A Westport couple celebrated selling a queensize bed for $302,600 last night with a free historic six-bedroom guesthouse attached.
Kathy Wahrlich and Wayne Saggers listed the bed and free house with a $1 reserve on online auction site Trade Me.
And the nail-biting move paid off, as a flurry of
last-minute bids nudged the price above the home's $300,000 valuation.
It sold, sight unseen, to an Aucklander, who told the Herald on Sunday he was "looking for a lifestyle change".
Saggers said: "It was definitely worth the gamble. We're happy with that price."
The $1 reserve had been "mind-bogglingly scary", he added, but they were prepared to honour the deal - regardless of what happened. "If it had gone for $20 we would have sold it for $20."
The historic Stonehouse property includes a six-bedroom, two-bathroom guesthouse, a sauna room, and all furnishings "down to the pots and pans".
The couple had earlier listed the house for sale under properties on Trade Me but had little response.
The bed listing attracted 69,000 hits and hundreds of comments, mostly from well-wishers.
Saggers said they were "blown away" by the response. "It really does restore your faith in human nature."
He and Wahrlich now plan to travel the country and visit family.
"We have wanted to hop on a bus and get off the grid, so to speak, so now we can.
"We walk out of here with our backpacks and our toothbrushes, and the new people can enjoy what we've had."
Winning bidder Mike, from Auckland, said he'd had his eye on the guesthouse when it was previously listed under property.
"I'm looking at a lifestyle change somewhere down the track," he said.
Mike wouldn't reveal his surname or occupation, but said he had a 9-to-5 job, and was involved in property.
He had been in touch with the sellers by phone, but hadn't yet seen the house in person.
Trade Me spokesman Mike O'Donnell said the leading bidders had been contacted to make sure they were legitimate.
