Two multi-generational families squared up at 24 Hillcrest Avenue in Wavell Heights on Saturday morning, both hoping to secure a future for the younger members of their clans.

Winning bidder Justin Holt went in to bat for his wife and two-year-old son.

"We're planning to live here for a very long time and potentially hopefully pass it on to our son," Mr Holt said.

His determination showed when it came to auction time, but his strongest competition and the eventual under bidders had the same idea.

Kirri de Marco was bidding alongside her sister and elderly mother; the plan was to buy the house not only for herself, but her 29-year-old son to own in future too. "Everything we do is about family," she said.

Mum Daphne Schokman - who was seated because she was unable to stand for the duration of the auction - said the family had never bought anything at auction before, but that didn't stop her and her daughters giving it their all.

Ray White auctioneer Haesley Cush had a field day as the two families locked horns. Bidding started low, at $500,000, but rocketed up to $750,000 with the next bid. The home was placed on the market at $770,000, starting a long and bitter battle.

Mr Holt and Ms Schokman went backwards and forwards for more than 30 bids, with Mr Holt aggressively raising the price and Ms Schokman defensively upping her bid by the smallest margin possible.

As bidding began to wind up, Ms Schokman's other daughter exclaimed, "Come on, you're bidding against my mum!" to the delight of the auctioneer.

"We're all equal on the auction floor," Mr Cush said, laughing. "Every trick in the book is coming out."

The property sold to Mr Holt for $855,000.

"It was nerve-racking but I enjoyed it, yeah," he said. Despite the tough auction, he just had to have the property. "We picked it for the location," Mr Holt said. "There's schools down the road, very good schools."

"It's on a hill with north views, it's perfect for us."

Eventually, the Holts want to renovate the home. Ray White Albion agent Dwight Ferguson said it would be interesting to see what was done with the property in the future.

"There are options with it, it's a postwar, post-1946, so it can be removed," he said. "But it's very neat and tidy and many people said they'd use it for the bones of the renovation."

Not long after in Mein Street, Hendra, another renovation opportunity went up for auction. Ray White Albion's David Treloar oversaw the bidding, which boiled down to two young families vying for a bargain.

The auction was slow to start, beginning at $700,000. After less than a dozen bids, the house was placed on the market.

Things became more fast-paced and it eventually sold to Melissa and Paul Duie-Wilcock for $875,000.

The would-be renovators lived in the area, and were eying the run-down Queensland's land more than anything.

"[We're going to] take it down, ship it out and put something straight up," Mrs Duie-Wilcock said. "Come back and have a look at it when we're done!"

But the old home standing on the site wouldn't be neglected, the pair had plans for that too.

"We're going to try to save it," Mrs Duie-Wilcock said.

Later on Saturday afternoon, a developer with a passion for Paddington snagged the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy a double block on Given Terrace. The deceased estate at 306 Given Terrace hadn't been on the market in 64 years, and nearly 900 square metres of prime real estate was on offer.

Auctioneer Phil Parker held the auction, coaxing buyers up from $800,000 to $1.48 million. James Lilley of Brisbane Prestige Homes bought the house and had plans to develop the land.

"We'll develop the block, split it into two blocks and build two luxury homes that compliment the area," he said.

Brisbane Prestige Homes were committed to retaining Paddington's heritage charm, Mr Lilley said.

"We built the two homes across the road, 321 and 319," he said. "We love the area and our plan is to re-gentrify whenever we develop and build beautiful character homes that are sympathetic to the area."