Three years ago Vanessa Akister and her partner Garth McDonald started to think about buying an apartment.
The couple had been together for 10 years, and their children were grown up.
"We decided, like many people my age do, to downsize, to sell our house and to buy our last property," Ms Akister said.
"We wanted something that was going to be easy to maintain, that was lock-up-and-leave so we could travel."
At the time, Northbourne Avenue was undergoing a facelift. The ageing office blocks and public housing were being torn down in favour of large residential developments.
Ms Akister and Mr McDonald eventually decided on an off-the-plan penthouse in an upcoming apartment building near the Dickson shops.
They paid a $61,250 deposit to secure the $1.23 million apartment, a three-bedroom with views over Mount Ainslie and 40-square-metre balcony.
As with most off-the-plan sales, a mortgage would be arranged later, a few months before the building was completed.
"This was our last apartment," Ms Akister said.
"Obviously we wanted it to be as best as it could."
Then, suddenly, Mr McDonald died.
Alone in her 50s on a school teacher's salary, Ms Akister found herself responsible for paying for the whole apartment herself.
Ms Akister said she wanted to warn other women who might be thinking of buying property to consider what could happen when buying off-the-plan, and what protections might be in place.
"I can't be the first, and I'm sure as hell not going to be the last person in this position," she said.
"I think it's really important that women our age understand that this is a possibility and to make sure that, when they're buying properties later in life, they make sure that they have legal counsel before they go into it, and really look at what the contract says."
Attempts to negotiate a termination of the contract with the developer, Art Group, were unsuccessful.
She also tried to finance a mortgage herself, but was unable to because of her age, income and the high-interest environment.
Early this year, Art Group told Ms Akister she would need to complete the purchase of the apartment under the contract she had signed with Mr McDonald in 2023.
Ms Akister has lost count of the sleepless nights she has spent thinking about what she would have to do to be able to afford the apartment.
"Garth gave me a beautiful life, and he would be really devastated that he's unwittingly put me in this position," she said.
Ms Akister has started legal proceedings against Art Group, arguing the contract was frustrated by Mr McDonald's death, and that it would be impossible for her to now finance the apartment.
Frustration of a contract occurs when an unforeseen event makes performing the terms of the contract impossible.
"Vanessa's faced with a practically impossible position where it appears that despite her best efforts, financing this property is a distant dream," her lawyer, Andrew Chakrabarty, said.
If successful, it would end the contract. She hopes to also get her deposit back.
Art Group was contacted for comment, but did not respond in time for publication.
