Former Married at First Sight stars Jules Robinson and Cameron Merchant have walked away with a cool $150,000 after offloading their Gold Coast investment pad.
The glamour couple, who met on the Channel Nine show in 2018, purchased the cosy two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse in Mermaid Beach for $700,000 three years ago.
Located just minutes away from Nobby’s Beach, the residence is situated inside the Diamond Sands residential complex.
Robinson, 43, and Merchant, 40, did an upgrade on the efficient beach cottage, which was quickly listed as a rental after the recent sale for $690-a-week.
According to the realestate.com, the home has now been leased after it was secured with a bond of $2760.
Features of the apartment include a spacious open-plan design and a large patio off the main living area.
Meanwhile, the large main bedroom offers a walk-in wardrobe, and there’s also a modern kitchen with plenty of storage space.
Built on what was once a caravan park, the Diamond Sands residential site was created in 1994 and hosts villas, townhouses and units.
Surrounded by palm trees, the complex offers residents ‘resort living’ including a ‘lagoon style’ swimming pool.
Robinson and Merchant are one of the most successful couples to come out of Married At First Sight.
And the glamorous couple have cut a high-profile with the real estate portfolio.
The pair, who live on Sydney’s north shore, purchased a home on the Gold Coast in March, 2022.
Located in the much sought after Broadbeach Waters neighbourhood, the couple splashed out $3.65million on the six-bedroom, five-bathroom spread.
The pair, who officially married in November 2019 and welcomed son Oliver in September the following year, bought their beachside Sydney pad in Cromer for $1.8million in 2020.
In February, the pair announced they were expecting their second child.
Speaking to Stellar Magazine Robinson said they could not be happier.
‘We’ve been trying since our son Ollie was one and he is now three-and-a-half. We were going into 2024 thinking, “If it doesn’t happen, we will look at IVF”,’ she explained.
By Kylie Stevens For Daily Mail Australia
23:39 24 Mar 2024, updated 01:25 25 Mar 2024
Australia needs 90,000 more tradies in the next 90 days in order to meet the Albanese government’s ‘impossible’ new goal to build 1.2million new homes in five years, the building industry has warned.
Major building industry groups have called out the Federal government’s plan – which would see the country construct 60,000 new homes each quarter from July 1 – as unrealistic.
One solution would be for Australia to boost immigration and fast-track skilled tradespeople, Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn suggested.
Ms Wawn said she was concerned ‘there is no way … we can get 90,000 (workers) in three months, unless we had a radical change in the way which we are looking at our migration system’.
Recognising tradies’ qualifications from other countries should be easier and cheaper, Ms Wawn said.
‘We know that there are a large number of tradies in this country that can’t get their licences recognised as it’s too expensive and too cumbersome for them,’ she said in an interview with Sunrise.
‘We have to focus on those who are currently in the country by their skills aren’t recognised.’
Ms Wawn also said there needs to be a massive push to skill up Australians and encourage them to work in the trades industry.
‘We really are focusing on school levers particularly but also those who want a career change to look at trade,’ Ms Wawn said.
‘Thirdly, as an industry, we need to retain the current tradies and call back the ones that have decided enough is enough.’
But she acknowledged finding 90,000 tradies in the next 90 days is unrealistic.
‘I think this figure reflects the difficulty that we’re going to have if we don’t resolve the tradie shortage in meeting the agreed target of 1.2 million homes over five years,’ she said.
‘The clock starts ticking on July 1 and we’ve got a huge, huge issue to resolve.’
Ms Wawn remained hopeful the government’s target of 1.2m new homes by 2029 can be achieved, despite only 170,215 new homes being built in the 12 months to September last year for 548,800 newly-arrived migrants.
‘We need to focus on how we can actually get there,’ she said. ‘The issue really is: how do we actually encourage more people into our sector?’
BuildSkills Australia executive director of research and planning Robert Sobyra said finding skilled labour will be the biggest supply-side barrier to addressing the housing supply crisis.
‘Returning the housing market to a healthy state will require a significant uplift in the national dwelling completion rate,’ he said.
‘While there are plenty of hurdles to overcome in achieving this goal, labour will be the single biggest supply-side barrier.’
Housing Minister Julie Collins said that while the government’s housing target was ambitious, it was getting on with the job.
‘We know we’ve got a lot of work to do,’ she told Sky News.
‘We’re working right across government – I know the skills ministers had a meeting just over two weeks ago, where they talked about the skills required to meet the housing demand in Australia and the challenges we currently have.’
A rise in modular housing or pre-fabricated homes common in Japan and Germany could see the housing supply fast-tracked.
Australian housing giant Mirvac is among the developers trialling modular housing construction in response to the crisis.
‘We’ve been able to reduce the construction of those homes to be watertight within 12 weeks,’ Mirvac chief executive of development Stuart Penklis told Nine News.
He added that modular housing doesn’t come with some of the challenges of a traditional build, such as supply chain shortages and severe weather disruptions.
Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic added that governments were working together ‘to take a serious look’ at modular housing.
‘Other countries have got their act together on modular housing and are seeing great jobs and great new homes – we want to be able to do that right here on shore,’ Mr Husic said.
- Property transactions are down and it may be trickier to secure a sale
- Some features homeowners love may be off-putting to a potential buyer
- We asked estate agents what the biggest turn-offs are
With property sales down by 10 per cent since pre-Covid levels, now is a tricky time to sell your home.
But what are the features and centrepieces that can turn buyers off?
Some of these fancy home additions listed by property experts, below, may surprise you — but they’re likely to end up hampering a sale.
Costly pools
If you have a huge garden where you can shelter a pool behind high hedges, then it may add to the value of your house. But if you have a modest suburban plot, it’s a different matter.
‘I think I lose two out of ten buyers if a house has a pool,’ says Jason Corbett, of Rowallan Buying Agents. ‘They cost around £10 a day to heat and they are a safety concern.’
You may think that ponds would be a selling point — especially given the popularity of wild swimming.
But the dangers of drowning or having a heart attack (due to the cold) outweigh notions of the good life for most buyers.
Hot tubs can also be a turn-off. It’s a personal matter: most people simply don’t like the idea of bathing where someone else has bathed before them.
Groomed gardens
A beautiful garden can be a selling point, but over-ornate flower beds and borders can have the opposite effect.
‘Anything too fiddly can be off-putting,’ says Robin Gould, of Prime Purchase. ‘I recently saw a house with a wonderful garden which needed two gardeners to tend to it, costing £25,000 a year. Not many can afford that commitment.’
Large expanses of decking are also best avoided.
‘It becomes green, slimy and unattractive in time,’ says Carol Peett of West Wales Property Finders. ‘Decking also provides a cosy home for rats.’
So ignore the advice of the daytime television gardening programmes and rip up the decking before you sell.
Conservatories
A Georgian-style orangery is likely to add to the look of any home, but a ramshackle lean-to conservatory (defined as having 75 per cent of the roof glazed) full of abandoned exercise bikes and broken sofas will put off buyers.
‘Cheap uPVC windows in a period house, also look terrible,’ says Nick Wooldridge, of Stacks Property Search.
‘Especially if the original windows would have been sliding-sash and they have been replaced with top-hinge windows.’
Stylish stairs
Your eye-catching staircase may be your pride and joy, but it won’t help you sell. ‘Open tread, glass or cantilevered staircases look lovely but they are dangerous,’ says Marc Schneiderman, of Arlington Residential.
‘I showed a house with a statement staircase in Hampstead, London, to dozens of potential buyers.
‘All stated the staircase as their reason for not buying and the ultimate purchaser made an offer conditional on the vendors changing it.’
Hip bathrooms
They used to be purely functional but nowadays bathrooms are subject to the whims of interior designers, sometimes to disastrous effect.
‘A rolltop bath in the bedroom brings a touch of boutique hotel luxury,’ says Michael Holmes, an expert at the Homebuilding & Renovating Show.
‘But the 1990s move to bring the WC into the bedroom was a step too far.’
Other trends that are past their sell-by date include the television in the wall over the bath, double ‘his and hers’ sink units and loos behind glass in the en-suite.
Passion projects
Many homeowners have a room dedicated to their own personal interests, be it a nightclub in the attic or a fully kitted out gym in a reception room.
I once met a man whose cellar was a shrine to Southampton Football Club, complete with turnstiles at the door and life-size cardboard models of the star players.
They won’t help you sell your home.
‘The more niche your centrepiece is, the less chance you have of impressing a potential buyer,’ says Charlie Warner, at Heaton & Partners.
Green washing
There can be little doubt that your home should be environmentally friendly. However, to sell quickly, it also needs to look good.
‘Eco bling — experimental-looking homes with tiny windows, turbines that never seem to turn, and roofs shrouded in too many solar panels are all a big turn-off,’ says Michael Holmes.
‘Badly ageing, untreated timber-cladding, too, is a sign of a self-builder trying too hard to express green credentials.’
Personal taste
The experts’ advice is simple when it comes to preparing a house for sale.
‘Don’t try to make a statement,’ says Ed Jephson, of Stacks Property Search. ‘Avoid personalised quirky styles. Light fittings, paint colours and wallpapers should be aimed for broad appeal.’
Emma Fildes, of Brick Weaver buying agents, warns against gaudy sofas, inappropriate art and murals — particularly those depicting the vendor’s family.
‘The craze for stencilling the walls with slogans such as ‘Live Laugh Love’ has run its course and they may well put off a buyer,’ says interior designer, Julia Kendell.
‘And for goodness sake, paper over that jarring feature wall.’