Family makes big profit on Gate Pa home

Vanessa Jones and her family hit the Tauranga property market at just the right time, moving from a $259,000 house to a place double the size worth $600,000 in just 13 months.

Mrs Jones and her husband bought a house in Gate Pa for $259,000 in December 2014, sold it for $389,000 in January 2016 and bought a new house in Ohauiti.

"We were stoked, we were really happy about it."

Buying a larger home had been on their 10-year plan, instead they lived in the smaller house for less than 12 months.

The new place was double the land and floor area. Friends and family that had come around were beside themselves about what they had been able to do in such a short time, she said.

Mrs Jones said it all started when a real estate agent came around and said he could get them a good price.

"An offer was made on our house the same day it was listed," Mrs Jones said. "It went unconditional within two weeks. That same week, we made an offer on the house we're in now. We moved in last week. The whole process took about four weeks."

Mrs Jones said the family would not have been able to afford the Ohauiti house 12 months ago. "But now we can because of how well we did on the other house."

Bayleys and Eves chief executive Ross Stanway said a sale and purchase happening this quickly was the exception rather than the rule.

"It's certainly not typical, but it's not impossible in the current market ... a lot of ducks need to be lined in a row."