Jaya Roche went along to an auction of her old rental to see how much it sold for – and ended up buying the house for $200.

“They were just going for so cheap,” she said. “We just thought, ‘Why not just give it a go?’”

Roche and her partner, Cory Lowe, with children Milla, 4, and Archie, 2, previously lived in the two-bedroom house at South Murwillumbah in northern NSW.

They began renting it in 2020 but had to flee two years later when devastating floods hit the region.

The young family had to find somewhere else to live for three months, eventually moving back into the home, which was later bought by the NSW government as part of a joint federal and state response to the disaster.

Now they own the house – but will need to relocate it somewhere else.

“We have ideas … but we haven’t g

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