s been a lot of confidence from all demographics of buyers including investors, downsizers and first home buyers. I can’t see any dramatic changes if the market stays the way it is.”

Wilston principal Alistair Macmillan echoed Mr McIvor’s sentiments and said although they have seen a decrease in numbers, the genuine buyers are still out in force.

“We have seen a decrease in buyer activity but the quality is dramatically better so we are now having a 50 per cent conversion rate from inspections to offers,” Mr Macmillan said.

“We’re working our buyers a lot better and we’ve got two auctions tomorrow night with nine registered bidders across two properties. We have also listed five properties in the last seven days and at the moment we’re putting a strong emphasis on auction due to the fact that we are dealing with genuine buyers.”