Two Tauranga families living 2.5km apart - one looking for more space, the other wanting to downsize - have done the ultimate house swap.
The families' decision to trade their properties solved a headache because they now have homes to move into without any tiresome conditions.
East Realty Tracey East said the owners of Mearns Way, in Ohauti, had been trying to sell their modern five-bedroom, three-bathroom home for some time. They had earlier accepted an offer subject to the purchaser selling their existing home with a different agency, and it had fallen over when it hadn't sold after about two months.
East said other buyers were put off making an offer on a property when there was a subject-to-sale already in place even if there was a cash-out clause. “Buyers are like, ‘Just let us know if it falls’.”
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They advertised the Mearns Way home again letting people know it was no longer under offer, but had firm instructions from the vendors that they would not accept another offer subject to a house sale.
“They were tired, so they said, ‘No more’.”
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Enter the owners of a four-bedroom home on nearby Hollister Lane. The family had been looking for some time with their three children and had fallen in love with Mearns Way. They wanted to make an offer subject to their house selling, but the agents said it wasn’t an option.
All wasn't lost. East had appraised Hollister Lane several years ago and believed it might actually suit the owners of Mearns Way.
East said the Mearns Ave family only had two children so were happy to move to a smaller home if it had enough space for them to plonk a portacabin on to run their business from, which Hollister Lane had.
The family who bought the near-new Mearns Way home were upsizing. Photo / Supplied
The owners of the Mearns Way home downsized to a smaller house. Photo / Supplied
East Realty took on Hollister Lane as a quiet off-market listing. The family of four viewed it and decided it would work for them.
After a lot of toing and froing between both parties' lawyers to make sure everyone was happy with the contemporaneous agreement.
East could not reveal the sale prices because the properties had not settled but confirmed that there had been a price gap between the Mearns Ave home, which had an asking price of $1.295m, and the slightly cheaper Hollister Lane.
“They swapped houses and the one upgrading will pay extra cash.”
East said both vendors were extremely satisfied with how it had worked out because the Hollister Lane owner had not had to stress about trying to sell her house in a hurry and having open homes and the Mearns Ave owners already had a new home to move into.
East said contemporaneous agreements were rare because not many sellers want to purchase their buyer's house.
“We knew what our vendors were looking for, we knew they didn’t want to do another 'subject to sale' and be mucked about.”
She said both owners were thrilled they got the homes they wanted relatively quickly. “The Hollister Lane owners were like, ‘Oh my god, how did you come up with this idea?’. For the Mearns Way owners, the swap gives them the opportunity to grow their business.”
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