Selling your home can be an emotional roller-coaster. So having a friend who is going through the same ups and downs can help.
Unless that friend is your co-host on Coast’s Breakfast show.
Jason Reeves and Sam Wallace have both put their homes on the market this week, so in a show of solidarity, they whipped up ads for each other's houses and played them on Thursday’s show (scroll down to hear their ads).
“It’s a great time to be alive in the Coast breakfast studio,” announced co-host Toni Street, warily.
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She’s been there before: Street put her own house on the market back in 2018, before changing her mind and deciding to stay put.
Reeves rolled out the red carpet – and sound effects - with his ad. “It’s a home that awakens your senses and makes you feel good,” he enthused. “It’s a home that could be yours, from my friend, the funny, the generous, the heroic, the homemaker, Sam Wallace. Make your move to Milford and see your new home at OneRoof.co.nz.”
Reeves may be regretting his generous streak when Wallace – the same Wallace who earned friends and frenemies for the competitive streak that earned him last year's Celebrity Treasure Island crown – announced that he had “misunderstood” the brief.
“Is there something strange in your neighbourhood?” Wallace asked at the start of his ad.
Sam Wallace's home at 1 Margaret Place, in Milford, on Auckland's North Shore, is a great family home. Photo / Supplied
“From out of the shadows comes this divine creation on Auckland’s North Shore. It’s a super space to entertain your friends in a natural environment we call super natural.”
So far, nothing too alarming. But then Wallace proceeds to tell potential buyers that they can expect to have their furniture rearranged while they sleep and that their children can enjoy visits “from their new friend Casper, who lives in the ceiling”.
Other entirely fictitious benefits include a Covid testing station within walking distance, plaster cladding, a bright orange colour scheme, one toilet situated next to the shower and a a “well-used swing” in a non-existent basement.
Not haunted: Jason Reeves' stylish house at 56a Marlborough Avenue, in Glenfield. Photo / Supplied
Wallace’s ad may not be good real estate practice, but he could blame baby brain. He and partner Sarah Bowman have a toddler in the house and twins on the way in February.
Wallace told OneRoof after the ad aired: "I'm just really embarrassed that Jase took it seriously and obviously I misread the brief. I do want to thank him for his production skills. I feel bad now.”
Reeves added: "I just want to clarify we DON'T have ghosts, it's NOT a plaster home and apart from the fact I am selling my house, everything in Sam’s ad was completely untrue!”
Both Reeves and Wallace can take comfort in the fact their homes are what buyers are looking for in Auckland. Reeves’ four-bedroom, two bathroom house in Glenfield is less than 10 years old and is stylishly presented. Wallace’s is a renovated three-bedroom bungalow in Milford.
Co-host Street told OneRoof that she’s hoping there are no awkward moments to come in the studio if one of the homes does better than the other. Reeves’ house goes to auction on September 17, Wallace’s three days later on September 20.
"We have been having a lot of house chat off air, but whose house am I going to give more love to on-air? Depends who is nicer to me,” she said.
“Sam's off to a terrible start. He's been taunting me with ice creams, when he knows I'm doing the F45 fitness challenge.”
