The house for sale is exempt from typical buyer restrictions because it has been rezoned as a commercial property, according to Serhant’s co-listing agent, Nathan Frank. And about those closed borders -- there’s a workaround for that, too. The seller, who Serhant got to know as a client in New York, is willing to lease the property back for as long as a year after the closing for NZ$85,000 ($56,525) a month.
Serhant said the listing has sparked interest among clients in something increasingly top of mind in the age of Covid: obtaining a so-called billionaire bunker, a secure hideaway to escape to should global events spin further out of control (and should New Zealand ever open its borders).
The property is emblematic of what the highest of high-end buyers are seeking right now, Serhant said. “Should there be another quarantine, you want land, you want air, you want safety and security,” he said. “Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and New Zealand are some of the best places to find that.”
Serhant said he’s not actively seeking listings in those states and believes New York’s luxury market will rebound once people have more certainty about schools and offices reopening and the impact of the election. For now, a lot of his clients have decamped to Greenwich, the Hamptons and New Hampshire.
Meanwhile, business in the city is as busy as ever. “I have a lot of people calling me for a good deal,” he said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.