Browns Bay area

[Probyn]

Hi there

Can anyone give me the pro,s and con,s on the Browns bay area,or there abouts.

School,s, shops,house prices... 3/4 bedroom house,no sea view,bit of a garden.

Any estate agent they would recommend,or to avoid

Many thanks

[speckythecky]

All the agents seem to be good so far. Went to see somewhere on Saturday only to be told how bad the house was, and how it was over priced. you would never get that in the UK.

There a good primary and intermediate schools in Browns Bay and browns bay is either in the Rangitoto College zone or Long Bay zone. All the agents push houses in the rangi zone but having spoken to some teachers they feel that the Rangi has gone past its best as is living on past glory, while Long Bay is up and coming. Whether that is true or not I can't say, I haven't been here long enough or visited either.

Houses are not cheap, quite packed in and a lot have subdivided their plots, so finding a good house with land for a reasonable price is not easy, but we are still looking.

[Probyn]

I thought Browns Bay and around there would be cheaper than say Milford,
Glenfield,Westlake areas as its futher out.
Is that not the case,or is it considered just a better area(for what ever reasons).
Comming for a look around in Dec,but any advise about which area,s you would recommend,as it sounds like you have already some good knowledge .
The Northshore just sounds nice to me,had hoped the further out it would get cheaper,than say Takapuna or DevonPort,which Iam sure are very nice and so expensive!!

Thanks again

[mgbridges]

Hi Probyn,

Trying looking at this thread for info about The North Shore http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14473

We've recently moved into our own place in Browns Bay (3/4 wks ago) so don't have a huge amount of local knowledge yet. Our son also goes to Catholic school so we didn't have to worry too much about which state schools were in catchment. However I think all of the Primary schools in the area are Decile 10 and have good reputations. Fairly certain Browns Bay is zoned for Rangitoto College and from what I gather preferences between Rangi and/or Westlake Boys/Girls schools swing back and forth over the years.

The only thing I would comment on is that prior to house hunting a colleague of my OH told him that Browns Bay was full of Poms and I have to say I agree, it does seem quite heavily populated with immigrants - from UK and South Africa in particular. Still you can find folks from pretty much everywhere if you look hard enough, e.g. our little close has Russians, Kiwis, Asians, French and British people living in it.

There are some of my personal recommendations for estate agents in the thread detailed above.

All the best with your recce,
Anneliese

[Tia Maria]

Anneliese - have you seen who started that thread!

Cheers

Tia

[Probyn]

Ok thanks,no way Iam going to live near poms! only kidding Iam one!!

How is public transport into the city from there? any good supermarkets etc

Really looking forward to checking it all out,but a bit daunting !!! same nerves that i read about in this forum !!
Too bad how the joy of the visa is so soon replaced with anxiety and fear!!

Checked out the thread... I know this guy.. he,s a real clown..

Thanks

[mgbridges]

Tia - D'oh!
Probyn - oops!

Public Transport - my OH has a 5 min walk to East Coast Road from where he catches an express bus into Queens St. Door to door his journey takes approx. 45mins. This time should/might improve when the express bus lanes along the motorway open in Feb 2008.

Supermarkets - in Browns Bay itself there is a Foodtown, New World and Woolworths. Also in BB are Janssens (butcher), Bramptons (UK imported food shop), a French patisserie and South African shop to name a few. However, Albany isn't that far away where there is a Pak 'n Sav which is nextdoor to the new Albany Mega Centre (think big shopping mall). You'll find most of what you want isn't too far away as long as you have a car. I'm sure it could probably be done on the bus but having a car will make life a LOT easier.

Hope that helps, any more specific questions feel free to ask and I'll see what I can find out.

Anneliese

[Probyn]

Thanks for the info.. so its not out in the bush then !! haha sounding better all the time!

Do you think there is a 8 bedroom ocean view house,with pool,and free Bentley for $700,000 around there!!

[speckythecky]

Do you think there is a 8 bedroom ocean view house,with pool,and free Bentley for $700,000 around there!!

Sorry I have just put my bid on that one.

Seen a 4 bed without view and bentley, but with the pool for mid 500K.

Seen a wonderful example of what you can do if you have the money for 700k but only 4 beds, no garden, no pool but has double garage and all the extras you would want.

[Probyn]

I would be willing to go for 5 bedrooms and a secondhand jag,and carp pond!

So you think around $700,000 to $750,000 there are some nice places,but they wouldnt have any garden?

I hear about this leaky house thing,any idea what that it?

Appreciate your time.. thanks.. and good luck too! I,ll be in the same boat soon! ekkk!