Queenstowners buy charity home

Bruce and Maxine Murdoch and their two children, Benji (10) and Thomas (16), stand in front of...
Bruce and Maxine Murdoch and their two children, Benji (10) and Thomas (16), stand in front of their new rental property, which will be relocated from Dunedin to Queenstown after they won a charity auction on Saturday. Photo by Jane Dawber.

A Queenstown family left Dunedin with a house at the weekend, after they were the top bidders at the Otago Polytechnic charity house auction on Saturday.

Dozens of people gathered to watch the charity home and two other houses built by polytechnic students go under the hammer, which helped raise $80,000 to be distributed to Dunedin charities.

Bruce and Maxine Murdoch, of Queenstown, were successful with their bid of $185,000. The home will be transported to Fernhill to become a rental.

The Otago Polytechnic-Metro Realty charity auction was an opportunity to buy an inexpensive home, which was well constructed and with the added bonus of some proceeds going towards charities, the couple said.

Another home at the auction - a four-bedroom house - attracted a bid of $142,000, and was likely to be relocated to Naseby where it would become a holiday home on a 2ha property owned by Andrew Hunter and Mel Pilkinton.

The last, a three-bedroom home, sold for $125,000.

In the past four years more than $260,000 had been raised for United Way, which then returned 96% of that total to Dunedin charities.

United Way chief executive Don Oliver said the charity fundraiser was now being adopted by other polytechnics around New Zealand.

 

 

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement