Move over Hollywood. The Kiwi Sandra Bullock is selling the house that belongs to our very own Graeme Norton.
It reads a bit like a Skinny Mobile advertisement, but the Ray White Papakura salesperson is working with the Karaka resident to market his South Auckland property.
However, these two celebrity namesakes weren’t discovered by a telecommunications company to be on one of their low-budget ads, instead they met through Bullock’s partner.
Bullock, who shares a name with the Hollywood actress famous for roles in blockbusters like Speed, Gravity and Miss Congeniality, said as soon as Norton contacted her about selling his house at 13 Corsica Way, in Karaka Harbourside, she realised the irony.
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“He thinks it’s funny. He rings me and says, ‘Hello, it’s Graeme Norton here’.”
In her 12 years of selling real estate, it’s the first time Bullock – who has been repeatedly contacted by Skinny to star in its Famous Names advertising campaign - has met a vendor who also has a celebrity name, albeit with a slightly different spelling.
The comedian Graham Norton. He has ties to NZ but he doesn't own a home in Karaka. Photo / Supplied
“It doesn’t often happen does it – two celebrity names,” she said.
Norton, who is downsizing, said they chose Bullock to sell their property because he is friends with her partner and because she is the number one real estate agent in the area.
“Go for number one star, number one real estate agent and a friend and it’s tick, tick, tick,” he told OneRoof.
“As I said to her, buy your house off a number one actress and an English comedian – hopefully it will increase the price.”
The property for sale at at 13 Corsica Way, in Karaka Harbourside. Photo / Supplied
The retired fibre optics architect said people often brought up the fact that he shared his name with the famous British television talkshow host. On a recent visit to his medical centre the other week, the doctor also commented that she had expected someone with an Irish accent.
“Basically, every time you say your name over the phone and people are like, ‘oh really’. But hey, it is what it is.”
To his wife’s disgust, he had also grown some facial hair like the celebrity version.
And during Bullock’s appraisal of his four-bedroom, three-bathroom home, Norton left a bottle of homemade gin on the kitchen island.
So, while he didn’t offer her any of the well-known Graham Norton wine, he could offer her Graeme’s Gin.
- 13 Corsica Way, Karaka, Franklin, goes to auction on September 1.
