Sandringham: A winning bid

A couple who bought their house after seeing it on the internet haven't been disappointed.

14 Royal Terrace, Sandringham.

Buying a home at auction is not for the faint-hearted, especially when you're half a world away and your father's doing the bidding.

That's the situation Victoria and Stephen Dickens found themselves in while working in London and searching for a family home back in New Zealand on the internet. Victoria, who is an accountant, and Stephen, an IT consultant, met while holidaying in Africa and wanted to eventually settle down in New Zealand.

"We'd probably been looking on websites for three or four months before we found this place," says Victoria of their Royal Terrace villa.

"We both like character homes, and with Steve being 6'7" (2m) tall, he loves the height and space of villas." So, three years ago, they sent Victoria's dad, Bruce Harvey, along to bid for them on Royal Terrace.

"We gave my father an upper limit but he blew that by $40,000," laughs Victoria. "He said, 'You guys were overseas working in London so I knew you'd be fine'."

The Dickens rented the house out for a year while they were in London before moving in when Victoria was about five months pregnant with Sophia, now 17 months old.

The arrival of Alexandra, aged 5 months, means the family needs a bigger house.

"The reason we are selling is we need an extra room - it's as simple as that," says Victoria.

They'll be leaving behind a house they've had to do little work on. Victoria says the only major improvement they've made is painting the interior and exterior of the square front villa.

The house has instant street appeal, with its full-width verandah with leadlight windows either side. The wide hallway, like the rest of the house, has polished kauri floorboards and takes you past the three bedrooms, two bathrooms and the formal lounge to the open plan kitchen/dining/living area at the rear. The master bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe, an en suite and a fireplace, which backs on to another in the next door bedroom. The formal lounge has an open fireplace that backs on to the wood-fired oven in the living area.

"That oven still works," says Victoria. "We've used it a few times to cook scones and soup and we've done a casserole on it."

There's also the conventional oven in the open plan kitchen, which has wooden benches and a gas hob. Heading out the double French doors takes you on to a wooden deck, which is partially roofed, then on to a tiled area before you reach a small, flat lawn. The garden out here, like the rest of the property, has been landscaped and is low-maintenance.

The double garage beside the house has a room at the back that Victoria has used as an office, but she says it could also be a children's playroom.

Despite exceeding their limit last time, the Dickens again employed Bruce as their designated bidder when they recently bought a bigger house in Mt Eden at auction.

"He thinks it's a great laugh that he's spent so much of our money. But he knew we were stretched to the limit this time so he didn't go over what we could afford," says Victoria.

It probably also helped that his daughter was at his shoulder this time.

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 3

BATHROOMS: 2

GARAGE: 2

SIZE: Land 505sq m, house 135sq m.

PRICE: CV (September 2002) $465,000. Auction on site at noon December 19.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 1.30-2.15pm.

CONTACT: John Erceg, Bayleys Mt Eden, ph 631 1888 bus, 021 995 866.

FEATURES: Kauri villa with double garage on north-facing section. Open fires and underfloor insulation.