[Rabbit]

During our short visit to Wellington we looked at a few areas:

Khandalla, Wadestown, Eastbourne, Whitby, Island Bay etc.

We also looked in the Kapiti area – a bit far for a daily commute.

I suppose Khandalla and Eastbourne seemed the most suitable for us.

However, I did feel that many of the suburbs are a bit too built up for us and many of the sections are sub-divided and the houses are (in my mind) often too close together.

Many of the section sizes seem to be about 600m and I would like a minimum of 1000, or perhaps an acre.

Are there any other areas that people think might be a nice quiet place to live, with a reasonable commute into Wellington, without being too built-up?

I received my visa today, so I will probably fly-out sometime next week.

All thoughts, ideas, views and opinions greatly appreciated.

The wife is not too keen on the wind so I need to consider that also.

Rabbit.

[jess]

Hi Rabbit. There's a nice big thread on Wellington suburbs here (http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50).

There have been quite a few posts about the small lots in NZ. I have only been on one trip there so far, but we spent our time doing almost nothing but checking out suburbs, and I thought Silverstream and Belmont had some larger yards than other places. But not on the beach like Eastnourne of course.

Others who live there can offer better advice, but the thread above helped me a lot when we were first figuring out where to look.

J

[Rabbit]

Thanks for your help Jess, looks like there will be a few of us all arriving at the same time.

I read somewhere there are something like 87 suburbs in Wellington - a challenge to see them all.

[Avalon]

Rabbit -

My no. 1 piece of advise: Take your time and get to know all of Wellington - especially if you are buying. Talk to people who have been here years - and get the gossip (for want of a better description) about each area. It can avoid costly mistakes.

Its not so important for renting - as you are fixed - but I really am infinitly glad that we took the time to discover the area before we took the plunge.

Regarding Eastbourne - it really is very overpriced. 2 things which are important to know so you dont get ripped off - firstly - Landslides are becoming more common. One has had recnetly been demolished at days bay because of this. From what I understand - its due to too much building on land that isnt strong enough to take the load.

Secondly - any houses on the Left Hand saide of a bay (imaging you are looking at the Eastborne coast from Wellington) - lose the sun early in the afternoon - and wont get any at all in winter. You will have a lovely view - and you will lose your toes to frostbite :laugh

Id still love to live there - but we decided that for us it just wasnt worth the money we were being asked to part with. Obviously that may be a different kettle of fish for you - because its so personal, but thast just our thoughts.

HTH

[Rabbit]

Hi Avalon

thanks for your words of wisdom as ever, I was unaware of the landslide problem in Eastbourne, and ideally, I would like to live on a flat bit of ground. We do not want a pole house or anything built on stilts.

I do plan to rent for a while, but I thought it would be an idea to try and rent something that might meet my target 'buy' specification, so I can learn all the in's and outs upfront, perhaps from my 'rental mistake?'

The challenge of understanding the wind and sun dynamics in Wellington seems daunting - I will certainly take some knowledgeable person along with me to help in the decision making. I will probably need to visit a house several times at different times of the day, just to get a feel for the wind and sun issues.

[sizzlingbadger]

If you're looking for that kind of space Rabbit have a look at the Wairarapa. Okay it is an hours minimum commute by train but it's still, at present, good value for money.

If you've got a big pot of money have a look at Whitemans Valley in Upper Hutt and Akatarawa, both a bit awkward for commuting but probably somewhere were you'll get the land that you want.

We found it impossible to get what we wanted in Wellington so ended up over the hill in the Wairarapa. We wanted a 4 bed decent size property with 1000 sq metres of land or more. Every house we viewed one or the other was compromised. If you end up looking in Upper Hutt take care looking at houses in Pinehave and Silverstream. Houses in Pinehaven have very little sun during winter and you need to be on 'the right side of the road'. We viewed quite a few around there but found the ones on the right side of the road went fast and for a lot more money than those on the wrong side.

As Avalon says watch carefully where the sun is. It lays very low in the winter and very high in the summer. We found that our rental lost the during the middle of the day and became really cold, we're certainly glad we hadn't bought it as in summer we wouldn't have had any sun in.

[G&K]

As a very basic guide to the weather here in Wellington - the wind generaly blows from the North or the South.
Southerly's are cold and Northerly's not so.
Northerly's are mofre frequent than Southerly's by about 8-2 (guestimate)
Sun rises East and Sets West (duh!) But facing North.
I.E Northwesterly facing garden will get the most sun

Try putting all that lot on a flat section 800sq m+ in a nice suburb - not too far from the CBD and you got yerself the perfect section !

Now for the house - welcome to the fun of living in Wellington

Good luck !

[jess]

Thanks guys! Like Rabbit I will soon be looking to rent a house, and this is all great information!

J

[xanctus]

Anybody know a website that can offer a glimpse of how these areas that you guys talk about located?
I have read the other thread which is good thread indeed, however I am a bit lost...I got only couple areas. I have been to Welli last August, but it was a short trip and we didn't have the chance to take a look.

[miep]

I live in Eastbourne and as Avalon said houses are v expensive to buy. However renting there seems to be relatively cheap, so definately worth looking at renting there for a while and using that time to figure out how the sun and wind works. There are a lot of microclimates and Eastbourne is defo warmer in winter than anywhere in Upper Hutt for example.
Landslides seem to happen everywhere where its hilly, there were a lot of them in the Belmont region of Lower Hutt and in hilly parts of the city at the same time the couple in Eastbourne happened. It took us 2 days to clear the road, good bit of excercise!
I use the ferry to get to work, its a great way to travel and no issues with traffic jams or parking, but it does get a bit rough sometimes. (like this morning!)

[G&K]

There'sa useful pdf. map of all the sububs halfway down this page

http://www.wellington.govt.nz/maps/index.html

[Avalon]

Xanctus

http://www.wellington.govt.nz/maps/pdfs/suburbs/suburbs.pdf

Try that - not sure if its what you want - but it shows a flat map of where the different suburbs are in relation to each other.

If you have tried browsing at houses for sale, and want to see where they are - you can use terranet (or Qutoable Value but I found Terranet better) and you can look at ariel photos of the area - usually showing the Plot you are interested in. This only works once you have a street address it looks like
https://www.terranet.co.nz
https://www.qv.co.nz/onlinereports/default.aspx?branding=homesell

These two sites also give demographic information about each area.

[jen]

We're staying at a B&B in Eastbourne on our April week-of-scouting-Wellington trip. I'm glad to find out ahead of time that the housing prices around there are high so we won't get scared off right away if we start our search there!

We're not looking for a lot of land - there's just the two of us & we'd like more of a bungalow-style house with a small yard - at least enough yard to let the dogs out (though I doubt we'll make proper New Zealand yard dogs out of them!) and grow some tomatoes.

[xanctus]

G&K and Avalon,
Thank's so much for the link, it is helpful to get the idea of which areas...

[clg]

When it does come to looking at places to live here you really have to look at a lot of places. One thing to keep in mind is you will probably often hear a suburb reffered to as damp, sunny, windy or whatever. This does not mean the whole suburb is like that. The topogrpahy here is such that within suburbs you get a lot of variablity as well. Thus, it pays to explore a lot.

[Carol]

The most important decision for where we settled was which school to send the kids to (secondary level).


This was the one and only reason for moving to the suburb we arein.
It has its plusses and minuses.
Just like everywhere I guess.


Our oldest is almost 17 and almost has his driving licence which is making choosing the next house a little easier...

C

[Rabbit]

Carol, if you had not kids to consider, where would you prefer to live and why?

SizzlingBadger, thanks for the tips on outlying areas – do you commute by car or train? - do you get used to the commute or is it a bind?

Miep – is the Eastbourne ferry very busy during the rush hour – can you always easily get on it and how much does it cost? Are there times when it cannot run due to bad weather?

It is a shame about the trains, in that all trains in NZ are narrow gauge, so they can not go too fast, just think if they upgraded the lines, then Kapiti could be done in 30 mins. Are there any plans to upgrade the train lines or add new stations?

We have talked about the wind and sun, Do any areas have a problem with flooding?

Are local council taxes an issue to consider and do they vary by suburb?

I am trying to ask questions that may be of wider use to everyone.

Anyone been to Karori? - what is it like?

Once again, all ideas, advice and opinions most welcome, and many thanks for all the tips sofar.

[Avalon]

It is a shame about the trains, in that all trains in NZ are narrow gauge, so they can not go too fast, just think if they upgraded the lines, then Kapiti could be done in 30 mins. Are there any plans to upgrade the train lines or add new stations?

We have talked about the wind and sun, Do any areas have a problem with flooding?

Are local council taxes an issue to consider and do they vary by suburb?.

Trains:
A deal has been struck recently to upgrade the trains on the Wairarapa line, so in about 2007, we should have comfy trains (not that they are too bad at the moment compared to a british rail train). However - theres also a possibilty that fairs are due to go up by about 15%. Currently if you live nearer to Welly than Carterton - a 10 trip ticket costs $80, so thats going upto $92!

Also the wiarapara line has a "reputation" for being a bit "grumpy". Ie. People who get on in the region have a tendency to look down thier noses at the people who join the rain in the Hutt Valley :roll Also - woe betide you if you sit in a seat that does not "belong" to you. There will be Tut-tutting and excalmations of "Well, ive no idea where My Friend is going to sit now". Totally infantile - but it get you into the city on time. Just be ready for the infantile nature of some travellers.

(apprenently - one of the Kapiti trains has a bit of a part atmosphere on it)

Flooding:
I know we are just a hairs breadth above a 50 year zone. You should be able to find this info from the councils in the regions you are looking at. When we bought our house - it was in the information that would have come with a LIM report. I would never look to but a house without a lim report.

Local Taxes.

Ok, so it aint called council tax - but you still pay rates. It does vary from council to council, and depends on the Valuation of your property. When you look at property on the internet - you should see a GV, CV, or LV with a $price next to it: this is the Goverment Valutions, Capital Valution and Land Valution ( Gv is usually CV(House) + LV (land). Sometimes its seen as RV - Rateable value. However its written - thats the value on which the Rates are calculated. So its a combination of Area and Home Value.

The valutions are only done every few years, which is why you find that the Price a property is listed at or sells at is often not the same as the listed valution.

[clg]

Avalon,

Interesting comment on the trains! I am on the johnsonville line and the thing that strikes me the most about it is how quiet people are. There are regulars but not many get their own seat. There is one person though who really has to have his seat or he seems to get quite upset, he will not say anything but you can see it. We are supposed to get an upgrade in 4-6 years last I heard, still have a while to wait.

[sizzlingbadger]

Hi Rabbit

Its actually my husband that does the commuting, I'm a stay at home mum :D (well some of the time anyway).

He loves the commute, it's exactly an hour from Featherston into CBD. Finds that he now knows quite a few people from here and has made friends along the way. I am surprised as he's not found it to be a bind, he used to loathe travelling in the UK but it is a relatively easy time. About 4 stops later you're in Wellington without the stress and hassle of getting behind the wheel.

I've done the journey a few times also and love coming back, when you come through the tunnel you get a holiday feeling which is just great. I'm not the only one that get's this feeling either :)

I've heard along the grapevine that Karori can be very foggy at times and also quite damp. It's also quite sprawling and a bit awkward to get to from CBD, my opinion though some else may have something different to say about it.

[G&K]

This is a VERY useful site for looking at properties

http://www.wellington.govt.nz/services/rates/search/search.html

(...and seeing what your neighbours garden looks like !)

[miep]

Miep – is the Eastbourne ferry very busy during the rush hour – can you always easily get on it and how much does it cost? Are there times when it cannot run due to bad weather?

QUOTE]

Yes the ferry does get busy sometimes, expecially monday morning and in the afternoons on sunny days. On those days they tend to let the regulars on first though so it doesn't happen often that you have to wait for the next one.

If the weather is really blowing a gale they put on minibuses instead so you basically always get to work or home unless the road is closed too. In the last year that happened once but we saw it coming so had a plan b. The road usually opens again at low tide so it's never closed for long.

A ten trip costs $60 and a monthly $190 so not cheap but a comfortable and reliable way to travel and a great excuse to leave a meeting! It's amazing how accepted it is to say you have to leave now cause otherwise you'll miss the ferry!:D

[Avalon]

A ten trip costs $60 and a monthly $190 so not cheap but a comfortable and reliable way to travel and a great excuse to leave a meeting! It's amazing how accepted it is to say you have to leave now cause otherwise you'll miss the ferry!:D

Hubby finds the same with the trains. He has to leave work at 4.15 to get the train back, and no-one bats an eyelid :)

This is definately to my mind one of the great positives of life here. Ive noticed thats its not like that for everyone - but for the most part - you really are not expected to tie your life in knots for "the company". :)