Bay family's 'wish' house pops up

Kelly Lonergan with her children Aaliyah and Sam.

Kelly Lonergan, pictured with her children, Aaliyah, 11, and Sam, 8, wasn't in a great hurry to move. But she wound up buying a new property in Otumoetai and selling her old house in Brookfield within 12 days.

Ms Lonergan and her son and daughter had a long-term plan to move, she said.

They were looking for a property her mother, Kay, could co-invest in and eventually move to.

"We weren't actually desperately looking, but we did have an idea we would move if something suitable came up," she said.

She had mentioned what she was looking for to Eves Cherrywood sales consultant Crystal Harvey, who suggested they look at a two-storeyed, four-bedroomed, 157sq m house in Hunter Way, Otumoetai.

"We had a look and fell in love with it straight away," she said.

In particular, the downstairs area had space that could eventually be converted for her mother's use when she decided to move in. Their offer of $732,000 was accepted, and in less than two weeks they had sold the Brookfield house for $520,000.

"It was all very fast," she said.

Ms Harvey said there are properties available in this market. "But you have to be on the ball - if you aren't hunting all the time you'll miss out."