The developer behind a large home and granny flat in south-east Auckland is throwing in a sparkly new Tesla in with a brand-new home in a bid to make it shine over the other 120 new builds swamping the market.
And the marketing ploy seems to be working with the agents selling the Flat Buch seven bedroom, five-and-a-half bathroom and two kitchen home being inundated with phone and email enquiries within a day of updating the listing to include the car.
Of the 182 properties in Flat Bush currently listed for sale on OneRoof, 124 are new builds and 92 of those have five or more bedrooms.
Barfoot & Thompson salesperson Kapil Rana, who is marketing the property with Prince Kapoor, said the idea to giveaway a car came up in a brainstorming session when the home failed to attract much interest after being on the market for seven weeks.
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“That’s the reason we are running the campaign so that the property stands out. There’s quite a few on the market at the moment.”
The property is expected to have its Council Code of Compliance by Christmas and the developer, who mainly operates in central Auckland and built the Flat Bush home as a one-off project in the area, is eager to get the capital out of the property.
“They just want a quick cashflow and just want to sell and move on.”
The property is priced the same as comparable properties in the area and the owners are not adding the price of the car on top of the sale price, but just throwing it in as an added bonus, he said.
“The condition is nothing. Basically, the price point has to be above $1.8m plus – same as any house in the neighbourhood so nothing extraordinary with that.”
The Tesla Model Y, valued at about $80,000, will be ordered in the colour of the buyer’s choice on the day the property goes unconditional with the aim of the car being delivered on settlement or soon after.
Rana said they settled on a Tesla because it is “the most famous car” at the moment. “You look on the road and everyone wants to buy it.”
Although Rana believes there are a lot of similar properties for sale Flat Bush due to them all being completed at around the same time, he said 22 Dungloe Avenue is unique in that it had more off-street parking with a double garage and parking for five to six cars on the driveway.
“Basically, it comes with everything – central air con. You name the thing and everything is there.”
The home which has five-bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms in the main house and a further two bedrooms, one bathroom and a second kitchen in a separate granny flat could suit people looking to upsize, extended families or those wanting an extra income of up to $500 a week from renting out the second dwelling to other family members or borders.
“This area of Flat Bush is most famous among the buyers who want sustain their mortgage by supplementing from the rental income so I think it works out pretty well.”
While it’s the first time Rana has run a campaign where the owners had given away a car, he said it might not be the last because if it is successful, it could be something some of the owners of the other Flat Bush properties he’s selling may also consider.
“Let’s see how it goes.”
In the past real estate agents have tried to attract buyers in slower markets by offering anything from a car to holiday to the lucky new home owner, while in recent months others have been hiring musicians for open homes or using celebrities including former rugby player Carlos Spencer to front their marketing campaigns.
In 2019, a five-bedroom Waitoki property in the Rodney district, was listed for an impressive $6,295,000 and included the keys to a brand-new Maserati. In the same year another rural property in Waitoki was listed by the same agency - Century 21 - with the owner’s seller's McLaren sports car thrown in.
