It's called “land-maxxing", or, in Omaha’s case, “bach-maxxing”. Homeowners in the wealthy beach town are buying up their neighbours' properties to create private family compounds.
Precision real estate agent Di Balich told OneRoof that she knows of several families in her patch who have been quietly growing their real estate portfolios.
She is selling two neighbouring properties on Taiawa Place, in Omaha, which the owners pulled together to create a 1600sqm "playground" with a combined RV of over $9m.
6 Taiawa Place is an architecturally designed four-bedroom bach built in 2016, while 8 Taiawa Place is a vacant section that leads down to the beach.
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The beachfront section has been an "expensive playground". Photo / Supplied
The bach is stylish and has good views. Photo / Supplied
"This combined offering represents possibly the finest beachfront development opportunity in Omaha," Balich told her clients in a recent email.
She told OneRoof that many of these Omaha compounds would fetch "$15m or $20m if they went on the market today, way more than they would get individually, because of the scarcity value".
The trend was led by the Dryden family, whose patriarch, Alistair Dryden, was the original developer of the beach town. The family still owns some seven properties in the town, all of them beachfront.
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Some families accumulate neighbouring baches for their extended family to use, while others buy up land around them to protect their views or give themselves more privacy.
“I always call them expensive playgrounds for the grandchildren,” Balich told OneRoof.
Five years ago, OneRoof found that over 30 Omaha residents owned two properties in the town, with another seven owning between three and five places. That number is likely to have gone up since.
Three years ago, a "bachmaxxer" hit the headlines when he spent $11m on two neighbouring properties in one day on Taumata Road. He picked up a five-bedroom resort-style beachfront place at auction for $8.55m before grabbing the house directly behind it on the street for more than $3m later that afternoon.
A wealthy buyer made headlines in 2023 when he bought a five-bedroom resort-style bach on Taumata Road, in Omaha, and the house next door. Photo / Supplied
OneRoof understands he has spent at least $6m upgrading the pair of properties into a luxurious family compound for his children and grandchildren.
Ray White agent Victoria Turner, who brokered the deal on the second Taumata Road house, told OneRoof that her very first deal ten years ago was selling a house on Success Court to the next-door neighbours.
“The first person I spoke to was the neighbour, and he bought the house. That’s a very common trend,” Turner said.
The pair of properties were back on the market last summer, but Turner said the owners have now decided to hold on to their legacy. At the time they went on the market, she had told OneRoof the 2268sqm of land with two houses next door to Sir John Key’s former bach, would be worth $15m.
"They know how special and unique that pair is,” she said.
A Hamptons-style house at 26 Sandpiper Avenue, in Point Wells, could be snapped along with the section next door. Photo / Supplied
But neighbours are not always going to get a bargain. At the peak of the property market, Turner took a property on Bluebell Parade to auction. “Basically, the neighbour just kept bidding until he owned it,” she said.
She said it was hard to put a price on combined properties. “Omaha is a really savvy investment; it’s just resilient. We seem to go from strength to strength.”
Turner is currently marketing 26 Sandpiper Avenue and 28 Sandpiper Avenue, at neighbouring Point Wells. The owners bought both plots ten years ago and built a four-bedroom Hamptons-style multi-generational house at 26 and left 28 vacant, although they did get consents for a three-bedroom house.
“You could build a second home for family, gardens, a big garage, or a tennis court. It is over 3100 sqm coastal holding you are looking across towards Omaha,” Turner said.
Bayleys agent Kellie Bissett, who also sells in the area, said that having two sections to build across only increased the value. “Then they’ve got a pretty special property,” she said.
She added that the lifestyle market was different from the bach market. Rather than buy out entire adjacent blocks, country owners will often do a boundary adjustment with a neighbour to improve the privacy or appeal of their plot.
“There are always plenty of off-market conversations going on with agents before they get seen on the market.”
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