This is the property that made them $101,000
So they decided to work with Dennis Schipper from Opes.
They bought a 2-bedroom townhouse in Christchurch. It was a single-level duplex, so only attached to one other property. And it had an extra off-street park right out front.
They signed the contract and bought it for $629,000. Comparable houses in the area were selling for $700–$750k so they thought it was a good deal.
The property was almost built when an unexpected offer landed in their inbox.
Another older couple were eyeing up the development; they wanted to buy a property for their retirement.
At first the developer offered a swap. Sophie and James could trade their property for a different unit in the same development. If they agreed, the developer would give them a $25,000 – $30,000 discount.
But after speaking to Dennis, they decided it wasn’t worth it.
“Dennis was great,” Sophie says. “He didn’t tell us what to do, he just helped us think it through. He said, ‘Is switching units really going to improve your financial position? Probably not.’ And he was right.”
So they said ‘no’.
A few weeks later the same buyers came back again, but this time they asked: “What would it take for you to sell?”
After running the numbers and factoring in costs, the couple decided they wouldn’t sell the unit for less than $730,000.
The buyers agreed. “It all happened really quickly,” Sophie says.
Because it was a private sale there were no real estate fees, and they set aside money for the bright-line test. That’s because they will need to pay tax.
The rest went straight into their mortgage.
That's a substantial amount of money. “It was a ‘we can't really believe it’ kind of thing,” Sophie says.
