A renovated worker’s cottage at Burleigh Heads sold for $3.8 million after heated negotiations pushed the auction close to two hours before the hammer fell on one of the Gold Coast’s biggest deals of the week.
Seven buyers registered to bid for the near 100-year-old home at 39 Acanthus St, which was marketed by Harcourts Coastal agents Ed Cherry and Lochie Torpy.
Auctioneer Rob Forde took an opening bid of $3.26m from buyers’ agent Matt Srama, with two other bidders active before proceedings paused for talks behind closed doors following a vendor bid of $3.75m.
Mr Srama said negotiations stretched to 90 minutes, with his clients upping their offer to secure the five-bedroom, two-bathroom property with a separate home office studio.
The buyers had been renting locally while searching for a dream home after relocating their family from interstate.
“The negotiations were positioned around supporting our clients and our strategy going into the auction, while also realising we were in a really opportunist time being still under auction terms,” Mr Srama said.
“One of my biggest tips for buyers, if the property does stall at auction you really want to be negotiating on the spot while the sellers are still mentally in the zone to sell, because no sales agent, no auctioneer and no agent goes into an auction thinking, ‘I don’t want to sell today’.”
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The 1930-built house within walking distance to Burleigh Beach last changed hands for $650,000 in 2011, purchased by builder Jared Davey and his designer wife Sarah.
In 2020, building designer Stuart Osman planned an extension that honoured the home’s original footprint while maximising space and functionality for the couple and their three children, twins Kade and Harry, 11, and Beau, 9.
Renovations were completed through the owners’ company, Davey Constructions, with the project earning a Master Builders Housing and Construction Award in 2022, and Building Design Queensland Award in 2023.
Mr Cherry said the campaign had attracted strong interest, with AFL players and coaches and musicians among those who had inquired. At least 120 people were in attendance on auction day.
“Burleigh Heads is one of the most searched suburbs in Queensland on realestate.com.au, so any time a property comes online there buyers contact us to say, ‘hey, we’re still looking’,” Mr Cherry said.
“The really special thing about this home was its history and character. This was a property that won’t be replicated.
“Everyone walked in and said, ‘it feels so homely’. A lot of people fell in love with it, though some of those knew it was out of their price range.”
The home’s features included heritage high ceilings, VJ walls and stained glass windows casting a cosy ambience across a single-level floorplan with an open kitchen, living and dining zone, marble and polished concrete finishes, and original brickwork used in the fireplace and archway.
A pool flanked by a stylish pool house was added, along with an expansive alfresco deck featuring an outdoor kitchen and pizza oven, also crafted from the original bricks.
Bold weatherboard cladding created a commanding street presence complemented by natural stone and timber front fencing and native trees.
Originally published as Hardball talks land big price for Burleigh Heads cottage
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