suza712565

Hi, how are you finding welcome bay? We come over in January and have been looking into the schools there and houses to rent.
sue

JackandE

Hi Sue, Welcome Bay is great, although we havn't got school age children, my son,wife have. They plan to come to this area next year, they are already here in NZ in Warkworth. They have their minds set on the Rudolf Steiner school, but there are a few different ones in the area. I live in a road with lots of children, even the neighbours are from Wolverhampton and they have small children...I could ask them for some details if you wish...Where are you coming from.......
Jackie

BEVS

That Wolvo lot get everywhere. Husband is originally from Wolvo.

Frenchy

Ha ha I used to teach wound care at good old Wolverhampton Uni lol

suza712565

So glad I found this thread. We are coming from Bedfordshire

suza712565

Hi Jackie we are both in 30s with young children. Every house we have looked at we have loved.

Justcol

Be Very Careful some are not what they seem

Evolve2013

Yes, please be very careful when house hunting. Many are not what they seem. I could tell you some real horror stories. Fortunately we weren't caught out ( I fell in love with most but fortunately hubby could see past what he called the ticky tacky board) We have friends who were really stitched up and lost an awful lot of money

suza712565

Oh no not good. Thank you for letting me know. What sort of things should I be looking out for?

Sue

Evolve2013

Best bet is to buy a section and build your own. Look into Golden Homes/Classic or other builders based on Cameron Road . The majority of the current housing stock in NZ has been built out of untreated timber with designs that are unsuitable to NZ conditions using materials which are not up to the climatic conditions. This is why there is a huge "leaky home" problem there. Double glazing is an absolute must along with a decent heating system. Older housing stock up to 2007 may well not have double glazing and also suffer terrible condensation and mould issues.

JackandE

Hi Sue, with the leaky homes issue we played it safe and always looked for a brick built house, we have moved 7 times in 6 years here and have rented and owned different houses...but we always bought sound brick houses, usually not more than 12 years old.

suza712565

Hi. We are here, but not in Welcome bay. Unfortunately my husband had to come first and get somewhere ASAP. We are in otumoetai but desperately want to be in Welcome bay due to the school.

I'm feeling very homesick and isolated.

Any friendly advice, conversation would be great!!

How hard is it to view a rental through estate agents here?? It's driving me insane!!

Sue

escapedtonz

Don't mind Otumoetai but it can be a little outdated as it is an older suburb. Awesome views to be had in many parts though looking out to The Mount and over the estuary.
Pillans Point school is very good if you end up staying and need to enroll at a primary school.
The Mrs would like our boy to go there but we aren't in the zone so it's looking like Bethlehem Primary for us next year although that's fine as it has an outstanding rep.

Why not spend a weekend just visiting open homes in the areas you'd like to live. At least you'll get to meet a few of the agents and after a chat in person they may be a bit more helpful?
Only other thing you could do is knock on their office doors and hope they're in.
Good idea to keep a close eye on the rental ads and as soon as one becomes available fill in the rental agreement ready. This can usually be done online. The agent will surely be in touch with details of how and when you can meet them and view the properties.

snaps

Managed to get here yesterday and not quite what I was expecting. I'll give it another go next time, but I was expecting dowdy service, white overalls and some good old fashioned out of tune radio whistling away in the background.

escapedtonz

What did you think of the experience ?
Must admit our fish was way overdone last time we visited but it was still pretty decent and the chips way better than any kiwi chippy we've tried.
Gonna have f&c next Friday on the prom assuming the weather good but we gonna try Bobby's on The Strand, Tauranga.