Thinking about a lifestyle change

Hi All,

My names Andy. Currently living in South Auckland with my Wife and Daughter who starts school in July.

We are seriously considering a move to the Waikato with the intention of buying land and building. Land wise we are thinking 0.5 to 1ha.
I can transfer my job to the Hamilton office, however will need to travel back to Auckland once or twice a fortnight for work.

We still have a reasonable mortgage on our house in Auckland so we can only purchase land once we have sold.

I have always wanted to build a new house and have a lifestyle block and that is the intention but the numbers are starting to look hard to achieve. Contrary to belief unfortunately not every house in Auckland is a million dollar property

I think we will have to work a way to live on the property when we build as I cant see a way to afford to rent and also service a mortgage for the draw down for progress payments. There seems to be lots of options here so interested to understand what worked and how long people had to live like this?

Thanks for all the information on the site, I am slowly working through the forum on understanding the whole process from purchase to completion of a new house build.

Look forward to chatting and learning more about what is required to reach our dream.

Cheers
Andy

Wow Andy, a lifestyle change for sure - but be reassured many on here have done exactly what you are hoping to do!
You are doing the right thing by asking for guidance, as so many people just blunder on and come to grief.
The first thing to do is to go to your local council planning department and make friends. Ask the what you are allowed to do whilst you build. Talk to your bank and to your insurance company. Once you have done all this you can start looking for land.
You will find lots of posts on here about building, use the search function and read through them then build a list of things you must consider when looking at land.
For me, flat land close to a road makes sense, with water, power and internet at the gate.
Good luck.....

We have recently sold up and bought some land and are in the process of having a house built. We are living with the inlaws while we wait. It is a long process and not much goes to plan. Have a contingency fund. Will be worth it in the end.

Stevelono, that sounds quite normal! Expect to have problems with in laws and builders....If you are good at baking cakes get the builders hooked on your baking, as the hardest thing with builders is keeping them on the job, especially if it is a fixed price contract.
Can you borrow a caravan so you can live on site at weekends so you can get a feel for the place? Have you planned your shelterbelts and orchard areas? What about your vege patch, are you dumping trailer loads of manure onto it to rot down?
So much to think about but that's part of the fun!