What’s believed to be the longest-listed house in Sunshine Coast history has finally sold after 16 years on the market and going through 62 real estate agents.
“Nearly every agent on the Coast” had a crack at 7 Yakola Parade, Alexandra Headland, but none could convince the owner to accept any offers.
It took the persistence of Clint Jensen and Jeremy Krieger from Harcourts Noosa, who made headlines with their listing of a nudist retreat at Doonan, to finally seal a deal.
Buyers Natalee and Andrew Kirby (pictured right) paid $1.2 million for what they joked was the “ugliest house in Alexandra Headland”.
The couple has flipped seven homes together and see 7 Yakola Parade, with its Lego-like design formation, as their greatest challenge yet.
“It’s the ugliest house in Alex but that’s okay because that’s what we like to do – take the ugliest house and make it beautiful,” said Mrs Kirby.
The three-storey house with ocean views is only 600m walk to the beach and was built like a bunker in 1990 by the owner who obtained her own builders’ license to construct it.
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The brick dual-living house in the heart of Alex is huge with seven bedrooms, four bathrooms and three living areas, and has the appearance of a boarding house.
It was first placed on the market in 2004 because the elderly female owner wanted to move into a ground-floor home for easy access in her senior years.
She was aged in her 60s back then, but after holding out against interested buyers for almost two decades she is now 81.
Mr Jensen said the house was for ‘For Sale’ during the whole 16 years, except for a short period of about a week when it changed agents.
“Persistence got it over the line in the end,” Mr Jensen said, explaining that he was diligent in chasing up and going back to potential buyers.
The Kirbys had shown early interest but backed off for a few months during the uncertainty of COVID before coming back to the table when confidence returned to the economy.
“It was listed at $1.35 million for a long time but we knew fairly early that $1.2 million was going to be the figure shortly after we listed,” he said.
“So we sat down and had the talk.”
Mr Jensen said the owner had sought out Harcourts to try and capitalise on people who wanted to buy in Noosa but may consider a more affordable option further down the Coast.
“Harcourts Noosa is a strong brand and goes hand in hand with high end and ocean view properties in Noosa and throughout the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
Mrs Kirby said they initially laughed that anyone who bought the house would have to be crazy.
But it “ticked all the boxes” of what the Brisbane couple wanted to achieve their dream of living near the beach on the Sunshine Coast.
Their desired property had to be in need of a renovation so they could value-add, it had to be near the beach and have enough room for their three kids and the doting grandparents who often visited.
“We couldn’t find anything else that ticked all the boxes and at the end of the day, this one did.”
My Weekly Preview property advertising manager Dave Hawkins said Clint and Jeremy were the right agents to sell the property and it was also the right time.
“There’s no-one who hasn’t had a go at that property,” Mr Hawkins laughed, recounting how he, too, had had two attempts when he was in sales.
The first time was in the early 2000s when he was with Sunshine Coast Property and he tried again in 2015 “after it had been with every agent and was going around again”.
Mr Hawkins said the market had finally caught up to the price the owner had long wanted to achieve.
“I think the timing was right; they were the right guys at the right time. This is the right market now and those sort of high-end properties are desirable,” he said.
“And the view from there is spectacular.”
Renovation plans
No sooner had the sale settled, Mrs Kirby called in the demolition team to begin the renovations.
The plan is to create the family’s living quarters on the top floor with a master bedroom, kids’ rooms, kitchen, dining and living space.
The second floor will be for guests and entertaining, with a kitchen featuring a 3m island and a deck.
The brown exterior brick will undergo a render, while the upstairs verandahs, which currently feature unflattering wrought iron and terracotta tiles, will be transformed with glass.
Mrs Kirby said the vision was to make the most of the stunning panorama upstairs by incorporating lots of glass, even in the shower which would have ocean views.
While it won’t be their “forever home”, the family plan to live there and will most likely hold onto even if they move.
“We do not have any buyers’ remorse,” said Mrs Kirby.
“Every pounding of the hammer reinforces we made the right decision.”
