Auckland Location Advice ?

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slyguy

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#24824 4-Aug-2008 06:29

Ok, people are going to start getting pi$$ed of we me asking for "advice" all the time... so apologies.. :)

but...

I'm landing in NZ on 18th Aug, with a Wife (originally from Dunedin) and a 2 year old son.
I've got a Job in Auckland CBD working in IT.

We haven't sorted anywhere out to live yet... and we're going to be renting initially... My sister in law has been looking at a few places for us, but as she's pretty new to the area (and living in Papatoetoe) she's not 100% on what areas are good etc...

We are going to buy a car, but given the prices of parking and traffic in to the CBD i'm probably not going to drive in.

So, essentially, we're looking for a 3+ bed house, pretty modern, in a nice area, with good public transport links., so any advice on that side of things would be great..

The other thing... we've mostly been using TradeMe to try and locate places, is that the best place to be looking...

Cheers in advance !

xpd

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#153925 4-Aug-2008 07:38

Area wise, Mt Eden is a good spot as its nice and close to the city but the rent/purchase pricing relects that.... Birkenhead is also another decent area (well, most of it) as its handy to the ferry service, so no need for the car if working in the CBD, just walk/bike/bus to the ferry and youre away.
Devonport is another choice with the ferry option, but again pricing goes up and if you do need to drive, its a sod getting from Devonport to Auckland CBD.

You say something modern, main newer modern areas are Albany on the Shore and Botany out east. Albany is do-able as it does have a good transport route into town via bus, but Botany is a sod to get into town from unless you leave early/late.

XPD / Gavin

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johnr

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#153934 4-Aug-2008 08:34

Ponsonby is also close and nice but not cheap

MackinNZ

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#153938 4-Aug-2008 08:56

If you are looking to rent a place off Trade Me you will find that every house you go to look at will have 300 other people doing the same thing. I recently went thru the same experience. I eventually found a great place in Ellerslie listed in the "For Rent" section of the Herald. I think we were one of the few to inquire, everyone else was on Trade Me

And for what it's worth, Ellerslie is a great suburb. Close to public transport and the motorway and not too far from the CBD

slyguy

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#154160 4-Aug-2008 23:44

Cheers for the advice there..

as a result, i've been and looked at the NZ Herald site,,, quite a few properties on there.. and lots that I haven't already seen on Trade Me..

In terms of Areas, i've got a couple of questions..

Albany... is it really practical to commute from that far out to CBD ? you do certainly get a lot more house for your money out there...

Remura / Newmarket / Mount Eden / Ellerslie / From what i can tell, these appear to be nice areas.. is that correct ???

Crap.. the pressure of all this is really starting to get to me ! :)

xpd

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#154193 5-Aug-2008 08:43

slyguy: Cheers for the advice there..

as a result, i've been and looked at the NZ Herald site,,, quite a few properties on there.. and lots that I haven't already seen on Trade Me..

In terms of Areas, i've got a couple of questions..

Albany... is it really practical to commute from that far out to CBD ? you do certainly get a lot more house for your money out there...

Remura / Newmarket / Mount Eden / Ellerslie / From what i can tell, these appear to be nice areas.. is that correct ???

Crap.. the pressure of all this is really starting to get to me ! :)

I know a few people who work in town and live in Albany - theyve been happy with the bus :) Only thing is, check pricing.... last time I looked at using the bus service to get to work (only 5k up the road) it was going to cost me almost the same as what it cost to run the car....

The other areas mentioned are all nice areas, with the price to match ;) All reasonably good access to town and bus routes etc.

Good luck :)

XPD / Gavin

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Byrned

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#154201 5-Aug-2008 09:21

slyguy: Cheers for the advice there..

as a result, i've been and looked at the NZ Herald site,,, quite a few properties on there.. and lots that I haven't already seen on Trade Me..

In terms of Areas, i've got a couple of questions..

Albany... is it really practical to commute from that far out to CBD ? you do certainly get a lot more house for your money out there...

Remura / Newmarket / Mount Eden / Ellerslie / From what i can tell, these appear to be nice areas.. is that correct ???

Crap.. the pressure of all this is really starting to get to me ! :)

I live in Browns Bay, just over from Albany and my partner catches the bus each day into the city. Typically her trip takes about 20-30 minutes which is a heck of a lot less than the hour+ you'd have to spend travelling from just about anywhere in Auckland to the CBD in a car.

So in answer to your question its very practical!

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Ragnor

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#154368 5-Aug-2008 16:23

Real Estate Agents often have listings of average rental prices by area per month which can be very helpful it working out whether the price it right, so to speak..

Here's an example:
http://www.crockers.co.nz/tp/download/137525/b3e83d7770141ba1e132a61dfeb858c3/1-June-08-Rental-Prices.pdf

JonC

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#154391 5-Aug-2008 17:15

You can also get rental price info from here:

http://www.dbh.govt.nz/market-rent

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#154641 6-Aug-2008 14:06

Look into Meadowbank. There's a rail station, loads of busses, only a 10-15 min drive into town (with no traffic jams) and never usually bad traffic jams either. Loads of good schools around, shopping, close to beaches, parks, etc too. Really good value pricing (similar to Ellerslie but cheaper than Remuera, Mt Eden, Ponsonby or alot of places on the north shore) Its safe, quiet and leafy. Good place to bring up kids.

Have a look

slyguy

47 posts

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#154778 6-Aug-2008 21:43

Cheers for all the advice folks..

Really appreciate it ! :)