Latest news with #MermaidWaters
News.com.au
21-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Beachside builders reveal affordable tricks to improve your home
With millions of views online and millions of dollars spent on their houses, influencers Corinne and Shane Wynhoven have learned how to make a home stand out from the crowd. After selling a business of theirs in 2020, the owner-occupiers left their corporate careers for the home building profession. Despite taking care of a new child and dealing with the sudden arrival of Covid, the two finished and sold their first house in Mermaid Waters for $4.35 million, making a suburb record. Now living in their second build and working on their next two projects, Mr Wynhoven said they'd have never built their dream home if they didn't put the work in themselves. 'We don't come from a construction background,' he said, 'but we just got stuck in and weren't afraid of those challenges.' 'The key is, one: having the confidence to do it, [and] two: having enthusiasm and the know-how to get into it. Because it can be a bit daunting and a bit frustrating at times, but the risk is certainly worth the reward.' Through making their houses together, the couple have gained a combined 53,000 followers across Instagram and Facebook. The two lived in their first Mermaid Waters home before they sold it, and planned to do the same with their second, named 'The Sanctuary'. However, personal touches like their hotel-style home bar and other user-friendly features made them realise they wanted to keep it as their forever home. Mrs Wynhoven said many of those features were possible on a much smaller budget. 'We really focus on the key rooms,' she said, mentioning areas like the kitchen and the laundry. 'People mentally move in when they fall in love with these spaces … we always want to bring a wow factor, but we want it to be practical as well.' One example of this was when she positioned the laundry machines and baskets to be at standing level, making chores that little bit easier during the day. 'I just wanted to seamlessly go through from one side to the other,' she said. 'That was, for me, important.' Meanwhile, Mrs Wynhoven said large artworks, no matter the price tag, could set the tone for a room by its presence alone. 'I was always scared of artwork – I thought, 'I don't know anything about art,'' she said. 'But now I just see such value in how much it brings colour; it brings a vibe.' Mr Wynhoven added that while good furniture and flooring are always valuable in a home, the fittings and handles can be underrated features. 'We use a supplier called ABI, which do these brass fittings,' he said, and added he found it shockingly affordable. 'Upgrading your fittings and handles and so on … is a really easy win in those spaces.' The number one piece of advice the couple had for people working on their own homes is to commit to the improvements. 'Don't be afraid to go big,' Mr Wynhoven said. 'You often see people skimping in areas where they could have easily had, if they'd just went with a little more effort, come up with something a lot more grand.' 'Just be bold and go for it.'
News.com.au
18-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Auction drama marks jaw-dropping $14 million sale
A canalfront home named best build in Australia has sold under the hammer for $14.005m – smashing the previous suburb record by close to double. The 2023-built property at 24 Winch Court, Mermaid Waters sold under the hammer at a tense auction where eight prospective buyers engaged in a bidding war. Auctioneer Justin Nickerson fielded a whopping 48 bids, taking the price from an opening play of $6.5m to sold over a 45-minute marathon. Gold Coast buyers agent Matt Srama made the winning bid on behalf of a 'property entrepreneur' who had been renting on the Gold Coast since relocating from NSW. Mr Srama said the buyer was drawn to the luxury home's quality and waterfront position offering breathtaking views and access to an enviable boating lifestyle. Bids started in $1m increments, then in $500,000 hikes to $11m. The auction was paused at $12.25m for negotiations behind closed doors before the highest bidder increased their offer to $13m. Mr Nickerson advised the crowd of 100-plus the reserve price had been reached, sparking a renewed flurry of bids with Mr Srama landing a final blow of just $5,000 to claim the keys for his client. The stunning sale set a new benchmark for the rising suburb by a margin of 80 per cent, adding a whopping $6.3m to the previous record of $7.7m set in February 2024. Kollosche agents Jamie Harrison and Michael Kollosche marketed the property, which had won a slew of awards including National Residential Master Builder of the Year. Owner-builders Rob and Tui McKinnon, directors of Havendeen, paid $2.125m in 2018 to acquire the 1,113 sqm parcel with 46 metres of frontage to Lake Wonderland and uninterrupted skyline views stretching to the Hinterland. The four-level home, designed by Joe Snell, featured a five-car basement garage, golf simulator, steam room, wine cellar and rooftop bar. Unfolding behind a curved facade, the floorplan was anchored by a dark stone kitchen bench beneath a 12m void, while matte black finishes combined with raw textures of concrete, steel and glass to create a sophisticated ambience. The al fresco offering came complete with heated 12m pool, swim-up cocktail bar, day beds and a fire pit zone, along with a private pontoon and jet ski dock. Mr Srama said the Gold Coast lacked sufficient high-quality new builds to satisfy the appetites of cashed-up buyers looking to splurge on statement homes. 'My advice to builders is that if the product is good enough, the buyer pool is certainly there,' he said. 'These buyers have moved from interstate and had a taste of the Gold Coast and they can't fault the lifestyle. They have money to spend but the product isn't there. 'Homes like this rarely come up on the Gold Coast, and we came in with a very specific strategy on where we felt the value lay.' Mr Harrison said the heart-stopping auction affirmed the depth of the local prestige market. 'To have eight registered bidders in this current environment is testament to this,' he said. 'We knew the buyers wanted it and saw value in such a highly built home in an irreplaceable position. 'The bidding pool was mostly local buyers who understood the value of Mermaid Waters, and knew there were very few point position properties like this, so for them this was more about the rare opportunity to acquire it, rather than the price they would pay.' House prices in Mermaid Waters were up 11.1 per cent over the past 12 months, to a median of $1,947,500.
