[Blakie]

Is anybody out there going to be moving to Nelson soon? We are due to get there about mid November and we have just had news that the house we are moving to, the current tenants are leaving early Sept. We had hoped they would stay on until nearer the time that we arrived back.

So its quite a bit of rental for us to cover for a vacant house. Is there anybody interested in a short-term weekly stay basis under a contract to be out by Sat 4th Nov. Rent negotiable. Oh sorry its unfurnished except for a dishwasher and cooker. I am looking into whether its possible to hire household furniture in Nelson.

The house is a period cottage recently renovated situated on Main Road, Stoke, is a 3 bed, 1 bathroom, 2 large reception rooms, garden and carport.

[D&L+dog]

Hi Blakie
We're flying out 3 weeks today ( :clap ) and spending a bit of time catching up with my family in Auckland and Tauranga and then will be in Nelson by end of September. We have some friends to stay with but were thinking of renting for 6 months before buying to see what the housing market does. Only problem we think we may encounter is that we are taking our labrador with us so may have to wait till we get there to see about getting a rental with a dog.
Regards
Lynne & David

[Blakie]

Hi Lynne & David

Thanks for your reply. Good luck for your trip in 3 weeks time. If you change your mind about staying with friends the place is available until 4th Nov. Any chance of your friends helping out with loan of basic furniture? The dog staying wouldn't be a problem as the last tenants had a dog. Is your dog arriving out at the same time as you?

The house belongs to my mother and a cousin and we will be moving in with a view to buying it next year.

In the long terms I think you should be able to find a rental that accepts dogs easily enough, after all we stipulated that well-behaved pets were acceptable at Stoke. We are dog owners ourselves so we understand your concerns. As long as he's not a chewer, pooher or a scratcher of doors.

If you are possibly interested in taking the place for a very short stay when you first get there then let me know and I will put you in touch with the chap who manages the property.

Otherwise try this rental website (possibly doing ourselves out of an opportunity here) www.quinovic.co.nz

Good luck and as we're going to the same town, if you would like to feel free to stay in touch.

Kind regards

Anne Blake

[Vanessa]

Hi, Lynne, David and Anne,
We've been in Nelson for two weeks and it's fantastic! Incredibly sunny - today is the first day of rain we've had! We had a lot of trouble finding a good rental, so much so that we have bought a house instead! Some of the locals told us it's very hard to find a good rental in Nelson. We were looking at $400 - $500 a week(!!!), there was only one house we liked and there were four couples fighting over it! And that was for $500 a week.
We also found that most places are ok with cats but not dogs. You can also rent all types of furniture and electrical stuff here, though I don't know the cost of these things, as we're styaing in a fully furnished holiday let until we can move into our new house.
If you have any questions about the area, I will try my best to find the answers!
Best wishes, Vanessa

[Blakie]

Hi Vanessa

Congrats on your new purchase. What part of Nelson did you opt for?

The house that we are moving to is in Stoke and originally belonged to my great-grandmother. It will be 100 yrs old in a couple of years - not old by UK standards but certainly by NZ. We will be renting to start with and then buying it (we hope). The rental on the property is nowhere near what you have been looking at but then we don't know what you were after.

Have just heard today that the property mgr has found short term tenants - so that is brilliant news for us as we won't be paying rent on an empty house.

I am a Kiwi returning after 28 yrs away, longer than I ever lived there - back for holidays and to get married. OH is from near Oxford. We have been living (struggling) in France for 4 yrs and can't wait to get to NZ. I'm sure after life in France we won't notice the high cost of living we have been reading about on this forum (for a few years at least).

Maybe DL+dog, you and your OH and us Blakes can all meet up later this year just before Xmas? I'm from Wellington originally and don't know many folk in Nelson, although we first thing we intend to do is join the golf club, so I'm sure we'll meet people before too long.

All the best settling in and save some sunshine for us!

Blakie

[coyotewildwomen]

Hello, Nelson Expats:

We are also coming over in November- must be something in the water and are seeking a home to rent for about 6 months. We don't have any pets so hopefully we won't have such a difficult time. We are waiting to hear back from Quinovoc right now. Anyone else in town who is good?

We would also love to get together some of the people on the forum who are going to be new to the area. Anyone out there enjoy a nice glass of Sauv Blanc? Let's try to connect if you have an interest in making some new friends.

Wendy

[bevsere]

I'm into Reisling. Will that do ?

[markynz]

Hey all - great to see this thread.

We've been here for about 3 weeks now - what a co-incidence with all you guys coming out here at a similar time.
I'm all for an Ex-pats meeting so add us in ( Mark and Heather ). We've heard of a regular British expats meeting round here, some of the locals have told us, but I'm yet to find out where or when it is.

For those not already here - Nelson is a very nice place to be. Sun most days ( though wear sunscreen due to the higher UV levels ), some great places to visit and friendly people. Every kiwi I have spoken too here loves it ( unlike speaking to anyone in England - who mostly hate it ).

As for rentals - well we were very, very lucky in finding a nice end of cul de sac place with a large section for under $300 a week ( yes, I'm still wondering why ). Paul at Haven property management was very helpful, so I'd recommend them, and he's an expat too ! Contact me for his details.

I remember when we viewed the place though - there were around 8 or 9 other couples viewing along with us ! We thought we'd got no chance but because we have no dog and looked a settled family, they prefered us.

The only other options were fleapits or ' executive ' style houses over $500 a week. Quinovic found us one on a massive section ( it had a ride on lawnmower ), which would have been nice, but the work on the acre sized grounds and the extra rental put us off.

Nelson is growing quite a bit, theres a lot of new sections going up and you can see the building going on in the hills from our back window. There are also a good selection of shops in Nelson, stoke and richmond - enough for anyone unless you want top designer shops I would have said.

So - anyone wanting to get a meet together, let us know - the smugglers in tahunanui would be a good place :cheers

Mark and Heather.

[maja]

Hello to all you current and future Nelsonites:

We are planning to arrive to Nelson in early January. There are seven of us: John, Agnieszka and the young crowd (ages 10-19). We are currently living in the US - Washington DC metro area. John is American, Agnieszka is Polish, our kids will be Kiwis, before we even notice... :)
Trying to find a rental in Nelson has not been fun, especially given our numbers and the height-of-vacation-season timing, but some friends came through with a furnished rental where we hope to stay until we buy. Speaking of houses, has any of you considered building? We'd be very interested in your thoughts on the matter. The price of sections seems rather high when compared to prices of finished houses (even new), but I am probably not seeing the full picture. Please count us in for the Reisling/Sauv Blanc occasions starting in 2007!

[markynz]

Hello to all you current and future Nelsonites:

We are planning to arrive to Nelson in early January. There are seven of us: John, Agnieszka and the young crowd (ages 10-19). We are currently living in the US - Washington DC metro area. John is American, Agnieszka is Polish, our kids will be Kiwis, before we even notice... :)
Trying to find a rental in Nelson has not been fun, especially given our numbers and the height-of-vacation-season timing, but some friends came through with a furnished rental where we hope to stay until we buy. Speaking of houses, has any of you considered building? We'd be very interested in your thoughts on the matter. The price of sections seems rather high when compared to prices of finished houses (even new), but I am probably not seeing the full picture. Please count us in for the Reisling/Sauv Blanc occasions starting in 2007!


Hi there, good to see more coming to Nelson !

Yes indeed, building is a thought. I did some work for an architect a week or so ago and asked him about prices to build from scratch. To give you some idea, a basic 3 bedroom house could be built for around $150,000, so after that you would just need the cost of the section and any legals etc. I've been looking at section costs which vary quite a lot. Saw a few up in Atawhai, which is just outside Nelson from $85,000 for a 850m2 section, though not sure what the ground is like, then there have been others in popular areas for over $150,000. Huge rural plots can go for $200,000 or more.
Just some pointers there, hope it helps,
cheers

Mark

[markynz]

Any other Nelsonites out there ? Good to meet up with vanessa and joe the other day. Maybe we could get some more of us and have an expats meet ? :cheers

[Anji]

Hi, we have been in Nelson now for 2 months ex Manchester.We are off Nayland road in Stoke.We are up for an expats meet,anyone got kids? we have a 2yr and a 5yr old.

[DebbieC]

Hi
We will be in Blenheim come end of January 2007 and although not nelsonites! would love to meet up when we get there. I have a boy who will be 2 in January/.
Debbie

[markynz]

Good to see some interest ! We went to the ' suburban club ' last night for the first time for a quiz, having been invited along by our neighbour. Would you believe it, more british expats were there ! The crazy thing was they used to live just 10 miles away from us last year. Just goes to show how many brits are out here at the minute. Makes you wonder if any are left back in England !
Anyhow, PM me if anyone would like to meet up, theres some good cafes round here !

[Babette & Andy]

Nelson - beautiful place to live, I'm sure you all agree! My parents, brother (18) and youngest sister (21) have been living there since Sep'03. We're up in Auckland (since March) and get down to Nelson once in a while. Am bringing the girls (7 & 3) down for a few days with the family next week (Mon-Thu).

Have no idea at the moment what we're going to be up to but unlikely to have lots of spare time - maybe meet up for a coffee somewhere? My parents live on Richmond road, walking distance the towncentre.

Also, back in Jan'05 another forum member Anita moved with her hubby and 2 young boys to Nelson (from the NW of England), I know that since then they were due their own little kiwi earlier this year but have lost touch a bit. Could look on the member list and see if she replies to a PM.

Anyway, may see some of you next week for a coffee.

Babette

[markynz]

heres a great link for all nelsonians



http://www.newcomers.co.nz/

cheers

mark

[coyotewildwomen]

Hello:

We are new to Nelson, and yes, we are Americans- not Brits (but hopefully not too obnoxious Americans).

We would love to get together with other new expats in the area.

We were thinking of perhaps something next week- the week of 13 November, flexible day and time at this point .

Maybe meeting for wine or beer in a local pub and then dinner if people are further inclined?

Let me know if you are interested in joining us, and what day might work best for you. My email is wsomers777@gmail.com.

Wendy

[Natalieb]

Hiya Mark

Hope you dont mind me asking but Ive noticed you live in Nelson. We are hoping to move there in May 2007, with a young family.

Are there any no-go areas, as Ive noticed the prices can difer considerably. Ive heard its quite a safe place and crime is low.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks Natalie