Hopes high of house sale after internet auction bid (From Western Telegraph)

Hopes high of house sale after internet auction bid

A HOUSE in a tiny hamlet near St Davids has created record interest on an internet auction site.

Almost 4,500 hits were made by people interested in the grade II listed detached stone cottage at Fachelich.

The four-bedroom house was put on the market by Caroline and Adrian Ault who, with their family, are heading for a new life in Australia.

So desperate were they to sell, after a previous offer fell through, that they turned to the eBay auction site.

But although the reserve price of £350,000 was not reached in the auction, the couple are hoping a sale will be agreed by today (Wednesday). It will be in the region of £320,000.

"We are talking to four prospective buyers all from Wales. Three want it as their home, the fourth would retire here in five years' time," said Mr Ault, a financial consultant. The couple, who have six children, have already spent £40,000 setting everything up in Australia.

The visa, granted by the Australian Government means that Mrs Ault, a student nurse before the birth of her 15-month-old twins, will have to fund her own nursing degree and the children will have to be privately educated.

"We have to be completely self sufficient, so the sale of our house is imperative," said Mr Ault. "The business I will be entering also needs capital."

The Ault family have lived in Pembrokeshire for seven years - the last two-and-a-half at Fachelich.

Caroline Ault was brought up in the county, her father having moved here to work at the then Amoco refinery. Her husband is from Birkenhead.

The highest bid on the internet auction was £301,000, but with new bids reaching £320,000 the Aults are hoping the sale with go through.

"If it doesn't we will probably rent the house out. We still aim to fly out to Australia on October 1st," they said.