Genesis

[QUOTE=sr71;7683463]Unless you live Auckland, up north, Tauranga etc then you are going to get temperatures similar to the UK.

No you're not. We live in Palmy and the weather here is positively balmy mid winter by comparison to what a UK winter is like. I did not come here for the weather but I feel it is way better than the south of the UK generally. We do get some hard rain now and then and big winds Oct/ Nov time but apart from that I think the weather is fine here. The winters here in the lower of the north Island remind me of winter in Spain. Maybe its all the same if you analyse it and I think its better here because I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more content in Nz than I ever was in the UK. Whatever.

southerner

Actually I can personally vouch for that. We moved from Kingston on Thames to Dunedin in 2003.

We sold a 2 br mid terrace house for 300gbp, transferred dosh at 2.75, bought 5+ br villa for $510nzd including 50k on new roof, insulation and heating. So we probably got twice the house for about two thirds the price. The same relativity was possible right through until 2008 when the Uk market turned down.

Even now, for those who have reasonable equity in UK property, there still will be the opportunity to 'cash in' on moving to NZ, and reduce, if not eliminate, their mortgage.

crap coffee

YOU ARE SOOOOO VERY LUCKY, Caroline, YES!



I WISH I COULD LIVE THE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE!

then I wouldn't drink beer everyday or drink my age in pints on weekends ........

lardyl

Only problem with that is that Kiwi homes are a little, how shall we put it, less robust than their UK "equivalents", hence you may need to replace, do some wholesale renewals or trade up rather more frequently than in the UK.

Or am I just generalising?

lardyl

Libby, I'd hate to "stereotype" you though....

Fancy the Specials gig......?

Drinking like that is possibly better than acting your shoe size.......cue another lyrical comment......

xxElainexx

[QUOTE=carolineshewan;7686725] Thank you for enlightening us Caz, hubby and l are thinking of emigrating to NZ and want to be where the weather is warmish through out the winter as l have that nasty friend arthur i tus and here in Uk it's giving me grief. my doctor jokingly suggested l would feel so much better in a warmer climate...again thanks for your input...xxElainexx

jmh

Kingston is quite an expensive area so I would expect to buy a pretty good property in exchange, especially in somewhere like Dunedin. If people are moving from a cheaper area in the UK to somewhere like Auckland they may need to do the sums again to see what they can get.

southerner

Or they could move somewhere better....

southerner

No more than anyone else. I didn't get the trade up more frequently bit though.

You'll see from my post I included the cost of getting the house into a shape we were comfortable with. Peeps looking at NZ properties online should try to do the same.

lardyl

sorry - I wasn't trying to cherry pick your post.......just highlight the point that you had kind of made; there is a lot of housing stock here that is in need of renovation, and make the further point that the style of materials, I'd say with roofs in particular, mean that ongoing costs need to be factored in. The decromastic roofs and other tin roofs aren't going to survive the length of time that a traditional tile roof will and they rely on regular maintenance which some people are either ignorant of or just want to avoid.

As far as "trading up" goes it was an obtuse ironic reference to people who buy a lemon here and realise that they need to cut their losses - I know of immigrants who have been stung that way, even those who you would expect to be able to spot a dodgy build.

Hate to generalise again but some asian developers seem rather "sharp" when it comes to new builds......

CarolineSwan

[QUOTE=xxElainexx;7690821] your very welcome, dont get me wrong the nights are cold, but a good heat pump will solve that... glorious sunny day again

BEVS

If you have some arthritis , then think about the humidity of the area also.
The Nelson and Bleneim areas are renown for their sunshine hours and are not humid.

jmh

That's my home town you're talking about matey!!

crap coffee

Last Friday (It was a cold wet and nasty day) , I went to NW and bought 12 pack of Speights Old Dark after work (9.30 pm), then someone (a Kiwi lad) on the counter asked me,,,, Are you really drinking THIS beer? Is this for yourself?? so I said YES......What's wrong with it? then he replied me .... I've never ever seen a girl drinking dark bitter...? I thought what the hell.........? Why he asks me such? so I said I am British! I mean what else could I say then? What's more, while walking home, people on the street stared at me constantly..... (it was Embarrassing....) I just couldn't understand WHY on earth people looked at me like that?? cos, I was holding a large box of beer on a horrible wet night? Seriously though What's wrong with it? Because I am a little girl? a strange Kiwi culture, eh?......... Unlike Britain, you wouldn't go to a pub to have a pint on your own here........cos Kiwis think something wrong with you...... But I do. and I don't care what people think of me any more. .......One of mates at work told me, I am nearly insane......doing so.

lardyl, I am neither an alcoholi.c nor a stereotype ...... I drink a pint sometimes with blokes though and a bottle of beer sometimes at home . But I've got LOTS of stress from work everyday and I (only) wish I was a man! so that I can drink as much as I want! A frequent drinking habit is seriously bad for women's health. I don't want to have breast cancer etc very soon.

after all, I don't like a Kiwi drinking culture. it's tad strange.

Pubs? None existent pub culture here.

Why I love Nz apparently? I like some Kiwi beer........That's about it.

lardyl

Hi Libby

the "stereotype" comment was to do with the Specials song "Stereotype" where "he drinks his age in pints"........"but he doesn't really exist"

Sorry to make light of your situation.
Most of my memory loss is probably down to drinking plenty in my 20s and doing the "ton up" in units in the odd week.

If your gonna drink beer then why not drink the better stuff. I like the Old Dark. Drinking lots on your own is not so good though. Just keep safe matey.