Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 21

Thread: Tauranga residents

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    348

    Default Tauranga residents

    Wife has a job offer in Tauranga cbd, we will have a budget of around $525,000, where should we be looking to buy?

    Welcome bay?
    papamoa?
    Bethlehem?
    Matua?

    We have 2 young kids who will need nursery care initially, then a good primary school, wife will need to get to cbd in decent time by car 1/2 hour max, would like to be 5 min drive from a decent beach, i will most likeley be able to work anywhere in tauranga as buying a gardening franchise.

    Want a 4 bed nice house, seen a couple of beauts in welcome bay and bethlehem but not sure how they are for travelling time to beach, cbd, schools etc, i know these actual houses will be gone by the time we get there but at least i have an idea.

    Any help greatly appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Rangiora, North Canterbury
    Posts
    898

    Default

    ... not a Tauranga resident, but can comment based on face value of what we saw whilst passing through the area in April. If you wish to be 5 mins. from a decent beach, then Mount Maunganui should appeal or a little further down the coast there's Omanu (nice golf club) or anywhere along the Papamoa beach front.

    Exciting times for you... best of luck with your search and enjoy

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    BoP
    Posts
    187

    Default Housing

    Matua is a great neighbourhood. May be biased there however. Bethlem is a bit further out but well within the driving distance to CBD. It is longer to get to the beach there. Papamoa has some really nice houses and the beach there is not as built up as it is at the Mount. Having said that you are further from the CBD and fighting the traffic over the bridge can be a bit of a hassle. Welcome Bay. coming in with that amount you should have no problems snatching something up anywhere.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    348

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mgf View Post
    Matua is a great neighbourhood. May be biased there however. Bethlem is a bit further out but well within the driving distance to CBD. It is longer to get to the beach there. Papamoa has some really nice houses and the beach there is not as built up as it is at the Mount. Having said that you are further from the CBD and fighting the traffic over the bridge can be a bit of a hassle. Welcome Bay. coming in with that amount you should have no problems snatching something up anywhere.
    Sorry, what were you saying traffic from welcome bay is a problem?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    USA=>Welly=>BoP=>USA
    Posts
    368

    Default

    It can be about a half hour drive from Papamoa to Tauranga CBD if you hit the peak traffic in the morning. That's caused by a two lane bridge which is currently improved to 4 lanes (I think 4, maybe wider). The main road narrows from 6 lanes to two right now, but it shouldn't be much of an issue for long.

    There are lots of houses within 5 minutes of the beach at Papamoa within your budget.

    There are beautiful places for sale all over the area. I don't have persoal experience with the commute times from the other areas.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Tauranga from W. Sussex
    Posts
    1,089

    Default

    We are renting in Welcome Bay and theare are some great houses around here for that price but there is apparently a traffic problem in rush hour (we don't work so don't have to experience it). They are now talking about putting traffic lights at the roundabout coming out of the area and that may improve things - but at the moment it's a value for money area!

    When we buy we hope to buy in Bethlehem though as we love that area and it has more local facilities.

    If the beach is the most important thing I would definitely go for Papmoa though.

    Bx

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    348

    Default

    Its pretty frustrating looking from here knowing we are months away yet and they wont be available when we arrive, saw 2 great houses, one in bethlehem and one in welcome bay.

    Am i right in thinking welcome bay is more rural and bethlehem more up market?

    Does welcome bay have a decent beach?

    Bit put off by papamoa as it looks like one big estate of identical houses.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Rangiora, North Canterbury
    Posts
    898

    Default

    ... have you tried using 'Google Earth' for viewing close-ups of areas? We find it very useful

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Tauranga from W. Sussex
    Posts
    1,089

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by walshy View Post
    Its pretty frustrating looking from here knowing we are months away yet and they wont be available when we arrive, saw 2 great houses, one in bethlehem and one in welcome bay.

    Am i right in thinking welcome bay is more rural and bethlehem more up market?

    Does welcome bay have a decent beach?

    Bit put off by papamoa as it looks like one big estate of identical houses.
    I wouldn't say Welcome Bay was a lot more rural than Bethlehem as they both have loads of green spaces. My perception is that Bethlehem is slightly more up market but both areas have expensive, reasonable and fairly cheap houses so both are accessible. WB is extremely hilly and despite its name doesn't actually have a beach - I think the nearest is Papamoa, but wherever you live the sea is not really that far from you!

    Papamoa is very flat and is quite new so at the moment doesn't have as much in the way of greenery - but there are loads of different types of houses there. Some of the sections are quite small, but that is the case anywhere.

    Houses are really not selling well here at the moment (as in the UK) so your houses may well still be on the market. Our neighbours have just withdrawn their house from the market after a year and 2 price reductions - and I think that is fairly common.

    Bx

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Tauranga (ex Manchester, UK)
    Posts
    112

    Default

    Hi,
    We're currently renting in Welcome Bay but are moving to Papamoa in a couple of weeks. The traffic from Welcome Bay into town can be a problem - but it's all relative!! The locals always comment on the bad traffic when I say I live in Welcome Bay, but as it used to take me 1 hour to drive 6 miles to work in Manchester I don't think it's that bad! In the morning I leave the house about 7.25 and am at my desk in the CBD by 7:50. That includes a 10 min stroll from 4th Ave to Elizabeth Street (so that I don't have to pay for parking!! Could probably walk it quicker but I've only got short legs!!!) Traffic seems to be slightly worse coming home around 5pm-ish, and sometimes I'll be queueing for a while to get on the roundabout. But it doesn't bother me too much. Apparently, work is soon to commence on a traffic light control system for the Welcome Bay roundabout in the hopes of easing the congestion. (oh and it takes us 15-20 mins to get to the beach from here)

    The reason we are moving to Papamoa is to be nearer the beach. We're going to be renting in Papamoa east, which is a bit out in the sticks but am hoping it'll take 40 mins max to get into work. On a friday night at 8pm it took me 25 mins to get from papamoa east to elizabeth street, of course there was hardly any traffic on the road at that time. If you lived the other side of Papamoa it should be 30 mins max into town. We also looked at renting in Matua and really like the area but house prices reflect the fact it's a good area and being so close to the beach swung it for Papamoa. Our new house is a 5 min walk from the beach Can't really comment on Bethlehem I'm afraid.

    If I can help with any other questions let me know

    Clare

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •