Brad Moran admits ‘ambitious’ strategy sank $27.5m mansion auction

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Brad Moran spent four years renovating the Gold Coast mansion

AFL player turned tech entrepreneur Brad Moran has conceded an “ambitious” strategy derailed the auction sale of his Gold Coast mega-mansion.

The Tallai estate, which has again topped listing views on realestate.com.au, was quietly pulled late last year after a heavily marketed auction campaign with Kollosche agents Michael Kollosche and Jamie Harrison. It was relisted with rival agent Amir Mian this month via private treaty with a hefty $27.5 million price tag.

Speaking publicly for the first time about the initial campaign, Moran said timing ultimately worked against him.

160 Tallai Rd, Tallai is listed with a $27.5m price tag

A scheduled auction didn’t proceed

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“Most properties like this take six to 12 months [to sell], so it was definitely very ambitious of us to think we could knock it away in six to eight weeks,” he said.

“There was nothing structurally wrong with what we did. We knew we were tied up, timewise, launching at the pointy end of the year, but that was my decision to run the gauntlet so I could travel.

“A lot of ultra-high-net-worth [buyers] don’t necessarily want to engage in the auction space,” he said. “And the issue was we were running against time.”

The property has outstanding recreational facilities with city skyline views

The gold tiled pool

Kollosche agent Jamie Harrison confirmed the scheduled late-November auction was canned.

“We had a cash unconditional offer close to expectations that the seller refused to accept,” Mr Harrison said.

“[The] rest of the feedback was well below.”

Moran said the experience proved “a learning curve”. He took the home off the market over the Christmas period before Mr Mian “twisted his arm” to relist it.

“As a vendor, running these processes is taxing and stressful,” he said. “This is not a normal home, and when people make a decision like this, it’s generally not going to be their primary home, so there isn’t the same urgency.”

The residence has ten bedrooms

It’s a multigenerational estate, the agent says

Mr Mian said trophy lifestyle properties were rarely suited to short campaign windows, particularly when buyers may need to travel interstate to inspect.

“With a property like this, there’s no guarantee you’ll find the right buyer in a quick 30-day period. People need to see it, feel it, and they may need to fly in to do that,” he said.

The 8,888sqm property at 160 Tallai Rd, purchased by Moran for $7m in 2021 following the $205m sale of his retail-media startup CitrusAd, has been extensively renovated over four years and includes a main residence and three guest houses.

A car lover’s dream

Extensive wellness spaces are included

PropTrack data showed the home was Queensland’s most-viewed listing this week.

Moran, who retired from the AFL at 24 after stints with North Melbourne and Adelaide, said the project became an obsession.

“I spent 65 hours a week, every week for three years on it,” he said. “The ambition was to push every boundary of what was possible — from an engineering perspective, but also aesthetically.”

Named The Estate, the showstopper property has 10 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms and is fitted out with high-tech inclusions and luxury features including a gold-tiled infinity pool, 16-seat cinema, hidden poker room, whisky bar, basketball court, go-kart track and a 13-car basement garage.