Waitakere: Who bought that house?

32 Turanga Road, Waitakere.

Sold by: Sheryl Hawkes, Harcourts Henderson, ph 838 6520 or 021 757 427.

A weary two years of searching, the dream house that got away and, finally, a happy ending. Graeme Falkner and Emma Veale's tale of house-hunting shows that persistence pays off, eventually.

The couple first saw their dream house in Waitakere over a year ago and were bitterly disappointed to have missed out on it when it was snapped up by another buyer. Unbeknown to them, that sale fell through. By this stage, Emma and Graeme had their heart set on the neighbourhood, particularly Turanga Road. Two years of summer weekends would see them travel from their home in Kohimarama to the Titirangi cafes, lists of open homes in hand. In December their luck turned.

"I'd just ordered my coffee when Emma, who was reading the paper, screamed, 'Oh my God'," says Graeme. "There was our lost dream house with an open home that closed in 10 minutes. We were off."

Graeme never did get that cup of coffee. They walked into the open home and within minutes had made their offer to the astounded agent, Sheryl Hawkes.

"When you know, you know," claims Emma. "This was meant to be as we'd missed out on it the first time round. Second try, we weren't going to be disappointed again."

The house has everything on the couple's list: fabulous indoor-outdoor living with bi-folds from the living area and bedrooms. The clever design of living rooms means there's plenty of space for Graeme's kids, Vanessa and Michael, when they stay. Good broadband access (sometimes tricky in that part of the world) makes their dream of working at least part of the time from home possible (Graeme in IT, Emma as a management consultant).

Graeme spent many years in the area, so knows this will be their perfect retreat from city life, with a garden to potter in. Their only challenge will be getting a digger through the property to excavate a swimming pool, the only long-term change they are contemplating. Happy endings all round.