Buying a Place in New Zealand                                                    January 19, 2002

I don't know how people manage it.  They're offered a new job in a new city.  It's a good offer, but it means selling the old house and buying a new one.   So they fly out for a week-end, meet a real estate agent, drive around, and come back owning a new home.  Just like that!

Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) we have more time to look, so we're able to indulge in the games of "Check out the market," "Learn about the neighborhoods," and most importantly, "Wait until the right one comes along." 

Still, it's hard work going out looking and coming to grips with which criteria are most important.  First there's "How much do we want to spend?"  Then it's location:  downtown Christchurch? in the Hills? near the beach? or close to our golf course?  What about townhouse versus apartment?  Can we manage a small yard or do we just want a few concrete tiles or a balcony? 

We've established one prime criterion: bathrooms; we're especially partial to modern ones.  Our Lafayette house (which we owned for 18 years) had one, but only one!  (The first thing the new owners did, even before they moved in, was add a second bath.)  To compensate for this deprivation, we've decided we now need two, preferably three bathrooms.  But the three-bath house is still rare in Kiwi Land.  Most things, including ideas, fashions, and movies, get here a little later than they do, say to the US West Coast; actually they get here a LOT later.  Clearly, the many-bath house is still just coming into its own.  I think it's easier to find a 4-bedroom one bath house, than a place with 3 bathrooms.  Nevertheless, some of the newer places do offer this particular amenity, and since we also like "new," that works.

After 6 weeks -- open houses, two realtors taking us around, scouring the newspaper adverts and realtor listings -- we've seen quite an assortment of places all over town.  It's amazing how many houses have weird layouts.  And how many seem not to have been tidied up before being put on the market; just a bit of loving attention could make some of them look much better.  Before we marketed our house in California, we slaved (and spent) to make it attractive and improve its curb appeal.  It looked great, so good that we even considered not selling it.

Interest rates in New Zealand, like elsewhere, are at their lowest in years, so it's starting to turn into a seller's market, though prices are still well below historical highs.  Inventory is down, and houses are turning over fast.  Needless to say, it's nothing like the SF Bay Area was in 1998, a truly unique time.  Then home buyers would write letters to sellers explaining why they'd be perfect for the house (family photo included).  A friend of mine made an offer that was "$10,000 above the highest offer" and still didn't get the house!  

So here we're trying to stay on top of things.  Since mid-December, we've been back for a second look at 4 houses, but, until this week, hadn't made a offer.  Then we found a cute little 3-story attached townhouse in the heart of Christchurch.  Three bedrooms, 2 baths and a toilet, a little yard out back and 3 parking spots.  The unit, one of eight, is on a surprisingly quiet street close to everything.  (Even the Casino is just a couple of blocks away.)  It hadn't been "listed" yet, but there was already another party interested.  After both making our "best" offer, ours was higher.  All week we waited for the sellers (called "vendors" here) to accept our offer.  As time dragged on, we knew the odds were decreasing.  As it turned out, the vendors were going through a rough time in their relationship.  "There was too much going on emotionally" for them to sell. 

So we're still homeless.  But with 2 months left in CHCH, that may yet change.  What we now know for certain is that we're ready to commit to living  in CHCH for the winter/summer, every year.  And for us, that's a BIG step.

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