Young Aussie woman buys her first home for just $252,000 despite the seller getting an offer $60,000 higher

A young Australian woman has beaten a rival buyer who offered $60,000 more for her dream home after winning over the elderly owner with a heartfelt letter.

Karli Bryant, 25, paid just $252,000 for a 116-year-old railway worker’s cottage in Malanda on Queensland’s Atherton Tableland after convincing the owner she would preserve a piece of the town’s history.

The three-bedroom timber cottage was one of Malanda’s original railway workers’ homes, built around 1910 when the rail line first reached the town.

Ms Bryant, who grew up in Malanda and attended the primary school next door, said she never imagined she would one day own the property.

‘It was really cute … I just thought, I can make something nice of it,’ she told the ABC.

Hoping to improve her chances, she wrote a letter to the owner, a woman in her 90s who lives in Western Australia.

In it, Ms Bryant explained that her grandmother had taught at Malanda Primary School, that she had attended the school herself and that she was now studying to become a teacher there.

‘I just told her how much it would mean to me to be able to raise my kids in my hometown,’ she said.

The gamble paid off.

‘I actually know someone that put a bid on the house, and it was $60,000 more than mine.

‘I dead-set did not think I was going to get it. So when [real estate agent] Janine called me to let me know, I could hear the shock in her voice, and I was just in disbelief.’

Elders Real Estate agent Janine Rielly said the owner wanted the cottage to go to someone who appreciated its history.

‘I read the letter out to the owner, and she was quite touched,’ she said.

Ms Rielly said several prospective buyers had offered more money but planned to knock down the cottage and replace it with duplexes or units.

Although the seller received what she considered a fair price for a property requiring substantial restoration, Ms Rielly said Ms Bryant’s commitment to preserving the home proved decisive.

‘She was the only one that was willing to restore it,’ she said.

‘And that was really important.’

Ms Bryant and her partner are now renovating the cottage and tackling its overgrown backyard.

‘We’ve got heaps of plans. But my grandma told me Rome wasn’t built in a day – I just need to take a breather, or I might burn myself out.’

Ms Bryant’s purchase comes despite home ownership becoming increasingly difficult for young Australians.

Census data shows the home ownership rate among 25 to 29-year-olds fell from 50 per cent in 1971 to 36 per cent in 2021, while regional Queensland property prices have surged 58 per cent since the last census.

Even in Malanda, a modest three-bedroom home can fetch well over $400,000, making Ms Bryant’s $252,000 purchase a rarity in today’s market.

Yet while first-home buyers are gaining a larger foothold, many are taking on significantly bigger mortgages to do so.

New research from Temple & Webster found first-home buyer lending grew faster than the broader market over the past 12 months for the first time in two years.

However, under the 5 per cent deposit scheme, the average first-home buyer loan has increased by almost $50,000 since the scheme was introduced.

The average first-home buyer loan reached $610,063 in June, up 8.5 per cent over the year and almost 10 per cent higher than when the scheme opened.

‘First home buyers are keeping pace with the market for the first time in two years, but it’s coming with a loan nearly $50,000 bigger, all committed to the mortgage, not spending money,’ said Peter Drennan, Head of Research and Data at Primara Research.

‘An extra $587 a month changes how a new homeowner budgets, and rising rates only make that harder to plan around.’