- A Christchurch family bought their dream home for $1.16 million after missing out earlier.
- The Westmorland property sold for $10,000 more than its previous sale eight months ago.
- One of the buyers remembered the home as the doll's house from her childhood.
A young Christchurch couple squealed with delight after winning the auction for their dream family home.
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The couple had missed out on the Westmorland home eight months earlier, but when the property unexpectedly returned to market, they were determined to walk away with the keys.
Their winning offer of $1.16 million at Harcourts Grenadier’s auction room last week was $10,000 more than what the Penruddock Rise property sold for in October last year.
The 1980s home had been meticulously renovated throughout. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty Christchurch managing director Rosa Carter helped the buyers make the most of their second chance.
Carter, who is close friends with the couple, said: “They had fallen in love with the house, so when it didn’t happen for them last year, they were obviously down in the dumps.”
Carter said she spotted the house had been relisted last month and got in touch with the couple straight away.
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The couple quickly made a pre-auction offer, and although it wasn’t good enough to stop the auction, they were determined not to lose out.
Neither could be in Christchurch for last week's auction so Carter bid on their behalf.
The wife, who was in the UK visiting family, slept through it and didn’t find out until hours later that they had won it. “She got the message at about 9pm and was like ‘Oh my gosh’,” Carter said.
“They were just squealing - very emotional, very over the moon.”
The buyers had wanted to move to Westmorland to be closer to family and had fallen in love with the upgraded colonial-style home.
Carter told OneRoof the house was designed by her father and had been relocated to Westmorland from Fendalton, close to where she and her friend had grown up.
“It was quite an iconic house. You used to come around the sweeping end form Hagley Park by Mona Vale, and it was very distinctive the way it was sited. And you just couldn’t miss it when you were coming down Fendalton Road when it was there. So, we used to refer to it as the doll’s house.”
Harcourts listing agent Gemma Tipple said the sale was a great result for both the buyer and seller.
Tipple said the vendors had decided to put the property back on the market after a change of circumstances and had been unsure where it would land in the market.
However, they were pleased they were able to get them a bit more than what they paid for it.
Tipple said of the buyers: “It’s not often you get a second chance to have a crack on a house you missed out on and that you wanted last time so it’s actually a really lovely story.”
She said there had been other conditional interest, including from others who viewed it last year, but no one else had been in a position to bid on auction day.
“People do remember it; they do love it. It’s such a beautiful home, it looks like a doll’s house, and I think the marketing came out beautiful for that and made it shine.”
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