Considering a move to lifestyle block
#16
Re: Considering a move to lifestyle block
In all honesty I wouldn't do it, but that's me. The amount of people that seem to have problems building is enough to put me off. Plus I think it's cheaper to buy a house than it is to build one in the current climate. At least it's that way down in Canterbury. Building seems to be the more expensive option. I can definitely see the appeal of living in the country but I would buy a ready made house and just move it, it will save you a few grey hairs!
#17
Happy in Wellington
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Tawa, Wellington, Aotearoa
Posts: 2,286
Re: Considering a move to lifestyle block
This place ticks a lot of boxes apart from one - it's too remote!
https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Lis...?id=1383809823
https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Lis...?id=1383809823
#18
Re: Considering a move to lifestyle block
We probably wouldn't do it again as it is stressful. Hidden costs can muller the dream if you don't know what you are doing and get bad advice. You really need to be on the ball and basically not trust the project manager or builder to do what you are paying them to do as that could be like writing a blank cheque. If you have a real tight budget you need to carry out so much research before you actually commit it is insane, but at the end of it you do get more of what you want with less compromises, especially when you have a major hand in the design and the options and it's always nice knowing you're the first owner and nobody has been there before you.
If we had to move, we'd probably go even more rural with more land, but I doubt we'd buy a section and build again. We'd more than likely buy a used property on an already established section with the least compromises as possible and alter/refurbish as we went along.
Is it really worth the stress? Yes and No.
#19
Re: Considering a move to lifestyle block
This place ticks a lot of boxes apart from one - it's too remote!
https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Lis...?id=1383809823
https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Lis...?id=1383809823
#20
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,900
Re: Considering a move to lifestyle block
A few more points to consider are, do you have school-age children, and how close are you to retirement?
1. In rural areas, kids can spend as much as 60-90 minutes on the bus - each way - sometimes longer. You need to find out about the bus routes. So if you have kids, you need to consider if you, and they, would be happy with them spending possibly as much as 3 hours a day on the school bus. Or, are you happy to send them to board, or are you willing to take them into town each day - keeping in mind that schools often have policies that don't allow kids to arrive on school grounds too early as there isn't staff to supervise them.
2. You won't want a rural property in retirement. Where I am, when farmers retire, the common thing is to buy a house in a coastal town and move there, or the adult kids buy the parents a cheap, small old house in the regional town, so that the parents can walk to the bank, the pharmacist, etc, easily and without driving too much, all the things they can't easily do from an isolated property.
3. Whether to buy an existing property or to build on your own, I think depends on whether you want some particular special features or some particular material in the house. If not and you would be satisfied with something existing, probably not worth it to build. If there's something unique you have to have, then perhaps consider building. But as others mentioned the list of things to think about with that, too, is enormous. You have to decide everything down to the colour of the handles on the kitchen cabinets.
Good luck.
1. In rural areas, kids can spend as much as 60-90 minutes on the bus - each way - sometimes longer. You need to find out about the bus routes. So if you have kids, you need to consider if you, and they, would be happy with them spending possibly as much as 3 hours a day on the school bus. Or, are you happy to send them to board, or are you willing to take them into town each day - keeping in mind that schools often have policies that don't allow kids to arrive on school grounds too early as there isn't staff to supervise them.
2. You won't want a rural property in retirement. Where I am, when farmers retire, the common thing is to buy a house in a coastal town and move there, or the adult kids buy the parents a cheap, small old house in the regional town, so that the parents can walk to the bank, the pharmacist, etc, easily and without driving too much, all the things they can't easily do from an isolated property.
3. Whether to buy an existing property or to build on your own, I think depends on whether you want some particular special features or some particular material in the house. If not and you would be satisfied with something existing, probably not worth it to build. If there's something unique you have to have, then perhaps consider building. But as others mentioned the list of things to think about with that, too, is enormous. You have to decide everything down to the colour of the handles on the kitchen cabinets.
Good luck.
#21
Re: Considering a move to lifestyle block
Great thread. I grew up on a lifestyle block and as teenager, it was brilliant. Clean country living, fishing, hunting, biking to the school bus (about a 40 minute bus ride to school) or running around the paddocks chasing ducks, pigs, sheep! Lots of great memories chopping fire wood with the family, digging holes, building fences, repairing those fences, chasing sheep again..... chopping more wood. Mowing the lawns (2 hours), feeding the animals after school, digging out trees, replanting trees, building more fences..... the list goes on. I loved the winters working outside in the rain and then coming in to a wood fire and enjoy some homemade soup. Summers were great with long daylight hours, cream and jam scones on the front porch. Less enjoyable were power cuts (we lived near a lake and the geese would fly into powerlines) or no showers because water pipes had frozen. There is never a dull moment on a block.
One big issue for our family was the ability to get away. Parents could never just lock up and leave to travel, always needed a house sitter to feed the animals etc. Also, as a teenager, there was constant friction between chores, homework or other activities (sport, socialising etc). Parents were on the block for 20 years before moving into the Christchurch suburbs age 50. That was a great decision and gave my mum and dad a different outlook in life. Certainly being out on a lifestyle block provided a great lifestyle, but lots of challenges.
Best wishes.
One big issue for our family was the ability to get away. Parents could never just lock up and leave to travel, always needed a house sitter to feed the animals etc. Also, as a teenager, there was constant friction between chores, homework or other activities (sport, socialising etc). Parents were on the block for 20 years before moving into the Christchurch suburbs age 50. That was a great decision and gave my mum and dad a different outlook in life. Certainly being out on a lifestyle block provided a great lifestyle, but lots of challenges.
Best wishes.
#22
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: Considering a move to lifestyle block
I had never seen the expression "lifestyle block" which Wikipedia tells me is relatewd to "hobby farming". The world gets stranger by the day.
#23
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,900
Re: Considering a move to lifestyle block
It's a marketing term aimed at city dwellers (ie, "change of lifestyle"). Generally speaking a "lifestyle block" is a plot of land (usually a few acres) in a rural area. May be farm-related but doesn't have to be, but if it is farm-related, you wouldn't expect something on a lifestyle block to be commercial grade or scope.