No reserve auctions might be rare but when one comes onto the market they can create a buyer frenzy – and break records.

And if luck is on your side, theoretically, you could snap up a home for as little as $1.

Ray White Collective principal and auctioneer Haesley Cush said that no reserve auctions were a bit like the grand final for the property market.

“I’ve only called four others (no reserve auctions) among the other 30,000 auctions and each one is memorable,” he said.

“There is no reserve. The property will sell to the highest bidder.

“So if you bid $100 and no one else bids, then you buy it.”

Ray White’s Haesley Cush. Photo: Supplied.

Ray White Clayfield agent and former NRL star Nick Kouparitsas is marketing 316 Buckland Road at Nundah, with the property to go under the hammer with no reserve price at the Ray White auction event at The Calile Hotel on October 18.

Mr Cush will be calling the auction.

316 Buckland Road, Nundah, will go to auction with no reserve

“When I asked the owner why (he was selling with no reserve), he told me that he just needed to sell it,” Mr Cush said.

“It’s a bold approach that requires complete confidence in the property and the market.

“Just like grand final day, there can only be one winner.”

Mr Kouparitis said the three-bedroom character house sits on a 820sq m block with city views.

Nick Kouparitsas from Ray White Clayfield at 316 Buckland Road, Nundah, September 30, 2025 – Picture: Richard Walker

It features a grand facade, polished timber floors, VJ walls, French doors, decorative ceilings and a pool, and it is the only no reserve auction currently listed in Queensland.

“It has already been popular,” Mr Kouparitsas said, adding it was his first no reserve auction since turning to real estate in 2012.

“It needs work, it does, but it has loads of potential.

“We have seen a good mix of interested people including young families, and opportunistic buyers such as builders and developers.”

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A no reserve auction at Crestmead broke the national record for the highest number of registered bidders. David Clark

Owner James Barnier, a father-of-four, said the property must be sold on auction day and he was feeling upbeat about the campaign.

“We lived in the property for 14 months before moving to Kalinga,” Mr Barnier said.

“This property has a lot of character, and it’s on an elevated block which we really liked – it gets a good breeze.”

Mr Barnier, a business development manager for a commercial construction company, said properties like this were “sought after” in Brisbane.

He said the property was close to Kedron Brook, where he often walked his dogs.

“The kids play rugby for Norths, so we spend a lot of time around the area – it’s a lovely location,” Mr Barnier said.

Mr Cush said the upcoming no reserve auction was a “rare opportunity”.

“In my auctioneering world once every five to 10 years I have met with an owner who says they want to sell their property, with no reserve,” Mr Cush said.

“As an auctioneer many will never call one and if you do, the weight of the outcome sits entirely on the shoulders of the agent and auctioneer.”

Apollo Auctions director and auctioneer Justin Nickerson called a record-breaking auction in Crestmead in October 2023.

The unliveable home sold for $494,700 in front of a crowd of over 500 spectators and a national record-breaking 161 bidders.

The crowd at the Crestmead no reserve auction. David Clark

Inside the trashed Crestmead house. David Clark

Another standout no reserve auction was held at 14 Barrier Place in Forest Lake, where an investor edged out scores of first-home buyers who were among a massive 77 registered bidders.

14 Barrier Place, Forest Lake, attracted 77 registered bidders

And close to 300 people attended the midday no reserve auction for a brand new home that went under the hammer for Mater Little Miracles.

Close to 300 people attended the no reserve charity auction for 43 Amulree Street, Tarragindi

Propertyology founder and buyer’s agent Simon Pressley said that while no reserve auctions were rare, buyers still needed to conduct their due diligence.

But he said that in the right circumstances, a no reserve auction can be a “clever move”.

“Buyers need to remember to keep emotion out of it as there is often a lot more hype,” he said.

“But you have that extra clarity knowing that it will sell on the day to the highest bidder.

“Be disciplined, have a game plan and don’t get swept up and go beyond your means.”

61 Uplands Drive, Parkwood, attracted 22 registered bidders when it went under the hammer with no reserve

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The Edwardian waterfront estate known as Tarneit was home to pioneering gallerist Marianne Baillieu, where Melbourne’s art world once gathered.

A waterfront Williamstown mansion tied to the Baillieu family — and long regarded as a hub of Melbourne’s art world — has hit the market with a $7m price tag.

The Edwardian estate at 28 The Strand, known as Tarneit, was home to pioneering gallerist and artist Marianne Baillieu for more than three decades, where she hosted legendary salons with painters, filmmakers and even Buddhist monks.

From its dynamited basalt swimming pool to its starring role in Paul Cox’s 1984 film My First Wife, the house is dripping with cultural history as much as architectural grandeur.
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Baillieu, who founded Melbourne’s Realities Gallery in Toorak in 1971, moved to Williamstown in 1980 to focus on her own painting career.

Over the following decades she held 15 solo exhibitions across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, while keeping the home as a gathering place for artists, writers and filmmakers.

Her son James remembers a childhood shaped by creativity.

The property’s dynamited basalt swimming pool has long been a local talking point, overlooking Hobsons Bay.

Grand Edwardian rooms with stained glass windows once hosted salons of artists, filmmakers and cultural leaders.

“The house is so close to the water that ships seemed to sail right into our front garden,” he said.

“It was an extraordinary household.”

The property became famous for its garden parties, where cultural heavyweights mingled against sweeping harbour views. Grand Edwardian rooms with stained glass windows, together with Baillieu’s own landscaped gardens, set the stage for Melbourne’s artistic community.

Marianne’s son James Baillieu recalls growing up in an extraordinary household where “ships seemed to sail into our front garden. Photo: Aaron Francis

The home’s spacious kitchen and dining zones were central to decades of family life and creative gatherings.

Now marketed by Ray White Williamstown’s Joanne Royston with a guide of $6.6m –$7m, the home sits on 1279sq m of blue-chip waterfront land. It features expansive reception rooms, landscaped gardens and the famous dynamited pool overlooking the bay.

Ms Royston said the listing was a rare opportunity to own “a piece of Australian cultural history”.

Gallerist and artist Marianne Baillieu, pictured with friend Chris Berwick, made Williamstown a hub of creative exchange.

The Strand remains one of Williamstown’s most coveted waterfront strips, with sweeping views across the bay to Melbourne’s CBD.

“The combination of architectural significance, cultural heritage and prime waterfront location makes this an exceptional offering,” she said.

While the prestige market has been relatively subdued in recent months, she expects strong interest.

“We’re seeing some buyers from other inner bayside suburbs such as Port Melbourne and St Kilda considering Williamstown, especially when true waterfront homes are this scarce,” she said.

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Looking to buy a home? The job you have plays more of a role than ever, a new report shows.

New Finder data reveals the jobs that – assuming you’re a good saver – will get you into a home the fastest, and the ones which could be locking you out of the market.

Looking at the starting income rankings alone, the top starting wage was for dentistry, where graduates earn $93,060 a year.

There’s big money to be made in dentistry.

The rest of the top five were dominated by tradespeople – roof tiler ($87,890), medicine ($77,653), plasterer ($77,550) and carpenter/joiner/stonemason/tilelayer ($76,996).

However, the number reveals it’s not necessarily those with the highest starting income who are necessarily able to save a 20 per cent deposit the fastest.

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Roof tilers, according to the data, are the fastest to get into home ownership.

They’ll need to save for 15 years to form a deposit.

Dentistry, engineering, computing and communications systems, and medicine graduates can also get into an Adelaide unit within 16 years.

Houses, as you might expect, will take longer, with dentistry, engineering, and computer and information systems graduates in their new home after saving for their deposit for 24 years.

Medicine graduates will have to wait another year, and roof tilers another two.

Master Builders SA CEO Will Frogley. Supplied

Master Builders Association of SA chief executive officer Will Frogley said trades paid well, offered good opportunities and job security.

“This is a classic example of the law of supply and demand,” he said.

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“There is a massive shortage of tradies and accordingly they are getting paid very well.

“Kids, parents, and career counsellors are realising a trade like roof plumbing is great protection against AI.

“And people are seeing more and more that a well-paying job gives them their best shot at owning a home of their own.”

First year roof plumbing apprentice Tyler Porter is keen to save up for his first home down the track. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Tyler Porter, 17, is studying roof plumbing – the field in SA which includes roof tiling – part time and said he was thrilled to hear it might help get him into a home sooner.

“That’s my number one priority and the first thing I’ll be doing when I’m earning – saving for that house deposit,” he said.

“I’ve heard it’s really difficult, so I’ll be doing everything I can to get in as soon as I can.”

As for the jobs that might be keeping you out of the market – creative arts graduates on a $53,768 starting salary looking to buy a house in Adelaide will need to save for a whopping 39 years.

Signwriters, painters and glazers were in the market a year sooner at 38 years, while

communications graduates need to save for 35 years.

Finder.com.au head of research Graham Cooke.

Finder.com.au head of research Graham Cooke said it was “shocking” how long it would take some people to save a 20 per cent deposit following recent property price hikes.

He noted that prices were climbing in most areas at a faster rate than wages and those saving home deposits were struggling to keep up.

“People think rates are the be all and end all and we hear so much about prices but what’s less discussed is the deposit,” Mr Cooke said.

“People don’t realise just how long it now takes to save a deposit to get on the bottom rung of the property ladder. That bottom rung is just getting higher and higher.”

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Mr Cooke said the findings showed how long it would take a single income earner to save a deposit and noted that this did not reflect the reality of most buyers, who purchased with a partner.

But he added that it was “scary” just how out of reach the market had become for singles.

“You have to have a pretty decent amount of income to buy as a single earner,” he said.

– with Aidan Devine

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