A listing ad for a house in West Auckland has put the vendors' separation front and centre, declaring "their split is your gain".
The four-bedroom home in Te Atatu is being marketed by Harcourts agents Joe Steel and Aman Gulia and goes to auction on July 23.
In their listing ad, the agents state: "With our sellers parting ways, this is your chance to own a beautiful family home that has everything you need to enjoy the good life."
One of the owners told OneRoof that the couple had decided to be frank about their separation in the listing in order to show buyers they were serious about selling.
Start your property search
“We just thought it was creating that impact by saying this is a real split,” the vendor said.
“We want to attract the right buyers to come through. There are a couple of others selling in the street, and their marketing is all pretty standard.
“We wanted to stand out, we want to get the best price.”
The vendor added that this was the third house the couple had sold.
The smartly renovated brick and tile house, which has a stylish modern extension and renovation on the 1950s original, spreads over 330sqm on the 812 sqm site. The property last traded hands two years ago for $1.582 million, according to OneRoof records, and has 2021 CV of $1.86m.
The smartly renovated 1950s house, which the couple bought two years ago, has a stylish modern addition and a swimming pool. Photo / Supplied
The family bought the house to have plenty of room for the kids to spread out if there were more lockdowns . Photo / Supplied
Steel said that both agents had suggested the advertising line. “We want to achieve top dollar for them. You want to attract as many buyers and the first thing they ask is why are they selling,” he said, adding that he’d used this tactic only once before in his career.
“For that one, we said ‘he goes east, she goes west’.”
“It’s a bit like deceased estate sales,” added Gulia. “People see blood in the water - that brings in the crowds, that leads to competition and competition drives the price. Some of the neighbours didn’t like it, but it shows they’ve got serious intent.”
The pair say other agents have told them their honesty is ruthless, but that’s helped attract 21 groups through the house on their first viewings – and they’re hoping for at least four bidders at next weekend’s auction.
OneRoof recently spoke to experts about the challenges separating couples faced when selling their property.
EasyStreet Mortgages mortgage adviser Gareth Veale said that while the current housing market wasn’t "optimal”, people getting a divorce often didn’t have much choice.
“If you’ve only recently bought and you are in a divorce situation, then you’re going to be in a world of pain because you are going to have to sell to move on. My advice would be to weigh it up and see what’s more important and potentially, if you think that property prices are going to rebound and come back up again then you should work with each other to hold off.”
Divorce lawyer Jeremy Sutton said if couples couldn’t agree on selling their property, they needed to look at the reason behind it.
If one person wanted to sell and the other didn’t, they could apply to the Family Court to sell the house and the process usually took between nine and 12 months. However, if it was because they disagreed over the price, then a quicker option was getting a registered valuation or involving a mediator to help reach an agreement.
Agreeing to defer the sale for a couple of years was also common if children were involved as it gave them some stability and allowed them to stay in the same area and attend the same school.
444 Old Te Atatu Road, Te Atatu Peninsula, goes to auction on July 23
