WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ ETC PART 7 !!

[frikonastick]

Come oooonnnnnn MNHQ, where's our medal

Bloody hell. That's really bad isn't it

Haven't seen the news.
Will look.

House hunting here. Completely depressing!

In cambridge we could have had a house with a pool for our money.
Here (shudder) it's just TERRIBLE. But more soul searching and we are happy with where we are settled. So we will stay.

www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential-property-for-sale/auction-566824591.htm

Am going to see this one tomorrow. It's been on the market for nearly a year, because its overpriced by like 200 thousand........ So am going along in the hope that the seller will be desperate by now I live in hope!

I like your optimism, Frik!

We've had a colleague and his family out to our place for lunch. His wife fell in love with our local beach(es) and the neighbourhood. I don't think that living here and working at North Shore Hospital would be a good idea though...we're out South East Auckland. Was nice having them over though. They moved to NZ 3 weeks ago from Stockport.

Do you know what year it was constructed, frik? It's very eave-less, flat roofs too.

I do like the random "people staring at outdoor fire" pic though :)

Lol! I know, no one can ever accuse me of being a glass half empty type

There is a builders report apparently. We shall see on the morrow!

Yes yes to randomers by the fireplace, it's like the human equivalent of a bottle of wine and two glasses on the patio table. For atmosphere.

It's right up my street, in fact it's exactly what we were looking for but in Auckland!

Sibble I shudder to think how much it would cost in Auckland

The construction is raising some red flag with me too Frik. The lack of depth around windows and doors suggests it is monolithic clad. Plus having a building report which vendors don't normally provide unless there is a potential issue. Even if it is sound now, there is no guarantee it won't leak next week or next time the wind blows from an odd direction.

Although I agree it looks bloody lovely.

I am having battles with DD again. I tried to get her to eat something different for dinner and totally failed. Now she is in bed pulling the 'I need a wee. I need a drink. I need a wee' routine. Argh.

Frik-don't want to rain on parade as it does look lovely but I concur with Giantpenguin. Please do not take their builders report at face value. 4 weeks ago we agreed a sale on a house and got our builder in. Their builder's report (done feb) said dry as a bone- the fact they had a builders report even raises suspiscion. Our builder (very thorough) found moisture despite not being of leaky era. Further invasive testing paid for by vendor found leakiness with reclad required of $200-300k. We dropped price, they didn't accept and now they are asking for 'any offers' on their marketing. Maybe I'm cynical but every 2nd building round our way seems to be leaking so you need to super careful. And that is a lot of surface area to reclad- more than $300ks worth! When was it built?

www.realestate.co.nz/2069177

I'll raise your pizza oven shot for swingball on the lawn!!

That is the WEIRDEST listing I have ever seen!!!

The building report was done by a previous buyer who pulled out because the guy lost his job. Apparently anyway. Either way, we would get our own report. But, of course, first they would have to be willing to drop the price

Hope they do Frik as looks lovely. I am so over house hunting. We have done building report 4 this week. Front half of the house buIlt in 40s is solid apparently although could require $25k of tanking whatever that is but back addition of 70s is apparently made of chipboard and needs $80k reclad. This would horrify me in the uk but by now this seems like a good building report and on this basis we are off to auction to be outbid by $200k no doubt. I had no idea it would be this hard to buy in nz.

Sounds interesting Justabout - just as long as they haven't got designs on your pool. You love that pool.

lolly I nearly choked on my toast that's hilarious - truly the best I've seen to date. We should have our own awards! This would get my vote.

That listing is superb. "When not playing swing ball or enjoying a meal outdoors, my husband is constantly doing DIY to keep the place in tip top condition for prospective buyers!". My favourite pic is the soft focus one staring into each others eyes. Brilliant.

Ok. So, the house is EISF monolithic clad. Builders report (the are two, both done by reputable companies one of which is 41 pages long! ) shows that the timber it was built with was treated timber, windows and doors etc etc are all installed correctly cladding ends a minimum of 400 from the ground etc etc and that most importantly that is not leaky.

Yet.

Cos that's the risk really, isn't it. That if it isn't maintained properly and water does get in, then it will of course be leaky. And that if we wanted to sell it at any point, we would have a devil of a time convincing anyone to buy it.

BUT.

It looks like they may take 800 thousand for it.

And it's pretty perfect. We are going to have both sets of I laws living with us and this house offers enough accommodation with it all separate enought that it will work.

Heeeeelp!

All houses with this type of cladding are tainted with the leaky brush, whether they are leaky or not.
You will find that when you come to resell this will likely affect the price you can get.

Decisions - it does look lovely!

Advise please = ds1 is desperately unhappy at school. I have applied for him as an out of zoner to another, we hear 11/09 if we have been drawn out of the ballot. I didn't realise how upset he was until this weekend. He is getting recurrent migraines and has been off sick again today (? stress). I can apply as an out of zoner for another school but it has an iffy reputation Howick College - would you apply and hope he's happier than where he is now if he gets in? Do you think schools talk and I might jeopardise my chances with my preferred one if I apply here.

So wish we'd moved into MacLeans zone last year when we moved - hindsight is wonderful!

Decisions - it does look lovely!

Advise please = ds1 is desperately unhappy at school. I have applied for him as an out of zoner to another, we hear 11/09 if we have been drawn out of the ballot. I didn't realise how upset he was until this weekend. He is getting recurrent migraines and has been off sick again today (? stress). I can apply as an out of zoner for another school but it has an iffy reputation Howick College - would you apply and hope he's happier than where he is now if he gets in? Do you think schools talk and I might jeopardise my chances with my preferred one if I apply here.

So wish we'd moved into MacLeans zone last year when we moved - hindsight is wonderful!

Sibble why is he unhappy? I don't think schools talk, no. But I may be wrong! What I know about schools in NZ would fit on a pin.

It's shit that he is so unhappy though :-( I hated school and when my parents eventually moved me (via a minor expulsion on my part.....) I was much much happier at the next school.

Sibble Can you go and look round Howick/ talk to staff etc to get an idea of whether he might like it or not? I doubt the schools talk to each other about apps. I got the Metro schools edition and Howick's results aren't amazing for a decile 10 - but they're not terrible. They're actually very similar results to our local high school, which is improving lots but is still avoided by some people.

Are the problems at his current school anything you can talk to the school about for them to improve? 11/09 is only 5 weeks away, I know it probably seems like a lifetime to him though.

frik I have no idea what to advise, I know that even the most non-leaky of homes will have problems with resale if it looks a certain way. A lot of people won't even look at a house of a certain style/era. The fact they are probably prepared to sell $200K under CV means they are aware of this too. It sounds like it is a properly constructed house though.