Real estate agency gives away $224k in free cars to homebuyers

A New Zealand real estate agency has come up with a novel approach to help sell brand-new townhouses it is marketing: a new car.

Harcourts Golden Link Three Kings is giving away a Toyota Camry worth AUD$44,800 (NZ$50,000) to the first five people who sign up to buy a townhouse in The Glade development, in Auckland’s Mount Wellington, just 12km from the CBD.

The agency’s Black Friday promotion promises the first five homeowners who sign a contract before November 29 will receive a Toyota Camry Hybrid GX or a car to the equivalent value.

The townhouses are selling for AUD$716,000 (NZ$799,000), with three reportedly already under contract as at today.

The car giveaway is being widely marketed on Facebook, YouTube and the Chinese social media site WeChat.

Harcourts Golden Link Three Kings manager Paul Ko told OneRoof he believed the agency was the first to offer a promotion of this kind.

“First-home buyers and young people, they can have a brand-new house and a brand-new car,” he said. 

“The units are already finished, so if the buyers move in before Christmas they can have a Christmas gift.”

The homes were built by developer Unispot, and are part of the recently completed development, The Glade, which has 140 dwellings.

Each home in the promotion has four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a single carport.

Ko said the houses in the promotion were being sold for less than their advertised valuation of AUD$806,5000 (NZ$900,000).

Buyers must agree to an unconditional settlement. If they don’t want the car in the offer, he said they could select a different model or negotiate a further price discount on the home they buy.

Ko said the agency had a long association with Unispot, having sold about 300 homes for the developer over the years.