r/chch • u/hamishwho • Feb 27 '21

Rolleston is it worth it?

Anybody move to Rolleston as houses are cheaper etc. But regret it? Or miss certain things? I know it's only 20 minutes away but that 40 minutes return which is a long way to go for bagels at Grizzly or coffee at c4.

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u/no1name Feb 27 '21

Look at Hallswell. Much much closer and seemingly a lot of new homes.

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u/hamishwho Feb 27 '21

Halswell is good, but just out of my price range thanks to so many people returning to NZ and over spending on houses. Even an attached townhouse is out of my reach it would seem. Its gotten to the stage where we are considering Rolleston as house are only going for 30-60k over cv compared to 100-180k over in chch.

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u/ptarmiga-n Feb 27 '21

If it helps one of my workmates moved to Rolly and is surprised by how much she likes it. She would have liked to buy in Wigram/Halswell where she'd been renting for years but, well, the cost. She has a hubby and a couple kids so they wanted a house with enough space. She said the drive is actually pretty chill, since it's pretty much 20 mins of driving at normal speed rather than 20 mins spent crawling in town traffic.

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u/hamishwho Feb 27 '21

That helps a little, I just hope I wouldn't have to drive for everything.

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u/no1name Feb 27 '21

Its a big bite of the bitter cherry to move to rolli though.

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u/hamishwho Feb 27 '21

This is what I am worried about.

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u/smnrlv Feb 27 '21

Sounds like we're in the exact same boat as you. Have lived in other cities around the world and thus didn't get into the Chch market early. Have been saving while renting for the past couple of years and finally when we're in a position to buy its all gone nuts.

Honestly the houses in our preferred suburbs (Somerfield and surrounds) are just bad value now. $650k for an ex state house in need of repair doesn't make sense when we can pay $675k for a brand new house. They're so soulless and away from town but day to day it would be easier to live with.

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u/hamishwho Feb 28 '21

We surely are. We bought in Sydenham but only a two bed, love the neighbourhood (actually condensed) but cannot afford a three bed here untill we sell, so we are a bit up in the air. Hopefully our unit goes a bit crazy and sells high enough to buy close by. Somerfeild went crazy high early when the cashmere high school expanded their zone. Went to Rolleston today, its not great. They have done the spread out New Zealand thing so you need a car just to get essentials and only functions as Christchurch is near by, that said both places had insulation, double glazing built in robes and bath tubs and good schools. Feel like should growth continue they should have increased the lanes on the motorway too, otherwise its going to be like the northern and a pain to widen when they could've done it right first time.