House sellers' message to realtor: 'Let young family have it'

After months of looking for their first home Sam Wilkinson and Jayme Caccia-Birch were having no luck breaking into the property market - until one text message changed it all.

Mr Wilkinson and Miss Caccia-Birch had put in a pre-auction offer for a property in Gate Pa when they learned the vendors had texted their realtor saying they wanted the property to be sold to the young couple. The auction was cancelled to eliminate potential investment buyers.

The couple, who have a 1-year-old son and twins on the way, said they were happy to have settled the property yesterday at a price they would keep to themselves.

After house-hunting for more than five months, Mr Wilkinson, 24, said the couple were "getting sick of it".

Mr Wilkinson, manager at Top Catch Mount Maunganui, said because of the hours he worked Sunday was the only day his family got to spend together and this was often spent looking at properties.

He said he was grateful to the vendors who heard about the situation they were in and wanted to help them out.

"Looking for a house is hard but not impossible," he said.

He and his partner worked really hard and most of their deposit came from their KiwiSaver accounts.

The vendors, who wanted to remain anonymous, met Mr Wilkinson and Miss Caccia-Birch at the first open home and said it "just felt right" to offer them the house first.

The couple, who have lived in Tauranga all their lives, had a similar experience when they were looking to buy their first home more than 20 years ago and they did not think twice about "paying it forward".

The vendors said they did not think about how much more money they potentially could have sold the property for at auction and were happy with the offer from Mr Wilkinson and Miss Caccia-Birch.

Simon Anderson, Eves and Bayleys Realty Group chief executive, said this was a rare occurrence but was fantastic for the young couple.

"We know there's a lot of talk in the market about the difficulties first-home buyers face, but here we have a young couple who have done their homework and it's a nice outcome."