One Auckland townhouse has sold with a year's supply of avocado on toast thrown in. Photo / 123rf
An Auckland first-home buyer couple has put paid to the stereotype that millennials don't know how to be financially responsible and "adult".
The couple not only bought a Three Kings townhouse this week, but also scored a year's supply of smashed avocado on toast all in one go.
That was after Ray White agent Ben Ryken hit upon the idea of listing the three-bedroom inner Auckland townhouse for sale together with free avo on toast every Sunday at nearby cafe Just Like Martha.
He said smashed avo toast had become the catchphrase insult directed at millennials, implying they were too busy spending their money and having a good time to save up to buy a house.
"That's why I thought this was a chance to have your cake and eat it," he said.
Or have your crumbled feta, five-grain toast with beetroot hummus and eat it, to be more specific.
Ryken hoped the promotion would act as a humorous way to get more people to look at the property than might otherwise have done so.
It's part of a growing trend by real estate agents to make the homes they are selling stand out in Auckland's crowded market.
Past marketing ploys had featured owners giving away McLaren or Mustang sports cars with the sale of their houses, while one Waiheke bach sold in 2019 with flights and a ticket to the Rugby World Cup final thrown in.
And Ryken said his smashed avo ploy also paid immediate dividends.
The modern townhouse - that included an open-plan lounge and kitchen and "oversized" rooftop terrace perfect for "al fresco dinner parties" - earlier failed to sell at auction.
Two bidders had competed but hadn't reached the reserve.
Ryken subsequently rejigged the marketing and relisted the home for sale with the year's supply of avo on toast included.
That almost immediately brought in new buyers with the owners quickly accepting an offer above the best auction bid.
The buyer - who did not wish to give her name - said it was the home's central location that was the big drawcard.
"The property ticks all our boxes because my partner and I work in central Auckland so it is really good to have somewhere that doesn't take much commuting time," she said.
She said she'd seen the townhouse listed for sale before it went to auction but had not followed it because she expected it to sell at a price way above her budget.
Seeing it come back on the market at a "more affordable" price was "almost too good to be true", she said.
She also found the free avo "tactic" amusing, and she and her partner went off to check out Just Like Martha straight after visiting the townhouse's open-home viewing.
Ryken said the sellers had also liked the promotional idea as a way to support the Three Kings area.
"They stumbled upon the property when they bought it three and a half years ago - they weren't even considering Three Kings," he said.
"But when they moved in they realised it actually has a lot more to offer than people realise, and that it is overlooked."
It came after Australian demographer Bernard Salt made international headlines in 2016 when he wrote an opinion piece saying if young Aussies stopped going to hipster cafes they could afford to buy a house.
"I have seen young people order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more," he wrote.
"I can afford to eat this for lunch because I am middle-aged and have raised my family. But how can young people afford to eat like this?"
Ryken, meanwhile, said he wouldn't force the townhouse's new buyers to eat only smashed avo toast every week.
Instead, he planned to set up a Just Like Martha's account where he would pay for 52 brunches at the value of avocado on toast and then the new buyers could buy whatever they pleased.
Which was fortunate because the new buyer said she didn't particularly like avo on toast.
"But I'm sure I can figure something else out, maybe pancakes."