Westport bed for sale - with house attached

A Westport couple are selling their six-bedroom historical home on Trade Me - under the beds category - with a reserve of $1.

Owners Wayne Saggers and Kathy Wahrlich said they were dead serious about selling their Derby Street home.

The house, known as the Stone House, has a QV of $300,000 and is listed with Landmark Real Estate at $370,000. The couple put the house on Trade Me last night.

It was listed as a queen sized bed with a free grand old home and guesthouse attached.

The auction closes on Saturday July 4 at 6.24pm. Mr Saggers said they had not been able to sleep since listing on Trade Me.

"We've been up since 4 o'clock this morning. My partner's a nervous wreck."

This afternoon 19 bids had been placed with a top bid of $10,220.

The couple changed their phone number yesterday to avoid a flood of calls. Mr Saggers said the house had already been on the market for six months.

"Everybody who's put offers on it never had any finance. And we just got sick of waiting and waiting, so we decided to take the plunge.

"We're just getting to the stage where we want to get out so we thought, well, we'll do it. You can either say big balls or stupid - or both."

The couple agreed it was a risk but said there was no turning back.

"If it [the price] stayed at $20 we would have to sell it at $20.

"I think we are pretty honourable people and we would have to do it.

"So we've taken a gamble."

As far as Mr Saggers was aware, it was the first time a house had been advertised under the Home and Living/Beds category, rather than Real Estate on Trade Me.

He said listing the under beds ensured nationwide coverage.

"We couldn't afford to get advertising to the extent that you would need it. Westport is a great place and it s poised for a big boom but nobody knows, so how do you get it out there?"

Trade Me had to give them permission to advertise the house under the beds section, but had been very supportive.

The couple have a mortgage on the house but said if the auction did not pay it off family would help them cover it. The buyer of the property would be bound to a six-month rental agreement with a contracting company.

- NZPA