It wasn’t the usual sales process, but a unique opportunity seized by Bayleys Ponsonby salesperson Nick Gilbert and Sarah Liu from Bayleys Remuera led to a record-breaking sale of not one, but two multi-million dollar homes. It all started with a serendipitous meeting between Gilbert and one of New Zealand’s most successful businessmen at a cafe in Herne Bay.

“I knew the vendor well and hadn’t seen him for several years. He told me he was looking to move over to the western side of the city to be closer to his kids, his office and his beach house in Omaha.”

But that meant selling his modern five-bedroom, six-bathroom Mission Bay home that wasn’t on the market.

“His property is a very high spec Sumich Chaplin designed property with uninterrupted views of the harbour and Rangitoto which he’d renovated a number of times over the years.”

That led Gilbert to reach out to Sarah Liu.

“She’s connected to a number of international buyers, and I knew many of them had budgets in the $30 - $50 million range.”

“I asked her if they would be interested in my vendor's property.”

Liu happened to be having lunch with the owners of a prestigious Rawene Avenue property in Westmere.

“A four bedroom, five bathroom modern castle once stayed in by Hollywood superstar Jason Statham.”

They told her they were thinking of buying another property if they saw something they really liked.

“So I asked Nick to send me some photos of the Misson Bay home. It was stunning, and one of the best in Auckland, so I immediately thought of my client and arranged a viewing.”

Liu says they loved the house and she encouraged them to put an offer on paper, but then the idea for a house swap came up.

The Rawene Avenue property was very different to Mission Bay home, but Gilbert says it still came with an amazing view.

“I thought that it could be the kind of property that my client would like, so I sent him the imagery of the home from Liu’s previous listing and said that if the buyers liked his, would he be interested in a partial trade deal as part of the sale?”

He was, and both agents began working together to arrange a deal.

“Both clients really liked the idea of swapping. It was good for them as they didn’t need to put their houses on the market or look for another to buy” says Liu.

It took some time to work through the details which included multiple viewings and market analysis, but within a week there was an offer and a counter offer.

“One of the biggest challenges in the beginning was trying to negotiate the value of each house.”

From that chance encounter to the final sale, the whole process took around three-and-a-half weeks with a total transaction value of $56 million.

“Having to navigate both sides' needs with a partial trade made the deal very complex. But the overall value makes this the single largest residential transaction to have ever taken place which is amazing considering both properties weren’t even on the market” says Gilbert.

“The property in Westmere had only been to market once, and the Mission Bay home had never been to market before. The only people that have seen it are the vendor's friends, and then these buyers, so it is very unique in that respect.”

Proving that any time is a good time to sell.

“Both vendors had needs to be met, we identified those and used them as a tool to bring the deal together.”

The deal was made even sweeter by the fact that Gilbert only became a licensed salesperson in July last year.

“It really gives me some momentum to push forward, gain some credibility and keep selling.”

For Liu, it was the cherry on top of an already impressive track record including 10 years experience specialising in high end luxury property sales.

Both Liu and Gilbert say the sales also highlight the value of an extensive network, and team members you can lean on for support.

“Sarah Liu was a huge asset. She was key in bringing her buyers in, getting them to agree to the terms and putting it in front of my vendor” says Gilbert.

“I will always try to engage with other agents to find buyers, so I'm very much open to trying to put a deal together for vendors while understanding what their drivers are.”

Liu agrees how important it is to be able to work with other agents from within the group.

“This was the first time I’ve been involved in a swap of this size. It was really exciting to be part of such a big deal and both clients were very happy in the end.” Gilbert says.