Marsden residents Rikki Sands and Tash Tautau thought they hit the jackpot when they sold their family home of the last three years for well above reserve.
The extra $100,000 left them gobsmacked and would help fund their move back to New Zealand, where their eldest daughter could start medical treatment for a brain injury.
They’re one of the many families cashing in on the current property boom, and utilising profits for the good of their family.
But their high was short-lived when New Zealand shut its borders three days later due to Covid and put the plans to move into disarray.
On December 18, Mr Sands and Ms Tautau stood on the driveway of their home of 7 Elaroo Street as bidders pushed the price above their wildest expectations.
“It wasn’t what we expected, it just carried on going up and up,” he said.
It was a bonus that would ease the transition back to New Zealand.
“It’s made life a lot easier to buy a house because over there it’s a minimum 20% deposit, whereas here it’s somewhere around 5%,” Mr Sands said.
By December 21, elation became a state of shock as the New Zealand government announced a snap border closure to international travellers due to Covid.
Even as citizens, they would have to join the long queue of returning countrymen.
“The only way you could do it was by individually writing a letter and stating that you are homeless, have a medical emergency, or if you are struggling financially,” Mr Sands said.
The family took a year weighing up their options before they settled on moving back.
“It’s been a decision my partner and I have been thinking about for a while now,” he said. “It wasn’t easy.”
Mr Sands’ eldest daughter requires medical treatment for a brain injury but cannot access commonwealth subsidies in Australia as a New Zealand citizen.
To go through all that only to have the borders shut right when they sold the home and were weeks out from flying back was devastating.
“From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows,” Mr Sands said.
“It’s something you can’t explain to anyone.
“The reason we originally sold the house is because they said they were opening the borders on January 17.
“So we put the house on the market and booked our flights, but they have turned around, closed the borders and cancelled our flights on us.”
The family applied for an emergency exemption and are waiting for the outcome of that.
A lot rides on the next fortnight. January 26 was marked on their application as a potential return date if approved.
Until Monday, they were living in their old home on the bare essentials. After that, Mr Sands said he would need to move in with relatives for the rest of the application process.
“We got rid of 90 per cent out of the house,” Mr Sands said.
“We had mattresses on the floors, an old fridge, and we were shopping day to day, so we weren’t buying too much stuff.
“We were living out of our suitcases, hoping we’d hear back from them on Monday [January 24].”
Mr Sands hopes to get some clarity over the next week so they can start planning again.
Selling agent Bec Cuderman, Ray White Marsden, feels for the family’s situation and hopes the added sale value will help ease their transition when they can return.
“No one ever wants to sell their family home, so this gives them all the more to hopefully buy again somewhere in NZ, and hopefully cover the medical costs that comes with it,” she said.
“When it hit like $450,000, Rikki and Tash were already crying, they were just over the moon.”
