2 Nov 2008

Buyer mystified as house seller 'vanishes'

12:48 pm on 2 November 2008

The buyer of a house on Auckland's North Shore that was auctioned with a $1 reserve believes the vendor has gone into hiding.

The Brown's Bay home, which was valued at more $1 million, was sold to Colin Boot last weekend for $685,000 after the vendor held a private auction.

Mr Boot has since tried to put a deposit on the house, but has been unable to contact Jingeng Liu, who sold it to him.

At the time of sale Mr Boot says he signed a document given to him by Mr Liu, but numerous attempts to contact him since have been unsuccessful.

"He's vanished. I've called him several times on his cellphone, I've texted him, I've had lawyers calling and texting him, I've had friends call him and he's just refusing to answer any calls," he said.

Mr Boot says he's put a caveat on the house so no one can do anything with it in the meantime.