East London to Christchurch Newbies

Hi All,

Just a quick hello in the newbies forum from new members currently living in East London looking to make the move to Chch.
We got back from NZ after a long holiday and have decided to move there around 2013.
We are in the process of buying some bare land as close as Christchurch on the beach side we can get!
My partner is a big horse lover so we haveto have at least 4 hectares.If anyone knows anyone selling some land like that in Chch please let us know!

Thanks!

I would have thought there could be quite a bit of land on the beach side of Christchurch people would like to be rid of under recent circumstances! []

Welcome to the forum.

Ruth;357354 wrote: I would have thought there could be quite a bit of land on the beach side of Christchurch people would like to be rid of under recent circumstances! []

Welcome to the forum.

Fingers crossed eh Ruth,if you don't ask you don't get!

Welcome along, will you be Hammering in some stakes when you get here ?

Welcome! As Ruth mentioned, there's probably quite a bit of land that people will be wanting to offload, but with the issue of liquefaction now VERY well known to more people than ever wanted to know about it, I would be very VERY careful about buying land close to the sea. The numbers of people who have been made homeless by the earthquake is really heartbreaking, and the lack of answers or info is even worse. Just buyer beware, bigtime. Give me the stony plains anytime after that one!

You won't get that amount of space in the city beachside suburbs, like Brighton or Sumner. I suppose there are some 10-acre sections in the Spencerville and Brooklands area, however they are close enough to the city to be on the expensive side. The Bank's peninsula is a possibility, but hilly. Going north of the city, there are a few 10 acre sections along the road to Woodend beach, and further north than that, places like Waikuku and Amberley. Further north again you are at Leithfield beach. If you use those names to search Trade Me property for lifestyle blocks, you should get some idea of what's available.

If you want some honest feedback on the different areas before you buy, just ask as there are lots of forum members in the greater ChCh area. For example, if swimming in the sea is a drawcard for you, there are beaches here that are so dangerous you'd never swim in them (because of rips), and that's perhaps something the seller or agent wouldn't mention but locals will know.

Hi All,
Thanks for the various info.We have relatives in New Brighton area but as you say it's not really the place to buy with land available.Waimari Beach seemed like a nice spot but again there isn't any land for sale there.We can't find anything more then about 1 acre in the Spencerville / Brooklands area.That would probably be our ideal location as beach access is doable from around Lower Styx.At present we are looking at Woodend Beach as there is land available but it they have blackcurrants vines growing on them.We would want to have them removed.Were also very wary of the whole GST issue as were not interested in buying a business due to wanting a lifestyle property only
I have heard about the liquefaction but really don't know anything about it.We would want to have a geotech report done on the land before we buy so hopefully that would show up?Not sure really.
Anyway thanks again!

Andrea_Damian

I suggest that you get onto some of the Land Agents web sites.

www.WRIGHTSON.co.nz

is one but they are all over the place.

WWW.trademe.co.nz

has a real estate section as well, frequented by lots of private sellers as well as agents. Use their sort and filter facilities to narrow down the "field".

Welcome to LSB

Just a quick question...Why Christchurch? Any particular reason? Have you considered other parts of NZ?

I wanted to ask why Aotearoa, but presumed it was because of the relatives who've already made the move?

Take your time looking, many people are staying put while they wait to hear what will happen with their EQC claims. Our friends live in Brooklands and their house is one of the very few that isn't classified as 'C' - ie much of Brooklands will need land remediation before people can re-build, and that remediation will likely take two years. You might find that later this year, some of the larger sections become available.

Hi All,reason for the move is Andrea is a kiwi from Chch and most of her family is still there.
She thinks our son(8 months at the moment) will have a better childhood in NZ so we are looking to make the move around the time he will start little school.
I am not a kiwi.
It's very interesting that you think a lot of land may become available when claims are being settled by the insurance companies.I wonder when that may be as Andrea is very keen to get hold of some land.A few years ago a developer managed to buy land in Lower Styx she was hoping to buy part of and he has recently subdivided it into smaller plots.
I'll have a look at those land agency sites.Know all about trade me from our last trip!Great site

I don't know that any of us meant land you'd really want to buy! Or land you'd feel particularly secure living on.

Hi EEoL

It's just an educated guess, I could be entirely wrong. All I know is that many people with large claims (like our friends) are still waiting for a decision from their insurance company before they can start building or sell up. Some of those people will be keen to move away from the areas that experienced serious liquifaction, like the Brooklands and Spencerville areas. Others love the area and community so much they would never leave. The other thing is that people are being told not to fix anything yet because we are likely to have aftershocks for some time yet - probably the rest of the year.

Man, that place is a mess at the moment, though they have been working hard to fix it. A 30km speed limit along the populated parts of Lower Styx Road and huge bumps - like sleeping policemen - as you drive along. The earthquake created lots of 'sand volcanos', the manhole covers in the middle of the road were lifted up onto sand columns - some about a metre high. Very scary for our friend driving to our place, worried about a tsunami, at 4.40am because there was no information on where the epicentre was at that point. He was dodging metre-high manhole covers through a frosty windscreen in the pitch dark (no power, no street lights). And the small bridge was out, so cars had to drive through a culvert to get out of Brooklands (going north).

Do you know the new subdivision off Lower Styx, the one where they extended the lagoon? Last year, houses started to be built on there and there were quite a few brand new houses. One family had just moved into their house on the day before the earthquake and their house is a write off. That subdivision was particularly hard hit because the land had been built up with top soil that hadn't settled. Apparently Pegasus Village fared much better because they did special land works to protect against earthquakes.

Something I remembered about Woodend (we tried to find a lifestyle block there before we bought this place four and a half years ago) is that they are looking at building a bypass. I think the favoured route at this point in time is slightly east of SH1 - the place we almost bought along Woodend Beach Road would have been within metres of one of the proposed routes. If you google Woodend bypass you should be able to find more details, perhaps on the Waimakariri Council website?

Ruth;357575 wrote: I don't know that any of us meant land you'd really want to buy! Or land you'd feel particularly secure living on.

Is there anywhere that is particularly secure? Wellington (earthquake central) or Auckland (the city of volcanos)? Mind you, I'd take our earthquake over floods like Brisbane had any day.