Buying a lifestyle block Q's

[ready4whatever]

on a more serious note. it might pay to check the boundaries (you'd be suprized how many people own less land than they think) , get a plan from the council or a registered surveyor and check if all services (power, water, telecom etc) are covered with an appropriate easement if needed (if they come from neibouring land) ,otherwise they have the right to cut you off from these services

[Pixie]

You mean a Life Sentence Block don't you?

I have 1/2 acre over looking the Kaipara.
All of the pros no cons

[Espresso]

3 friends have all had lifestyle blocks, all have sold them (gave away) as the work load was incredible, the financial return minimal so they all had to work as well. Pity they sold, I liked visiting their places - then heading home.
Go in with eyes wide open, it is a full time lifestyle, i.e. no other life than the property. The best advice one mate gave was the property is awesome, if it was already finished, or they had enough money to pay others to do it all, or they had enough money so they didn't have to have a job as well. Most people unfortuantely are cash-strapped, stretch to buy the property, struggle with mortgage payments let alone further investment into the property.

Cured me by seeing what they went through and often it's far from an economic venture.

[Swoop]

The missus has a block north of Auckland.

"Lifestyle" is the instant word that pisses off the real farmers in an area. "Bloody townies" etc, etc...

[Naki Rat]

......Any advice you've got would be good.

http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/vforum/index.php
Plenty of advice available there, and they are positively tame compared to the 'entertainment' on KB

[TLMAN]

I'm toying with buying a 19acre block.

Are there any KB'ers out there that have done this?
What are the things to look out for, and does anyone know about who to get in to take a professional look at it to evaluate the land's potential problems??

Any advice you've got would be good.

Instead of building a house you could slap a viking ship on it

[jim.cox]

Most life-sentence blocks require a mortgage to fund them.

Usually that means working elsewhere.

Beware the costs of commuting, both personal and financial.

Petrol ain't getting any cheaper...

5 years ago I was happy to ditch my 76km a day commute as unsustainable - and I hate to think what it would cost now

[ManDownUnder]

I once heard someone say - takes nearly as much work to look after 10 animals as it does 1,000 - but the pay's a lot less.

[doc]

Just skimmed over the posts. Seems to be the usual KB negativity.
Obviously you are thinking outside their comfort zone or experience. If you are young and afford it , go for it its character building and will teach you to think outside the comfort zone . Best thing I ever did . Going thu marriage breakup is the only reason we are selling, been here 25 years, we are both reluctant to sell cos of the memories and efforts we put into it time on my side, money on her side. reason why I wished I had planted more spectacular type trees.Got to be better than townie smells and noises.

My only comment about the negative side . Is it does cost a bit more because of the petrol costs of taking the kids to sports etc and work etc. At least I knew where the kids were. Before the girls left home it was costing me 200 bucks a week for petrol.

Got nothing but postive memories about it tho.

If you want real advice about farming ask those who are doing it for real like "Kiwicowboy", faaark you want to see his little block. He could walk to the Brass Monkey

[Jantar]

3 friends have all had lifestyle blocks, all have sold them (gave away) as the work load was incredible, the financial return minimal so they all had to work as well. .....

Ah, yes. But is what seperates a lifestyle block from a farm. If it was fully funding and paying a livable wage then it would be a proper farm not a lifestyle block.

[martybabe]

I toyed with the idea of a lifestyle block until an estate agent showed me round one. He was a retired farmer and he gave this out and out townie chapter and verse on running one and the effort and expertise needed to run one just to break even financially.

A large number of Poms, used to living like packed in sardines, are very taken with the romantic idyll of running a bit of land of there own in godzone but sadly a huge percentage of them end up trying to sell their dream a year or so later.

As the advert says, she's a big job but you seem to be heading in the right direction mate.Specialisation may be the key as Bikerchick said. Do your homework then do it again and if you think you can make a go of it, you go for it kid and bloody good luck to ya.

[blossomsowner]

I had about 12 acres for a while. It does take a lot of time but I enjoyed most of the work.

I solved the stock maintenance issue by giving the sheep to the real farmer a stones throw up the road. He basically used my place as an extension of his in exchange for a carcase or two and an occasional loan of his digger or tractor.

I miss the place, if I was still there it'd be planted much like Jantar describes by now...

thats the best way if you want to have stock.........
otherwise something in the horticulture line can be done if the property is suitable. research and planning are key.

[Highlander]

I once heard someone say - takes nearly as much work to look after 10 animals as it does 1,000 - but the pay's a lot less.

I heard someone say a good way to make a small fortune is to take a large fortune and buy a farm.


For what my input is worth, we would both like to do the live in the country / life style block thing. The idea of a bit of dirt to run a couple of animals for the freezer and have a selection of trees etc really appeals. Spending all my time off doing the maintaining thing doesn't.
We decided that it was not practical until the kids have left home so we don't have to shuttle them back and forward all the time. At that point I still don't know if it will happen becuase I think we would be better off to stay where we are and poke the extra money into setting us up for retirement.