PHOTO: Nikki Connors. FILE
On Sunday morning, agents marketing a multimillion-dollar Auckland apartment, owned by the self-proclaimed “queen of property” Nikki Connors, held a kerbside open home viewing after the property was listed as a mortgagee sale.
The two-bedroom apartment in Ōrākei, listed with Barfoot & Thompson at the beginning of June, is set for auction on June 26.
A picture of Connors can be seen on the hallway table in one of the listing photos for the property. Photo / Supplied
A small group gathered for the viewing, talking to a real estate agent outside the apartment despite being unable to see it from the road.
The reason for changing the viewing from an open home to a kerbside event was not disclosed by the real estate agent.
The two agents marketing the property, as listed on Barfoot & Thompson’s website, declined to comment when contacted by the Herald. Barfoot & Thompson also did not provide a comment.
This development follows Connors’ statement to OneRoof on Friday that she had signed a sale and purchase agreement for $2.25 million with a buyer the previous week. However, the mortgagee, a major bank, refused to remove the sale advertising. The buyer’s due diligence period ended on Friday, Connors added.
Nikki Connors, pictured in 2008.
She mentioned to OneRoof that she was still residing at the property, which went to a mortgagee sale due to issues with another trustee. Documents indicate that Connors and a trustee company were still listed as the property’s owners at the start of the month.
“We informed the bank and provided all necessary documentation, but they refused to halt the advertising,” Connors told OneRoof. She expressed frustration that despite informing the bank of the purchaser and their ability to buy the property, the sale proceeded at the valuation of $2.25 million.
Nikki Connors (right) with then-Prime Minister Sir John Key and Kerry Cattrall-Ward at Auckland Cup Day in 2009.
Last month, BusinessDesk reported Connors faced an asset-freezing order after abandoning her bid for name suppression. The freeze pertains to a $250,000 loan arranged in February last year from Anthony Tosswill’s Smart Living Ltd. After missing interest payments in March and failing to repay the principal in July, Smart Living sought a without notice freezing order against Connors, her Primrose Trust, and Metropolis Real Estate, which is now in liquidation.
Justice Robert Osborne granted the order on December 14, noting evidence of Connors’ potentially “lavish lifestyle.” Connors had mentioned to a journalist in May her intention to buy a second home in France, where she usually spends time each year. “The prospect of a significant dissipation of assets is real,” the judge remarked.
SOURCE: NZHERALD