– Mike King is stepping down as executive director of the I Am Hope foundation to spend more time with his family.
– King and his wife Joanna are selling their South Auckland home to move to a rural property.
– The property has been extensively renovated since the Kings bought it 11 years ago.
Mike King is changing his job and his home. The comedian-turned-mental-health-advocate is stepping down from his role as executive director of the I Am Hope foundation to spend more time with his family.
The life-changing decision led to King and his wife, Joanna, listing their South Auckland home at 28 Glen Avenue, in Papatoetoe.
“It was originally going to be our forever home. I sanded back every window, I’ve painted the house twice. We’ve done a lot there,” King told OneRoof.
Mike and Joanna King bought the 1950s property on Glen Avenue, in Papatoetoe, 11 years ago. Photo / Supplied
The couple have carried out a full renovation on the four-bedroom home. Photo / Supplied
“I just expected to be working for the charity for the rest of my life, but I have decided I’m going to get out of the executive director role and spend more time with my family, so I no longer need to be near the airport.”
King’s job has him travelling around the country speaking to schools and raising funds for the charity he founded. He’s on the road up to four times a week, but that would end when he steps down from the executive role and becomes ambassador for the charity.
The Kings have already made an offer on another property, but it’s conditional on them selling their four-bedroom house on Glen Avenue.
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King said the family’s home of over 10 years was “full of surprises”.
“When you get there, it’s just surprise after surprise after surprise,” he said.
“It’s so deceptive. From the road it looks tiny, and then when people go in, they just go, ‘Oh, oh, oh’. So it’s a big property.”
Behind the front door is a spacious four-bedroom, one-bathroom home with a sleepout near the pool and an art studio in the backyard.
A state-of-the-art kitchen complete with built-in hot water and sparkling water taps was installed just before Covid. Photo / Supplied
When the couple purchased the Glen Avenue home in 2014 for $740,000, they knew it had potential.
They couldn’t afford to buy where they had been renting in Māngere East, so they ended up in Papatoetoe instead. The original 1950s home had been extended in the early 2000s but still needed work.
“Everything was a cheap Bunnings green. It didn’t look the greatest, but I saw the potential of the whole place. It just needed a really good scrub up.”
Over the years, the Kings have made the home their own. They spent $90,000 on the property just before Covid, redoing all the floors and installing a state-of-the-art kitchen complete with a built-in hot water and sparkling water tap.
The large backyard, complete with pool and sleepout, has been the perfect playground for their family. Photo / Supplied
King at work on the outside of the house. Photo / Supplied
“It’s a gorgeous open-plan home with a separate courtyard and swimming pool area. It’s got everything a young family needs – everything,” King told OneRoof.
“I want another family to come in and enjoy what we’ve enjoyed. Obviously, a lot of developers are looking to move to the area, but it is a family home whose value is only going to go up.”
His three youngest children grew up in the home, with his youngest daughter Charlie attending the Holy Cross School just around the corner.
King said they would miss their lovely neighbours and the property’s central location in Papatoetoe’s golden circle.
“I guess what we will miss most of all is the wonderful smells and the beautiful food that my neighbours cook and the closeness to everything and the options. Everything you need is in a 5km radius,” he said.
“We’ve got a shopping mall 2km away. We’ve got Bunnings, we’ve got Mitre 10 – it’s got everything – we’ve got two motorways – we’ve got the Southern Motorway and Great South Road – there’s just so many options plus a train station.”
The property will be auctioned onsite next month and King is realistic about price. He got offered $2m for it two years ago at the peak of the market, but told OneRoof he’s not expecting that now.
Ray White listing agent Fatima Ali said King’s house was the nicest for sale in Papatoetoe. “It’s stunning.”
She told OneRoof that she had taken some calls from homeowners looking to upgrade, but most of the interest was from local developers, who were attracted to the property’s 862sqm site and zoning.
“They don’t actually want to see the property, but they’ve shown interest in going to the auction.”
– 29 Glen Avenue, in Papatoetoe, Auckland, goes to auction on September 10