SellSmart Homes in the Media
Some of our activity that’s been featured in the media
At SellSmart Homes, we’re proud to be recognised for our expertise in maximising property value and helping homeowners, investors, and landlords achieve the best possible returns. Our work has been featured in leading media outlets, highlighting our success in property trading, smart renovations, and strategic home preparation.
From TV features to industry publications and expert interviews, explore the latest articles, insights, and stories where SellSmart Homes has been in the spotlight.
Featured Media Coverage
OneRoof
9 Dec 2024
South Auckland family buys reno star’s ‘yuck home’ for $1.05m
They moved in five days after signing the sale and purchase agreement.
A South Auckland family desperate to find a new home after selling their previous one made an offer and moved into the freshly renovated property in less than a week.
TV’s renovation star turned flipper Jono Frankle’s Hillpark home had been on the market since September, but after a slow start managed to hook two separate buyers at the same time.
Frankle picked up the “yuck” deceased estate on Claude Road for $781,000 in June and spent well over his usual $100,000 clearing out the hugely overgrown gardens and renovating the four-bedroom home. It sold almost six months later for $1.05m.
The first conditional offer accepted was from a man who wanted to put a sleepout on the large section, but pulled out of the deal after realising it would cost too much to connect it up to utilities.
OneRoof
23 Sep 2024
‘Same but different’: Neighbouring houses being flipped together
They were bargain buys, but what will they get now?
Two neighbouring houses have hit the market for sale at the same time.
TV renovation champ and serial renovator Jono Frankle snapped up a three-bedroom, one-bathroom brick-and-tile home at 5 Corsair Crescent in Mangere for $750,000 in May when it was sold at a $1 reserve auction.
While he was waiting for his purchase of the property to settle, the weatherboard home next door at number 3 was put up for sale in a mortgagee auction.
“It’s definitely the first time I’ve done side-by-side renovations. It wasn’t part of the plan,” he said.
OneRoof
3 Sep 2024
‘Yuck’ South Auckland home back on the market after unbelievable transformation
Overgrown deceased estate unrecognisable after 8-week renovation.
A South Auckland dump bought for less than half its CV is back on the market for sale after an eight-week transformation.
But the renovation was no easy task, with an army of tradies working to bring the four-bedroom home at 28 Claude Road, in Hillpark, Manukau, up to scratch in as short a time as possible.
TV renovation winner and property trader Jono Frankle was fixing up the deceased estate within hours of snapping it up at auction for $781,000 in June – for less than half its CV.
OneRoof
31 Dec 2023
How to turn a real estate disaster into a money-spinner
Do-ups done right can provide buyers a 200% return on investment.
Run-down homes can be money-spinners, with renovators telling OneRoof that can get as much as a 200% return on investment for a do-up done right. But can first-timers do the same?
Renovations may be coming back into fashion thanks to lower house prices and the cost of materials stabilising after a volatile few years.
Property mentor Jono Frankle says a good renovation should add value to a home: his rule of thumb is spend a $100,000, add $200,000 to the value of the property.
OneRoof
29 Jun 2023
How TV reno champ turned ‘nasty’ South Auckland rental into dream home in just 30 days
Jono Frankle faced smelly carpet, layers of wallpaper and rotten floor in latest makeover project
Layers of old wallpaper and an unexpected leak in the bathroom with some rot didn’t stop the winner of a TV renovation show from transforming a “pretty nasty” South Auckland home into a stylish pad in just a month.
Jono Frankle, who triumphed in the first season of TVNZ reality show Our First Home, picked up the three-bedroom house at 35 Waimate Street, in Otara, at auction on May 16 for $591,000 – well below its 2021 CV of $870,000.
Now, after a comprehensive but speedy makeover, the property is back on the market for sale on July 5, with Ray White listing agents Tom McCartney and Hayley McAlister.
OneRoof
23 Mar 2023
Our First Home TV star Jono Frankle goes back to his house-flipping roots
Reality show winner says buying at the right price is the key to success.
The winner of home renovation TV show Our First Home has gone back to where it all started for him – renovating and flipping homes for profit.
Jono Frankle – who won the first season of TVNZ’s renovation programme Our First Home with wife Karen and her parents Tom and Robyn Schreuder in 2015 – has just flipped his first home in two years following a hiatus.
Under the show’s format, the parents help their adult children buy a house which they then renovated over 10 weeks. The Schreuder’s Titirangi house sold for $721,000 with them taking home $290,400 made up of profit from the sale and $100,000 prize money.
NZ Herald
5 Jul 2015
Expectant TV show winners moving in
Winners of reality TV show Our First Home are dusting off their DIY skills.
But this time Jono and Karen Frankle will get to enjoy the labour of their renovation skills, spending their winnings from the popular reality TV show on a “do up” property in Bucklands Beach, East Auckland.
The couple teamed up with Karen’s parents, Tom and Robyn Schreuder, for Our First Home, taking on the Wardlaw and Gourley families for DIY supremacy. Team Schreuder left the show with $290,400 — $190,400 profits from the sale of a Titirangi home they renovated and $100,000 for selling their property for the greatest percentage profit.
NZ Herald
15 Apr 2015
Our First Home: Schreuder family win
The Schreuder family have won TVNZ’s Our First Home, with their renovated house selling for $721,000 – a 35.88 per cent profit.
The family sold their Titirangi home at auction on Monday, and will take away $290,400 made up of profit from the sale and $100,000 prize money.
After a nail-biting wait for the auction of the third and last house in the family home renovation show, the Schreuders were announced the winner and pocketed an extra $100,000 in the live season finale tonight.
Our First Home followed three families through the buying and renovation of different properties throughout Auckland, highlighting the trial and tribulations of adult children living with their parents again while they all worked on the project together.
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