They bought a piece of an island near Palm Beach for less than $300 and it’s now worth $1.24M: “You kids should buy that”

Sometimes, a small investment really pays off. One clear example is the case of two youngsters from New Zealand who bought a piece of land on what has become a coveted real estate market for the island nation. Ray’s father had taken Irene, a friend of his son, under his wing, and when they passed by the lot for sale in the late 1950s, Irene remembers him saying: “You kids should buy that.” And buy it they did. The land was located near Palm Beach, a coveted destination on the island of Waiheke.

Ray Grunby and his 17-year-old friend Irene, who would later become his wife, told One Roof that they spent “95 and 11 pence on the property,” with each of the teenage buyers putting around 50 pounds into the investment. In US dollars, the pair would have paid around $270.

Investment jackpot!

Today, the property is on the market for more than $1.24 million. Though the family’s gains have been spectacular, one must remember that cases like that highlighted here are rare. Similar to investors who placed big bets on Apple in the 1990s and early 2000s. In the US, the average home appreciates 3.8 percent in value annually unless market conditions deflate prices, as they did after the 2008 financial crisis. While many homebuyers will see the value of their property grow, the case of Ray and Irene shows how holding onto the property for a long period of time–in areas that become desirable–can lead to huge financial payments. However, placing bets on the future desirability of where you want to buy a home isn’t an option for many people today, who are driven to move for economic reasons like employment.

Irene decided to put the property on the market, and the listing agent told One Roof that the home built on the land would likely need to be torn down because it was not up to code. Ray passed away in 2022, and Irene explained that without family close by, the property goes unused.

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