The new owners of a termite damaged home in Queensland that sold at auction on the weekend for $360,000 plan to restore the home to live in.
Prior to auction, the Buderim property had been declared uninhabitable by insurers due to extensive termite damage to 75% of the house.
Local builder Kristian Muir from Muir Developments bought the property on Saturday and says he’s not afraid of the repair job required.
“I’ve done a renovation, not for myself but for a client, with termite damage on the Sunshine Coast. We fixed all his walls as well. So we’ve done one but probably not on as big a scale as this might be. It seemed to go to plan so I thought I might do one myself,” Muir says.
Muir estimates the repair job will take him three to four months to complete and he then plans on living in the Raintrees Court property.
The couple who previously owned the property only discovered the extent of the termite damage during a renovation after buying the house for $485,000.
Marketing agent Grant Smith of Century 21 Grant Smith Property says the owners were “over the moon” as the final sale price was above the reserve.
While unable to discuss the insurance claim on the property, Smith says the couple has financially “come out of it OK”.
There were 14 registered bidders among the crowd of 100 onlookers on the day and the bidding opened at $250,000, with the property selling for $360,000.
“It was about what we were expecting. It was above the reserve price, but it makes sense as it’s reflective of land value minus demolition cost,” Smith says.
The median sale price for houses in Buderim is $575,000.
