The two-bedroom cottage on 7362 State Highway 2, in Karangahake<\/a>, was sold in November last year for $330,000 \u2013 almost $100,000 below the asking price \u2013 but the deal was cancelled after severe storms in January caused a nearby river to overflow.<\/p>\n Harcourts agent Steven Bridson told OneRoof the property flooded before settlement. \u201cUnfortunately, the sale didn\u2019t get completed,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of an unlucky situation where that all happened within the timeframe.\u201d<\/p>\n With their buyers triggering a get-out clause in the contract and the council deeming the property a hazard, the owners were forced to pick up the pieces.<\/p>\n The house was stripped of almost everything after flood waters caused serious damage to the property. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n After the insurer assessed the property, the owners carried out some remedial work, but the house was stripped of almost everything, including the kitchen and bathroom. <\/p>\n Last month, Hauraki District Council deemed the property safe, but the owners, having decided that there was a risk of the house flooding again, decided to keep the insurance money and sell it \u201cas is, where is\u201d.<\/p>\n Bridson said his clients were ready to move on and extremely motivated to make a deal. \u201cThey are definitely prepared that it could sell for $1.\u201d<\/p>\n The owners paid $182,000 for the house in January 2011 and lived in it before turning it into a rental. It has flooded twice in the last three years.<\/p>\n Discover more:<\/p>\n – Mortgagee properties linked to property influencer Ashley Dean sell for a loss<\/a><\/p>\n – Christchurch\u2019s saddest home? Derelict house for sale ‘as is, where is’ after years of neglect<\/a><\/p>\n – Night-life king selling his \u2018wonderland\u2019 estate with waterslide and mini-golf<\/a><\/p>\n Bridson said obtaining finance for an \u201cas is, where is\u201d property was tricky, so likely buyers were those with cash and experience in dealing with more complicated properties.<\/p>\n Whoever bought it was still getting 1.3ha of land, a character villa and a shed, which had to be worth something, he said.<\/p>\n The property was a blank canvas, he said. \u201cIf you\u2019ve got the know-how and vision, there could be a very clever way.\u201d<\/p>\n Bridson said he had never come across a case like 7362 State Highway 2, saying it would be rare to find a natural event upending a deal between going unconditional and settling.<\/p>\n The house and garage sit on a 1.34ha section. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n He had, however, experience with $1 reserve auctions. In November 2023, he sold a beachfront home<\/a> on the Thames Coast Road, which had been destroyed in a large landslide. The property got $375,000 under the hammer after 40 bids were placed.<\/p>\n Kristine King, the chair of the property law section for the New Zealand Law Society, said that buyers could cancel unconditional sales before settlement for a range of reasons, including severe fire or storm damage.<\/p>\n A transaction could also be cancelled if it was discovered that the vendor had badly misrepresented the property, such as relaying an incorrect earthquake rating.<\/p>\n People buying an apartment or terraced house on a unit title could also opt out of settling if the vendor did not provide the pre-settlement disclosure within five days of settlement.<\/p>\n \u201cOften people think in a purchaser\u2019s situation \u2013 I\u2019ve satisfied my conditions, so I\u2019m unconditional, and this will settle, and that is not the case. You may have satisfied your conditions, but there can still be elements in the transaction itself or within the agreement of sale and purchase that could give the ability to cancel. But it\u2019s all very circumstance \/ what happens and the nature of the contract and what has actually been agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, the new owners of a $1m-plus executive home on Glaisdale Crescent, in Flagstaff, Hamilton, sold it for $721,000<\/a> after a fire broke out just a few weeks after they moved in. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8c984d19bdf4aa6fee7f55095ad7389a.jpg\")
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