House That! Pole vaulting Olympian Kurtis Marschall bounds into the property market with his first purchase

An injury may have prevented athlete Kurtis Marschall from attending a training camp before the Paris Olympic Games, but it was also the key reason he was able to pole vault his way into the property market. The three-time Olympian bought a house in Innaloo in late June when he should have been training at the pre-Paris Olympic camp. He had been forced to stay behind in Perth for medical treatment after an accident in April which dislocated his ankle to such an extent he was unable to walk. During this period, the Innaloo home was first advertised — at noon on a Tuesday, to be precise. He and partner athlete Olivia Eaton saw the house that night and made an immediate and successful offer. A week later, he jetted off for Paris, where he made Australia proud with an admirable sixth place. He said the injury was the stroke of luck the pair needed to break into the market following a year-long search and multiple rejected offers. “Had it not been for the ankle injury, we would not have got this house.” While you almost need Olympic-level grit to survive the cutthroat property market these days, he credits some invaluable advice for their eventual success. “We got some advice that the best way to do it was to get in quickly before the inspection,” he said. “That’s the best chance you’ve got to get the property instead of trying to outbid everyone. “So we did that and went in hard with our offer.” Originally from Adelaide, he said he moved to Perth to benefit from “the best coaching in Australia” from luminaries like Paul Burgess. And he hasn’t looked back, calling Innaloo “beautiful” and referring to his new home as his “dream property.” The pair paid $920,000 for the three-bedroom, two-bath, double-brick home built by Nu-Style Living on a 218sqm block. It comes with a chef’s kitchen, double lock-up garage, front and back courtyards, sophisticated security, and ducted and zoned reverse-cycle air conditioning. Innaloo has jumped in value by 20 per cent over the past year. It has grown more than nearby Doubleview (up 16. per cent) and Karrinyup (up 14.3 per cent) but trails the growth in neighbouring Gwelup, which is up a massive 23.9 per cent. The property was sold via property agents Cameron Cherubino and Troy Smith.