House hunting in Auckland

Photo by RMO

With the impending relocation of my family to Auckland, we're in the process of doing the rounds of house hunting.  It is an exhausting and daunting process, where you have at from 5-12 families also viewing the same house!  Choosing your abode for at least a year or more involves careful planning, investigation, and in my case, a certain feel or vibe to the place.  The photos in this post is not the house that I'll mention later on in this post.

It's an advantage that my wife is an interior designer, so she gets to do most of the background research, shortlisting the ones within our radar and budget, for us to go and schedule a viewing time.  When we were living in a smaller city and we had to move, it was not as stressful as it is now.  Well, I guess the distance is a big factor because in a small city, everything is within arm's reach but here in the big city, it's no longer the case.

Technology has also helped us, most especially Google, because one agent didn't even tell us that a member of the family who lived in the house died (although in fairness, our research didn't say whether the death was in the house or in the hospital, just that in that address someone died a few months ago).  It's also important to ask friends or acquaintances who know the area for background information.  In the same house, I asked the agent about the history of health and safety, and she said it was all fine.  A friend did mention later on that a drug lord used to live a few houses down the road, but that he has been taken away by the police already.  Which gives me the idea that next time I do a house viewing, I'll definitely ask if the house has been tested for the presence of P.  And that's another story.