valleygurl

We lived in NP for 2 years and are now back in the UK but are moving back out in May we loved it there it has a very friendly community and lots for the children to along with some excellent schools x

MegMac

I meant to finalise this thread but we got very busy towards the end of our trip.

We finally agreed that New Plymouth is where we will start afresh. Fingers crossed it all works out well.

We spent the weekend there viewing houses and it just confirmed that was were we want to be. Found a great house and we are intending to offer on it later today.

So things are definitely looking up :thumbs:.

Justcol

An excellent choice, its a lovely place it all goes well

valleygurl

good choice we will be there again in may, it's a little way away from everywhere else but soon friendly and lots to do. Hope all goes well x

AndyCampbell

Hi, just reading this thread as considering moving to Auckland (from Scotland) . I have been looking at the cost of living (in Auckland) but am a solo dad of a 12 y/o whom is at a really good school and settled here.

Would you care to elaborate on your children’s experience ? Thank you and good luck with everything.

MegMac

I'm happy to share how my kids have adjusted but I'll start a new thread as it's a slightly different topic.

kiwibrit101

After living in Auckland for twenty years and seeing a it of the country over that time, I'd say climate has to be a big decider ...so Tauranga is my first choice and please don't forget Whangarei, it has stunning coast line, good ammenities and not too far from the big smoke......

MrsFychan

how did the offer go Meg?

kiwibrit101

Good choice...the naki will take care of you.....lovely people .....all bonkers .....in a good way

MegMac

It didn't go well . Unfortunately the estate agents lived up to their reputation and spent much of the week playing ridiculous games and straight up lying to us. When it became clear that they were lying we withdrew the offer. They were clearly trying to take advantage of us because this was our first time buying in NZ. I refuse to deal with that company ever again.

Even the lawyers we had in New Plymouth warned us to be very wary of them. So not a great outcome but we've come out of this not quite so naive about the NZ system of buying houses.

Unfortunately we can't go back for another 3 weeks as its my son's birthday this coming weekend and then husband is working the weekend after that. So that's a bit of a downer. But we'll get there eventually.

MrsFychan

Hope it wasn't Professionals as I have worked with them for a couple of months last year.
Please remember that the agent has a obligation to the seller to let them know everything you say, so don't be saying things like: "ok well we can go to xxx amount but lets start of at XXXX and see how it goes." The agent is obligated to pass this information on to the seller.
You should of been handed a copy of the agents obligations - Real Estate Agents Act (Professional Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2012 - when dealing with an offer and he has a duty of care to be honest and factual as far as he can. If you do not believe this is the case you can initially report the incident to the Company Agent or the REAA direct.

AndyCampbell

Thank you , I'll watch out for that

PS: Sorry to read of your hassles. Sound like used car salesmen. Best to listen to your gut and walk away. Hope you find a place soon

LittleGreyCat

Just to note that one problem with migrating to NZ is that nearly everyone does their exploratory visits from the UK in the NZ summer.

Well, why wouldn't you?
Crap weather at home and lovely sunshine (mostly) in NZ.
It is a lot of money and hassle to leave the UK just when the weather has finally picked up and go to NZ when winter is coming. Who wants to have two winters end to end?

So people don't really get to grips with what NZ is like in the winter until they are actually there. Also, even if you visited in the winter you probably would be staying in a motel or hotel with some kind of heating, not a cold and draughty rental.

[Having said that, the daughters of a friend visited NZ in NZ winter because they had always wanted to go, and the flights (for some reason) were very cheap. They got a stunning deal on the camper rental as well. Suffice it to say that they were a little disappointed.]

Our daughter was fed up her first couple of rentals because there was no real provision for heating. The one she is in now has blown air heating from underfloor ducts and a nice big log burning stove. So we had already decided to be very wary about where we rented or bought. If possible we would like to buy a plot and have a modern insulated house built (seen some pretty good pre-built houses at a factory in Kerikeri) but if this is not possible then we would upgrade the windows and insulation and the heating. Of course, this would be a problem for a rental. Another reason not to be in Auckland, possibly?

AndyCampbell

Are NZ houses that bad ? It sounds a tad back-waterish ?

LittleGreyCat

The charm of NZ is that it is generally at least 20 years behind the UK in most things. So it is a backwater in many ways compared to Europe. Advanced in other ways, of course.

As someone who remembers the time before central heating was common in the UK, and waking to ice on the inside of the windows, I think that they are still quite a long way behind with regards to insulation and heating.

Realistically, we in the UK have become accustomed to a comfortable temperature of around 20C indoors most of the year, because we have used technology to cope with the freezing winter temperatures.

If you have grown up with cold houses in the winter (as I and many others did) you don't really think much of it if you have not experienced the wonders of central heating. It is just how things are.

A house in the UK without insulation and heating would be considered a hovel. In NZ that is how they have always been. Because the temperatures are generally milder, nobody is in danger of freezing to death so it is just a case of putting on a few more jumpers.

The UK (and most of Europe) has also been driven by the green agenda, and building regulations are stricter every year on levels of insulation, and of heat loss through windows. Mostly aimed at cutting the heating bills and the amount of electricity generated and gas burned. I think you might have to look hard to find cavity walls, let alone cavity wall insulation.

NZ with mainly geothermal and hydro power doesn't really have the same urgent concerns.

So yes, one of the things that Brits assume about housing turns out generally not to be true.

I imagine that houses up in the high lands near the winter ski resorts will have adequate heating and insulation, of course.

Edit: just realised that our kids have never lived anywhere which didn't have central heating with a boiler and water filled radiators (hydronic as NZ calls it) so moving somewhere where this is an alien concept can be a bit of a shock. You just assume that everyone has this.