A mansion in Tauranga and a beachfront home in Pukehina were bought sight unseen last month in two court-ordered auctions.
The owner of the two properties, businesswoman Rae Beverley Adlam, was forced to sell off the properties in order to repay a $10 million debt.
The properties sold under the hammer for a combined $3.57m - short of the $4m-$5m valuation that was cited in the court case against Adlam.
The forced sales followed a ruling by High Court Judge Layne Harvey that upheld an enforcement order against Adlam.
Start your property search
Adlam’s Hollywood-inspired mansion on Westridge Drive, in Tauriko, sold for $1.47m early last month while her 2ha beachfront property on SH2 in Pukehina netted $2.1m during a competitive auction last week.
Both properties sold for well below their RVs.
Read more:
- The Auckland suburbs making a comeback – why buyers are targeting these locations
- 'If I got an extra $70,000, that's huge – that’s a lot of people’s annual salary'
- Wellington in a jam: Buyers having to fight harder in the capital as listings plunge
The listings for both properties made clear they were being sold “as is”, and instructed buyers that they would be unable to view them before the auction, adding that there were no guarantees or warranties for either. The listings photos showed only the buildings' exteriors.
Even the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms and garages could not be confirmed.
The Tauriko mansion, marketed by EVES agent Rachel Love, was described in the listing as a Georgian Colonial-style mansion “exuding a particular type of Hollywood glamour” in a fantastic neighbourhood.
“The options are endless; remove and redo, restore to her former glory, or enjoy as-is,” the listing said, adding that no chattels were included in the sale.
The rare waterfront lifestyle property in Pukehina sold for $2.1m at a competitive auction. Photo / Supplied
The Pukehina house was marketed by EVES agent Charlotte Gardner, who said in the listing that it had the “potential and ability to create a personalised haven in this stunning coastal location”.
Malcolm Forsyth, compliance manager for Realty Group, the parent company of EVES, said that there were drawbacks with both properties.
Westridge Drive had been poorly maintained and was potentially affected by mould and damp, while the Pukehina property did not have resource consent or a code compliance certificate.
He said potential buyers also had to factor in the costs of demolition and reconstruction, plus compliance with district council regulations.
"Without means to assess the situation, and no clarity over the departure of the occupants, prospective buyers sensibly allowed for contingencies in the purchase price."
The sales of the mansion and beach home are the latest chapters in Adlam’s long-running court saga.
In 2014, the Māori Land Court ordered Adlam to repay the Savage Papakāinga Land Trust more than $15m after it found she had breached her duties as a trustee by wrongfully profiting from the development of two geothermal power stations, and the sale of shares in a power station company.
Rae Beverley Adlam in 2008, when she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Photo / File
But when only about a third - $4.7m - of the judgment debt had been paid within nine years and no realistic payment plan had been made, the trust applied to the High Court.
Judge Harvey, in a decision released in March, upheld the trust’s application seeking repayment for the judgment debt through the sale of her two properties.
Adlam’s lawyers had argued that selling the houses would effectively render her, a 76-year-old with limited assets and income, homeless.
But Harvey said it would hardly be a just outcome to allow Adlam to effectively avoid responsibility by allowing her to not repay the trust more than $10 million.
“In summary, given the size of the debt outstanding, it is difficult to see how it can be justified that the trust, being deprived of so much of its money for so long, should countenance the prospect of Mrs Adlam’s family continuing to benefit from her misconduct in circumstances where, even if the properties are eventually sold, the trust will still be receiving less than the full amount of the judgment debt.”
Adlam was once a highly respected businesswoman, previously winning the Waiariki Young Woman of the Year and Bay of Plenty businesswoman of the year. In 2008, she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business in 2008.
OneRoof made several attempts to contact Adlam, who at the time of publication had not responded.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in the Bay of Plenty
