Buyer snaps up country estate for $9m after 20-minute FaceTime call

A house hunter has splashed close to $10 million on a luxury New Zealand estate after viewing the property during a 20 minute FaceTime call.

The abode, in a gated estate in an affluent country region within the Queenstown-Lakes District, sold for NZ$11 million ($9.59 million) last month, OneRoof reported.

Selling agent, Hamish Walker with Walker & Co, said the price for the Domain Road property equated to around NZ$562,000 ($490,000) per minute.

“For these types of buyers, time is of the essence,” Walker told the property site.

“You literally only have minutes to try and get them onto the property, or they walk away very quickly.”

He said to get this sale across the line it was more about “giving them confidence”, particularly when it came to price.

For the almost $10 million sum, the new owner has bought a three-bedroom, three-bathroom property with a two-storey living space. 

The chef’s kitchen has both family life and entertaining in mind, according to the listing.

Meanwhile, each of the three bedrooms have their own ensuite and wardrobe space and there is a dedicated home office.

Other features include two separate laundry rooms and a large double garage.

The grounds of the property have enough room for four additional vehicles.

The listing also boasts about the property’s “park-like” size landscaped gardens.

Walker told OneRoof he believed the buyer had visited Queenstown previously, but is yet to see the property in person. 

It’s likely the first time they will visit the home is early next year at settlement.

This is not the first time a buyer has snapped up a home over video call.

In September last year, Ademir Cortes and Lotte Selen snapped up a home in Sydney.

Selen was in the Netherlands when her partner, Cortes, arrived at the auction for a two-bedroom apartment in Rosebery, a suburb in Sydney’s inner south.

Before bidding started, Selen joined Cortes on a FaceTime call.

The Rosebery apartment was of particular interest – it was in the same area as where the couple were renting. So close in fact, it was just a walk across the street.

Their final bid of $1.308 million was enough for them to become the new owners.

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