Charitable house goes under the hammer

Craig Walker, who owns a building removal business, in front of the house he donated for auction to his old college, Massey High School. Photo / New Zealand Herald, Brett Phibbs

Buying a house for $80,000 in a heated Auckland market seems beyond belief, but an Auckland property developer has done just that. Although there was no land to go with it.

Profit from the two bedroom house's sale, plus a $5000 fee to move it anywhere in the Auckland region, was donated by vendor Craig Walker to a foundation that supports Massey High School and its pupils.

The former pupil and Kumeu businessman gifted the 65sq m house as a way of giving back to the community.

Mr Walker attended Massey High as one of its founding students in 1969, and is the deputy chairman of the Massey High School Foundation.

Along with the sale price of the house, he will also donate the $5000 fee charged for delivering it from his business Craig Walker Building.

"We got maybe a little more than I thought we would get at the auction. There were a few bidders and it came down to a war between two in the end," he said.

After the costs associated with the house's sale and removal, he said the school would profit about $65,000, "which ain't a bad fundraiser".

The foundation helped pay for things the school and community needed in areas that weren't supported by the Ministry of Education, he said, and he and its other members had been working on getting the charity going for the last six years.

"It's a decile four West Auckland school, we're not a wealthy community. Fundraising is a bit more difficult here than in the affluent areas," Mr Walker said.

But he was now in a place where his business and his life had been good to him, and this was his way of giving back, Mr Walker said.

The 20-year-old house's buyer, property developer Sumnesh Kumar, said he planned to use it as his site office.

It had recently been repainted, carpeted and given new lino, and came with a kitchen, bathroom, laundry and appliances.

Estate agent Karen Eppingstall of Bayleys North West, which marketed and sold the house as part of its Bayleys in Schools programme, said the initiative was a clever and timely way to raise money.

"For $80,000 the purchaser now has a pretty comfortable site office, he could even do a load of washing on his lunch break," she said.