d1eng

Hi, having recently (Nov 2006) moved from England to Christchurch I have been given a promotion at work which involves moving to Auckland. My work is going to be based at Mount Wellington, although I will have travel involved around south & central Auckland and using the airport.

We are looking to buy a 4 bedroom house in the price range up to $650k, preferably with a half decent garden. We do not know Auckland at all and we were wondering what our best options are. I don't mind driving too much as the company pay the petrol to & from work. Any advice would be appreciated. Where we live at the moment is close to the beach which is nice and is also about 25 mins out of Christchurch as it has more of a small town feel to it.

SarahB

We live in Beachlands which we think is nice. Heres a website for the Pohutukawa Coast....

http://www.pohutukawacoast.co.nz/

My OH travels to Penrose every day. He used to moan about the commute to start with but now hes got more used to it, and he loves living out here so its worth it.... it is a bit of a drive. Beachlands was originally split into quarter acre sections so if you buy an older house here you'll have a decent size garden. Its not cheap to buy here now but it might be worth looking. We have a couple of beaches just down the road and theres some nice beaches at Maraetai, which is the next village along, but those get very busy in the summertime. We are surrounded by islands just here so the water is more like a lake with just small waves.

I'm sure other people on here will be able to give you some other ideas of places to live. Good luck with your move!!

tonymaloney

You can buy a good book called "Where to live in Auckland" by Stephen Hart (ex Brit). It's the best option to answer all housing type questions about Auckland

d1eng

Thanks for the info. How long does it take hubby to drive in & out of work each day then? Also what time does he live to go to & from work?

SarahB

Hi again, he leaves at about 7.15 ish in the morning and it takes him 50 minutes to get to work. Coming home he leaves at 4.45pm and gets home 45 minutes later. Hes sitting next to me now and says if theres no traffic it takes him half the time! He times it to avoid the main rush hour traffic.

Beachlands is a large village but with a nice small village mentality and friendliness. OH joined the volunteer Fire Brigade here too which he loves. I manage to keep a horse down near Whitford, so its pretty rural here yet I can drive to Botany Town Centre in 20 minutes... its a good place to live if you dont mind the driving into Auckland.

d1eng

Thanks, we will look into it, sounds lovely.