#housereno

So I haven’t done a detailed post about our new house and that journey. Finally have all the boxes unpacked and feeling like our home.

I can’t remember what prompted us to want to sell our house at one of the busiest times in our lives #weddingseason. I think it was a combination of restlessness at Cameron Road - we had done the amount of reno  that we wanted to - new carpets, curtain, bathroom and heat pump. Anything more and we’d probably just overcapitalize on a 2 bedroom townhouse. We wanted something bigger for sure and at the time the market was going nuts, people selling for big bucks in and around Te Puke/Tauranga area. So we chucked her up on Trademe, not really knowing how quickly she would sell.

So prior to securing this house, we had made two offers on other properties around the Bay of Plenty. All three houses we made an offer on were all SO different to each other but I think it was just Chris and I struggling to decide on what we wanted and what was important. 

House #1 - 400 No2 Road was a semi-rural property on the outskirts of Te Puke. We love the idea of being rural and it is definitely in the dream plan, but it’s probably not necessary right now. The house was old, needed a lot of work and it wasn’t as private as we would have liked (despite being rural there was 1 neighbor just beyond a high hedge). The property was good value for money though and bordered a forest with a little gully. We made an offer on this house, and unfortunately it went to tender so we had to put in our best offer. 5k short. So we missed out. 

House #2 - 204 Pukehina Parade was a glorious beach house on the main street in Pukehina. This was a cool idea, we loved the idea of living right by the beach and Pukehina has a lot of special memories for the both of us. Plus it’s not as busy as Papamoa and the house was just awesome. Bedroom & ensuite were glorious, a HUGE TV/entertaining room, downstairs room and toilet that could be used for renting out at peak season and huge garage. It also had a decent section out the back (for the pool), spa & an outdoor entertaining area. We had an offer accepted on this house, conditional on our house selling. Unfortunately, like a day before our house sale went through, the owners got another offer and accepted it, cancelling out ours. While at the time we were quite devastated - I guess it was a blessing in disguise. On reflection, it would have been a 2 hr commute for me to work everyday, further away from friends and a HUGE house for the only 2 of us. Plus the owners seemed like dicks. Which never makes it fun.

House #3 - The Winner!

By chance Chris found this property. We had agreed that we wanted a 3 bedroom place so had our Trademe settings suited for this. He happened to be browsing and found this beachfront beauty, but only a 2 bedroom. The awesome thing about this place is that it has a downstairs area/garage that could be converted into a bedroom too. The garage, lounge and dining area are bigger and better and the house has been done up in 2005 so we have all the perks. A new fridge, dishwasher and bathrooms. The best part though, we have sea views and are 100 metres from the ocean. We live a 5 minute walk from the shops and while it’s busy here and we didn’t want to live in town anymore, we agreed that if we were going to do it we would be right in it! The downside of this property is that it’s a duplex, so we share a firewall with a lady in an identical house connected to ours. That would be fine, accept she is a bit odd, but she hasn’t caused us any issues so far and was the only neighbor that came over and introduced herself so we’ll see. But we are stoked, it’s really such an awesome place to live. Close to work for both of us and a cool place to host friends and family. Such as Taco & Tv nights starting this week! 

Just as a side note for anyone currently house - hunting. We LOOKED at so many houses. Every one had its issues and big wins. While it all went through quickly, it’s a stressful and time-consuming business buying and selling so if you’re prone to getting stressed and overwhelmed my quick win for you is don’t get married at the same time!

I’ll add some inside photos below... take note of the gardens, ours is on the right.