PROPERTY & COMMUNITY · ATHERTON TABLELANDS
Historic Malanda Cottage Goes to First-Home Buyer
Published · Updated · Cenlocal summary
A heartfelt letter helped a young Malanda local buy a 116-year-old railway worker's cottage in her hometown, ABC News reports.
ABC News reports that a 25-year-old Malanda local has bought her first home — a 116-year-old railway worker's cottage — even though a rival offer was $60,000 higher.
A letter that made the difference
According to the ABC, the timber cottage was one of Malanda's original railway workers' homes, built around 1910 when the railway reached the town. The buyer, Karli Bryant, grew up in Malanda and attended the school next door.
She wrote a letter to the seller, a woman in her 90s living in Western Australia, describing her family's links to the town — including a grandmother who taught at Malanda Primary — and her plans to raise a family there. Elders Real Estate agent Janine Rielly told the ABC the seller was touched by the letter, and that other higher offers had come from buyers planning to demolish the cottage for new units or duplexes.
Keeping a piece of Malanda history
The ABC reports that the new owner and her family have already begun restoring the cottage and its garden, and that she hopes the story encourages other young people trying to buy in the regional market.
Read the full story from ABC News using the source link below.
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Sources & Further Reading
This is an original Cenlocal summary. Cenlocal is not the original reporter; facts are attributed to the sources below.
