Property owners are throwing in overseas trips worth up to $10,000 in a bid to make their homes stand out in a swamped property market.
The surge in properties for sale in Auckland has, in the last month, seen an increase of listed homes with a low reserve and now with freebies attached.
Former Our First Home winner turner property trader Jono Frankle is offering the buyer of 25 Eccles Place, in Otara, an overseas holiday worth $10,000 once the property goes unconditional.
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The property was listed this week and Frankle hoped it would help get people through the door of the newly renovated four-bedroom, one-bathroom home.
It’s the 11th renovation he’s carried out in the last year, but the first time he’s chucked in a sweetener.
He is also selling a property at 1/59 Redcrest Avenue, in Papakura, inviting offers over $625,000 and another at 2/55A Woolfield Road, in Papatoetoe, which are also taking a little bit longer to sell because people have a lot more properties to choose from, he said.
“So, you have to be patient as a seller for the right person to come along and for the right person to come along you need to get it out there so that’s why we’ve had the idea of having this holiday.
“At the moment there are a lot of properties on the market and we know we’ve got a really good property here so to me it was a way of not only to be able to give a family the opportunity to have a holiday, but also get this house viewed by more people so they can actually see how awesome it is.
Before: The property at 25 Eccles Place, Otara, has undergone a massive $100,000-plus renovation. Photo / Supplied
After: The house was completely reconfigured with the lounge moving to where the kitchen was and the kitchen into the old laundry. Photo / Supplied
Frankle said the original idea was around giving away a trip to Fiji, but then they decided to let the buyer choose so will instead throw in a $10,000 travel credit of their choice.
Frankle said he would personally choose to go to Gold Coast so he could take his daughters to the theme parks.
“At the end of the day I think families will have somewhere they want to go, whether it’s to visit family or whatever is right for them as a holiday which is why I think having it open is better.”
The Eccles Road home is probably one of the best South Auckland properties they had put up for sale due to the extra improvements they made. This included adding a second driveway and gate at the front of the house, which is something they don’t usually do. They also moved the fence line closer to the verge to add about another 80sqm to the front lawn and knocking out walls to reconfigure the layout.
A fourth bedroom was created from the old living room which has moved to where the original kitchen was and that has moved forward to take over the old laundry space. The laundry is now around the side of the house in an old storage room.
Frankle said unlike some of the other properties they had renovated, this property lent itself to moving things around.
The property was bought at auction for $700,000 and he estimated the seven-week renovation had cost just over $100,000 so he was expecting a sale price north of this.
The property is being sold by a set sale deadline, which Frankle said was aimed at also attracting first-home buyers and property owners who may not be able to bid unconditionally at auction.
The new owners of a brand-new townhouse at 4/8 Bennett Road, in Pakuranga, will get a free trip to Fiji. Photo / Supplied
The townhouse is the last remaining one for sale in a row of six. Photo / Supplied
Meanwhile in East Auckland a developer who has one remaining townhouse in a row of six that is for sale is also trying to entice attract buyers by giving away a free luxury trip to Fiji worth $10,000.
Bayleys salesperson Lawrence Liew said there were so many new builds for sale in the area and they wanted this one to stand out.
The free trip only applies to the four-bedroom, three-bathroom townhouse at 4/8 Bennett Road, in Pakuranga, because it is the last remaining townhouse in the first stage, and Liew wants it sold before the second stage is completed. The only catch is that the purchaser has to go unconditional by March 31.
And while the thought a luxury trip to Fiji sounded amazing, Liu said, it would be provided in travel credit so like with Frankle’s offer, the new owner could ultimately choose their own travel destination to the value of $10,000.
The property is priced by negotiation and Liew was unable to give a price indication, adding that his vendor was motivated to sell.
But it’s not just overseas holidays to lure buyers. The new owners of a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 209 Tauhara Road, in Taupo, which is inviting buyer enquiry over $890,000, will get a free boat.
“Purchase this house and receive a bonus boat!,” the listing by Tall Poppy salesperson Jess Gordine said. “Buy Now, Cruise Later with a Free Boat!”
Gordine said the owners were moving to the South Island so instead of selling their family motor boat separately with a lot of their other household items they had decided to include it in the chattels so the next family could enjoy it.
The Fi-Glass Cavalier was “nothing fantastic”, she said, but a typical lake boat that you could drive to the lake just a few minutes away and use for water sports and fishing.
Gordine said the home could suit people looking for a home for multi-generational living because it had multiple living spaces.
Just over a year ago a listing for a property in Flat Bush went viral after it was advertised with a free Tesla. Barfoot & Thompson salesperson Kapil Rana told OneRoof at the time that the popular car had been thrown in to make the house shine over the other 120 new builds that were swamping the market.
- 25 Eccles Place, in Otara, Auckland, has a set sale date of April 10
