[james_sc]

Hi all,

The 'dream' is a move to New Zealand, owning a house near the sea, with access to beaches for dog walking and relaxation with little or no mortgage.

The reality is we would have about $375k to spend on a house and an income of about $60k per year.

Christchruch or Nelson are our favoured locations.

Not sure what that would get us, any advice welcomed.

Thanks James and Roxy

[Chiba]

Having spent months "house surfing", meaning open2view and its friends, I'd say it was definitely possible. The key? Location. If you don't mind commuting, or are one of those blessed people who can work anywhere, then I think you can do it on those numbers.

[Nick88]

As Chiba said, have a good look at the property sites, trademe.co.nz is probably the biggest now. A beach side house for $375k would be good going near a major town. It would likely be a bit more out of the way for that money, and perhaps a bit of a fixer-upper. Chch and Nelason are not the cheapest areas either. I could be wrong, but have a good dig about online and see what is on offer, most properties in NZ are advertised somewhere online if you browse long enough.

I know where I am in Northland, a nice house by the sea is $600k+.

[Moorf]

I agree Nick. You'd be hard pushed to find a place near Christchurch or Nelson with sea views for $375k. In fact, you'd be hard pushed to find a house in inland Darfield (our nearest township) for that these days. Having said that I've no idea of what your idea of liveable is, I've learned from 3 yrs on this forum that it varies greatly from person to person!! :)

I've seen some reasonable prices in Nelson for houses on the hills with sea views but I can't comment on the sort of area they are located in, there are a few forumites living in Nelson, I'm sure they'll be along to help.

You might find something if you could take on a mortgage of $100k or so and raise your purchasing power to around $500k. That would be do-able on $60k imho for an average couple. Can't comment on family costs as we are couple only (just two dogs and 5 chooks!).

Unless you're set on sea views there are great places inland along lakes and rivers to take the dogs, you're never really far from either. Or you might find you like the North New Brighton area where you may just get a nice house on a nice plot in walking distance of the lovely Brighton Beach for under $400k. We lived there for nearly a year and, despite the bad rep it seems to get, we loved it.

HTH
Moorf