A young couple who fulfilled the Kiwi dream of buying their first home and renovating it together hadn’t bargained on falling out of love along the way let alone advertising their failed engagement.
But after trying to sell their house for 10 months, the South Auckland couple reluctantly decided to tell people they were selling because their relationship had broken down to show just how serious they were about selling.
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They joined a large number of sellers who due to separations, financial difficulties or relocation plans are trying to make their listings stand out in a highly saturated and competitive market.
The couple took the big leap into homeownership in 2020 paying $580,000 for the two-bedroom, one-bathroom do-up at 26 Dublin Street, in Pukekohe.
Over the next few years with the help of family members they put in a modern kitchen, new bathroom, new flooring, new ceiling and doors. The entire inside was repainted too.
One of the owners told OneRoof she was proud of all the hard work they had put into transforming the home and she especially loved the tiled shower.
The inside of the Dublin Street home was given a complete makeover including a new kitchen and bathroom. Photo / Supplied
“Working on it as a family and turning my first home into something I really wanted was awesome.”
However, their plans came unstuck last year when they broke off their engagement and decided to split all their assets.
The owner said she hadn’t wanted to advertise the fact they had broken up, but they were doing it to show people they were genuine sellers.
“It’s the last remaining thing of this chapter in our life and selling will really just give us that closure and let us move on.”
Harcourts listing agent Dean Peppiatt said the house has survived the renovation, but unfortunately the owner's relationship hadn’t and they “fell out of love with each other along the way”.
The owner said she would miss the really nice tiled shower. Photo / Supplied
After trying to sell the house unsuccessfully for almost a year with a different agency, they had agreed with his suggestion to come clean about the reason why to show vendors they were extremely motivated to sell and move on from the house and each other.
The listing couldn’t be clearer: ‘Renovated Home & Land - Relationship Breakdown’.
“I said to them because it’s going to auction we can’t tell them the price because we don’t what the price is, so we have to tell them why it’s for sale so people know it’s a genuine sale and they intend to be selling at the auction on the night.”
Peppiatt said there were more properties for sale than there were buyers in Pukekohe at the moment and those committed to selling had to do something a little bit different to stand-out from the crowd.
While some vendors who had purchased in 2021 at the peak of the market weren’t realistic about the current market, he said those who were motivated and ready to meet the market were having success.
Harcourts salesperson Alex Dunn just sold a property where the marketing focused on it being a failed relationship with the headline reading "divorce demands sale".
“That’s probably the only thing they could agree on - to market it as this divorced sale.”
They were even happy for him to disclose that they had defaulted on the mortgage and it hadn’t been paid since October 2023.
“They sold it for just over $100,000 less than what they paid for it just to get out of each other's way,” he said.
“They (people separating) just seem to be the most motivated sellers at the moment – just get out of each other’s face kind of thing, accept the market and move on.”
A unit on Meadow Street in Mount Wellington is also being sold because the owners have separated. Photo / Supplied
He’s also selling another property at 9B Meadow Street, in Mount Wellington, which cites "unfortunate circumstances” as the reason. Dunn said the couple had broken up and one of the owners had already left the country.
“We just explain to people that in this market obviously there’s a lot for sale. You want to show that you are an actual genuine seller and possibly the most motivated seller at the same time, whilst not sounding so, so desperate, but it’s a fine line.”
However, other people were catching on that this was the way to market properties in such a competitive environment, he said, and they now needed to go even further to show them just how motivated the seller was.
“Rather than having a headline saying, ‘owners are moving to Australia’ because how many properties say that right now. It needs to say, ‘owners moving to Sydney on this date’ - putting an actual timeline together to show they are highly motivated to sell.”
Investors who had bought when interest rates were low and could not afford the higher rates and people moving out of Auckland were also among those committed to selling right now.
The “distressed” owner of a one-bedroom property at 4/28 Alfriston Road, in Manurewa, was according to the listing, “desperate to sell”, while the owners of 30 Sunnypark Avenue, in Papakura, were “heading across the ditch and on a tight timeline”.
Friends who bought an investment property on Mack Place, in Papakura, are selling it after two years due to the high cost of topping up the mortgage and one of them moving overseas. Photo / Supplied
A property at 47 Mack Place, in Papakura, was also being marketed as a “partnership split” because the two friends who bought it together for $915,000 in 2022 as an investment now wanted to go their separate ways.
Ray White listing agent Rubal Singh said the investment property was costing them too much due to the rising interest rates. One of the owners had moved overseas and could not afford to top the mortgage up.
Singh has other properties for sale where the owners have also come clean with their reasons for selling to attract more buyers. A “neglected home” at 1/6 Wayne Drive, Mangere, was being sold because the owners were moving to Tonga, while another at 16 Charles St, in Papatoetoe, was on the market because the overseas owners were not coming back.
“People who are selling right now they know the market is not the best so if they are still wanting to sell there has to be a good reason for it.”
In Hamilton, the financial stress was also getting to people.
Lodge managing director Jeremy O’Rourke said just because financial pressure or divorce wasn’t given as a reason for selling in the agency’s listing didn’t mean it wasn’t a main driver for the house being sold.
He said there had been an uptick in houses being listed for those reasons and the hike in interest rates had caused financial stress and as a result put pressure on marriages.
“We are definitely seeing that as a motivator for selling at the moment. Although I doubt we are leading with it in our advertising because the properties are probably standing on their own merits rather than the circumstances of the vendor.”
He said it was sad and also stressful for the salespeople dealing with those dynamics.
- 26 Dublin Street, in Pukekohe, Auckland, goes to auction on May 9
