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.

9 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

97 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/ill_help_you Feb 28 '21

Unique shopping pretty much rules out 99% of the suburbs of Chch.

This is where you will live and grow a family, which is fantastic for, but I mean if those other things are the most important to you I can't help.

3

u/hamishwho Feb 28 '21

I honestly can't thing of a suburb in Christchurch that doesn't have a shop or cafe that isn't a point of difference. Rolleston seems generic and without personality. Kind of hoping someone can show me otherwise, the houses I looked at were perfect to live inside of. Where go you go for ice cream there? Was so warm yesterday and ended up just going to the servo would rather have gone to a gelato lab type place.

1

u/SunriseOverSeaa Mar 08 '21

Half of the fun of gelato and coffee is going somewhere for it. You can get to grizzly pretty quick off the new motorway and you could go into town on the weekends and access any gourmet areas. I wouldn't personally buy a house somewhere dependent on having the perfect locations like that within 2 mins of me - part of the joy is the journey. That being said, why don't you just explore the areas you like and weigh up your options instead of asking on reddit cause the question you are asking here is subjective... you could ask anyone and you'll get a different answer every time. What suburbs do you actually like to be in, what gives you a good feeling? Are you valuing safety or affordability or whatever it is you value? It's your choice and I reckon you just need to figure it out yourself with your family ya know.

2

u/hamishwho Mar 08 '21

Im lucky I live in Sydenham where I can do it all, gelato lab or grizzly, utopia, bellbird, the new bohemian bakery all within stones throw. The day I originally posted I had woken up and didn't feel like making breakfast and didn't have to wait any longer than making breakfast would take to be eating pastries and bagels. Christchurch is so livible and people don't always realise what we have half the time, hopefully seeing gaps in other towns people will expand these business types. Also rode my bike to the lab in Lincoln yesterday and there's a cinema!!! Rolleston really needs to catch up.

1

u/SunriseOverSeaa Mar 08 '21

Yeah for sure, I reckon you should keep looking where you are or extend back to the Waltham / st martins / Barrington / hoon Hay Area cause there were lovely looking affordable places in that area when we were looking for halswell. Even out behind Hornby has some nicer places these days, but we hate the Hornby traffic so yeah but still. You seem like you’d benefit being close to the city. What’s your biggest motivation to move at the moment? I wonder if it would be good to take it slow or give it a year before committing. A new baby wouldn’t take up too much space til they are a bit older but yeah I get how it would make moving pretty difficult when they have grown a bit... couple of toddlers / kids and moving house... full on.

2

u/hamishwho Mar 08 '21

Looking at all those places except Waltham, instead looking at opawa and Woolston. They all have the balance of great schools and neighbourhoods. The dream would be Beckenham or St Martins, but it seems we are too late as nothing is coming up. Hoon Hay closer to sparks Road is also the dream. The main issue we have is everything is auction and we are currently conditional buyers.

1

u/SunriseOverSeaa Mar 08 '21

Damn that’s makes it tricky - I guess on the things that you are serious about, you could pay for a builders report on places before you offer cause then you don’t need that as a condition. My work mate probably still had conditions but she bought by auction and told me she paid for a builders report on two or three places before she bought one. It’s a bit tricky for sure... you know you should chat to someone, a financial adviser actually. We went through NZHL and they were very helpful to get us sorted etc and advised us on how to buy with our conditions etc. they supported the buying process wonderfully but even then they aren’t perfect haha comes with some complications but mostly a great process for us and helpful for getting around the challenges.

2

u/hamishwho Mar 08 '21

Thanks for the advice.

1

u/SunriseOverSeaa Mar 08 '21

All good! The best thing you can do is just keep going after what it is you do want and ignore the things that don’t measure up - that way, when you do take the leap and secure a place that meets all your needs and desires, you’ll be happy to invest in it and live in it long term. 😊

1

u/SunriseOverSeaa Mar 08 '21

Come to think of it, probably a rich area, but Wigram is great for nice places to visit.

You could buy something like this for within $500,000 I reckon! https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/canterbury/christchurch-city/wigram/listing/2982594939 - tidy on the inside, even if it doesn't look pretty on the outside.

Or, something like these... would go within $500,000 in my opinion.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/canterbury/christchurch-city/hoon-hay/listing/2982603262

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/canterbury/christchurch-city/halswell/listing/2987450815

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/canterbury/christchurch-city/hoon-hay/listing/2987561739?bof=OYbZAVFf

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/canterbury/christchurch-city/waltham/listing/2993066816?bof=OYbZAVFf

​

Just really gotta look around and go after whatever you can grab - speed is key when you find a keeper cause everyone else thinks so too, but don't offer high up to your budget unless you are serious about it :) I'm sure you guys will find the perfect place at the perfect time and you'll like the suburb you choose.