Real estate agents strike pitfalls in buying home 'off plan'

Dougall Love. Picture / Supplied

A real estate agent has warned of buying property "off-plan" after he and his former wife won a long battle over a Takapuna flat which fell well short of the promised designs.

In a decision released this week, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Dougall and Patricia Love, who bought the unit off the plans from Auburn Apartments for $707,750.

The Loves, now separated, later cancelled the agreement on the unit in the upmarket Maison Apartments, after finding many of the promised features missing as it neared completion.

They were taken to the High Court by the developer and lost their case, but won on appeal - a reversal which brought to a close the stressful battle that had taken a toll on both of them.

The appeal court agreed with the Loves that the master bedroom and balcony was substantially different from the original plans, and they had every right to cancel the agreement.

While happy with the reversal, the drawn-out fight had caused ongoing stress, and the financial cost of the case had ruined their dreams of buying a new home, said Mr Love.

"I think [the decision's] only fair but quite frankly it's been a long time coming and we've had to jump through hoops to make it happen.

"It has been a very, very distressing, long, eye-opening process and I wouldn't wish it on anyone," he said.

The Loves, both real estate agents at the time, wanted to buy an apartment to live in after their children left the family home. In particular, they wanted good-sized bedrooms and a balcony for outdoor entertaining.

A glossy brochure for the Takapuna unit detailed a balcony 1.8m wide, big enough to fit a table and six chairs, and a master bedroom with room to move between a pillar and queen-sized bed, said the court judgment.

Towards completion the balcony was reduced to the size of a "smoker's balcony" and pillars intruded into the bedrooms, Mr Love said.

The court ordered Auburn Apartments, now in receivership and liquidation, to pay the Loves' appeal and High Court costs.

The developer's lawyer, Simon Judd, said he was disappointed with the decision and was awaiting instructions from his client.

- APNZ