Just one look, that’s all it took!

Just one look and I knew
That you were my only one
Oh oh oh oh!
I thought I was dreamin’
But I was wrong, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, but-a, I’m gonna keep on schemin’
Till I can a-make you, make you my own!

These lyrics are from the song co-written and first released by Doris Troy in early 1963.  It was also recorded and released by The Hollies, Lulu, Linda Rondstadt, Mark Farner (who?), and Anne Murray among others.  I think I first heard it when it was performed in the film Mermaids (1990).

Warning:  long post follows

I remember when I first saw this photo of the kirk.  It was Easter 2018 and I was staying in Turangi for a family gathering.  In between events I took the opportunity to search for properties in Ohakune as I’d decided that was where I wanted to buy a property.

My first reaction when I saw the photo was “ooh that looks and interesting” followed by “that vestibule is ugly”.  It’s not that I objected to the vestibule per se, just that it was out of proportion to the rest of the building and unbalanced it.

I knew that building would have looked quite different when it was first built, and that it would have a lot of potential.  Thus was the beginning of five months of attempting to, and eventually buying the building.

The first attempt was when it was listed for sale on TradeMe, together with the church hall on the neighbouring section.  I made inquiries of the agent, registered my interest, and bought a valuation from QV for the property.  Unfortunately by the time I had the information I needed the church and hall had been sold to a developer.

The second attempt was me contacting the agent a few days later to see if the new owner would be interested in the selling the church in situ or for relocation.  The agent indicated that he was interested, so I arranged for a building inspection and Land Information Memorandum (LIM) Report.

I also arranged to go up and have a look through the church and a couple of other properties I was interested in.  The viewing of the church confirmed that it was the property I wanted to buy, and the viewing of the other properties confirmed that I didn’t want to buy any of them.

I needed to wait for the building inspection report before I could make a decision about what price I wanted to offer.  I knew the price the vendor had paid for both buildings, and what he wanted for the church.  Given that settlement hadn’t taken place as yet, I factored in a reasonable profit for a quick sale.

I decided to attend the decommissioning service at the end of April and present my offer to the agent at the same time.  The agent received the offer and advised he would pass it on to the vendor once his purchase of the church had settled.  He also undertook to contact the original vendor to let them know that there may be a re-sale of the church.

I signed the sale and purchase agreement with the amount I want to offer for the church.  The new owner counter-offered with the amount they originally wanted despite the LIM indicating there are problems that will need to be remedied.  I counter-offer, he counter-offers with no movement, and I counter-offer accepting his price.

The next thing I know, the agent indicates that there are other parties potentially interested in the church, and I’m now in a multi-offer / sealed bid situation for both properties.  I decide not to bid on both properties, and leave my existing offer on the table as part of the multi-offer process.  (Attempt #3)

But it’s not to be.  A couple of days later I receive an email advising me my offer was declined, with both church and hall sold to another person for a ‘ridiculous amount’.  A few days later and I’ve missed a call from the agent.  Thinking it might be good news, I phone him back immediately to see if the sale had fallen through.  But no – it’s just a pocket call!  He assures me that he’ll contact me if anything happens.

Over the next couple of months I looked at a number of other properties and sections in Ohakune but dismissed them as being too boggy.  Frankly, my heart just wasn’t in it.  So I was very surprised to see the church advertised on TradeMe at the beginning of August, this time with a different real estate agent, and going to auction at the end of the month.

I schedule a call with said agent to find out why the latest owners want to sell.  Imagine my surprise when I discover that the May sale had fallen through, and the seller had “lost all potential buyers”.  I advised the agent that I’d not been contacted when the sale fell through, and was still a willing purchaser.

I asked the agent what figure the owner wanted to take it off the market before the auction.  She indicates a starting point, so I send through an offer to purchase two days later and get the sale and purchase agreement drawn up.  (Attempt #4)  The next thing I know there are other parties interested, and it’s going to a multi-offer situation – again!

I decide to make a play for both properties to see if I can get the church off the market.  I figure I can always renovate the hall first, sell it and use the profit to renovate the church.  (Attempt #5)  The play doesn’t work, so we’re now in the multi-offer process.

So I up both of my offers to see if they are attractive enough to seal the deal.  (Attempt #6)  Unfortunately the finance condition makes them less attractive than other offers, and it’s a no-go.  However, the vendor decides to level the playing field and let the properties go to auction two weeks early.

My bank had offered me a mortgage in May based on the offer to purchase I had made.  That offer had lapsed, so I now needed to find out how much they were prepared to lend me under auction conditions.  Because the property wasn’t in the region where I lived, the decision was referred to my bank’s head office and that was taking a bit of time.

I had decided to drive up to Ohakune the day before the auction, and stay at a colleague’s holiday home.  I made a call to my bank that morning to find out the status of my application, only to discover that they had decided that they couldn’t offer me a loan on the property after all!

So it’s now ‘phone a friend’ time – fortunately my friend had worked as a mortgage broker and had some contacts.  She spent the rest of the morning furiously phoning around trying to secure finance ahead of the auction.

I worked close to where I lived, so I was able to get on the road pretty quickly and start the nearly four-hour drive to Ohakune.  I had been on the road for about 20 minutes when my friend called to say that she hadn’t been able to get finance, so she thought I shouldn’t go to the auction.

I wasn’t about to be deterred after five months, so I made the call that it was my job to buy the church, and her job to try and find finance.  I continued on my merry way, confident that we could achieve both objectives.

Another work colleague and my friend had coached me on how to bid at auction.  I knew that I needed to let the bidding go, and hold off making a bid unless I needed to stop it being sold to someone else.  So I sat there in the front row watching the bidding start off with a flurry, then slow down and stop.

The hammer nearly fell a couple of times – I’d put in a bid just before it was ‘gone’ and then it would be off again.  There were some bidders on the phone but one by one they dropped away.  I’d slowed the bidding down to $500 increases, and eventually the final bidder stopped bidding and it was mine!  (Attempt #7)

Deposit paid, I now had two weeks to get finance and settle on the property of my dreams.  Thanks to the sterling efforts of my friend, I eventually secured finance via a third-tier lender.  It was going to cost me an arm, a leg, and the money I was planning to use to renovate, but at least I now owned a church.  Let the journey begin!

Next time:  And then there was light