Mystery Bay Buyers Revealed

Newcastle Herald

Saturday June 4, 2005

SALLY CROXTON

THE mystery is over.

The $3 million buyers of a Bonnells Bay acreage waterfront are the founder of direct seller Omegatrend, Loren Watts, and his wife Sandra, who swapped the yachting paradise of Pittwater for Lake Macquarie.

They bought the house at 86 Boonal Road, Bonnells Bay, mentioned in last week's column, planning to use it as temporary accommodation while they build nearby.

Previously from Western Australia, Loren Watts quit Amway Australia in 1990 to found Omegatrend. The now global marketing business direct sells products such as laundry detergent, cosmetics and vitamins.

The Watts' impending move and their $3 million buy of the builder/developer Steve Ford's house on 1.82 hectares of waterfront through David Wood of Ray White Morisset has created quite a stir on the western shores of Lake Macquarie: it wasn't going to stay under wraps for long.

Record Eraring deal

WHILE it was the highest, it was not the only strong Lake Macquarie sale in the past few days.

An Eraring record was set when Limni, a ranch-style house on 5300 square metres of waterfront at 37 Payten Street, Eraring, sold for $1.48 million through Paul Avery of Avery First National in its first week on the maket.

It went to a couple retiring from Sutherland Shire.

And Eleebana, a mainly 1970s-developed suburb that has lost some of its stellar status of recent years, scored a non-waterfront record sale of $1,025,000.

The house was a 1970s model when Steve and Melody Watson, now of Vancouver, Canada, bought 27 Pannamena Crescent in June 2003 for $715,000.

They had given their house with big lake views an immaculate transformation by the time it was listed for sale with Sonia Walkom and Kate Rundle of Walkom Linehans First National.

The May 14 auction was postponed to negotiate with the eventual buyer, a Lake Macquarie-based medical professional with six children.

Waterfront gem

FORMER Newcastle University dean of architecture Lindsay Johnston designed 11 Coal Point Road, Coal Point, which has just sold for $1.3 million.

The about 15-year-old four-bedroom-plus-jetty timber waterfront owned by Michelle and Mark Tynan was bought by a Newcastle businessman.

It sold through Paul Campbell of LJ Hooker Toronto.

Sold on Merewether

THE 32 Lloyd Street, Merewether, block the owner of the house opposite is said to have had his eye on has sold to a Catherine Hill Bay buyer for $1,140,000.

The steep 575-square-metre block, owned by NIB chief Mark Fitzgibbon, sold through Steve Macnamara of Robinson Property.

It had been on the market for months but suddenly had two buyers. Daryl McNally, owner/builder of 33 Lloyd Street, who has listed his family house for sale with Greg Handsaker of Walkom Linehans at $2,275,000, was rumoured to be the other.

Beach lifestyle beckons

MEANWHILE, Paul and Merisa Grob's schmick freestanding beach house on just 287 square metres at 17 Frederick Street, Merewether, fetched $890,000.

Sold through Anthony Merlo of Robinson Property, the four-bedroom house was one of our Wednesday feature properties last month, then with a $918,500 price tag.

Winery sales blooming

THE crisp, ideal wine-tasting days have also drawn plenty of buyers to the wineries.

Alan Jurd of Jurd Real Estate has had a spate of successes, all going to Sydney buyers.

Among the sales were Roger and Nikki Davis's Wood Lane Cottages on 10 hectares at Lomas Lane, Nulkaba, for $1.185 million.

James Miles's Halcyon Hill Guest House on 30 hectares at Broke sold for $1.5 million in a couple of weeks.

Also sold, for $915,000, was the Hunter Manor on two hectares on Lovedale Road, Lovedale.

Sweeping river views

NEW to the market this weekend, but already with eight sales off the sign, are 52 lots in the Valley View estate off Morpeth Road at Raworth, between East Maitland and Morpeth.

Many of the lots offer views over the Hunter River according to George Rafty of Dowling Hamilton who will be on site today and tomorrow from 11am to 3pm. The lots, are priced between $185,000 and $248,000.