Update! (was - "California family - scouting NZ for a possible move to Nelson or Tauranga.")

[Juniper]

How's your trip going so far, StaciP? :-) We may be headed over for our official "look/see/decide" trip as soon as February. Although we already did one of those in 2007, this time we'll have the kiddos! Nelson is choice #1 for us as well but we may have to first settle wherever a job offer occurs.

[StaciP]

Hi,

Quick update: We just got our passports back from INZ and we our now NZ residents!!

We found a Montessori pre-school that we really liked in Nelson and pre-enrolled our eldest daughter.

We are back in California for a few months, but before we left we bought a place in Nelson, and are looking to permanently relocate to Nelson in September.

We are very excited.

Happy to answer any questions.

Staci

[JandM]

Congratulations.

[Civil Engineer]

Congratulations. As someone who lives in Nelson, I think you made a very good choice.

[richsadams]

Hi,

Quick update: We just got our passports back from INZ and we our now NZ residents!!

We found a Montessori pre-school that we really liked in Nelson and pre-enrolled our eldest daughter.

We are back in California for a few months, but before we left we bought a place in Nelson, and are looking to permanently relocate to Nelson in September.

We are very excited.

Happy to answer any questions.

Staci

Congratulations Staci! We have friends in the Motueka and Nelson areas and they love it there. And good plan...you'll be able to enjoy two springs and summers if you head back in September. Sweet!

Couple of quick questions...did you finance the purchase of your home locally? If so would you be so kind as to share which bank/mortgage company you used?

The first time my wife and I moved to NZ we were both working and although we had NZ bank accounts and credit cards, we bought our home in Tauranga using our U.S. investment portfolio line of credit. We're retired now and preparing to return to NZ (in or around Nelson as well). We'll probably rent for six months or so if we can find a place that'll allow us to have our two well-behaved dogs. Once we have the lay of the land we'll go ahead and buy a home again. So we were just wondering if there's a local bank that caters to us ex-pats.

TIA!

[StaciP]

hi Rich,

We did not use a local bank to finance. However, we worked with a Nelson solicitor who specializes in working with overseas investors, foreign home buyers, etc. He would probably have some leads:

https://duncancotterill.com/people/jeremy-barton

We did something similar. We stayed in various Airbnbs for a few months in different suburbs of Nelson to get a feel for the area and then started looking for property once we had a better idea as to where we wanted to live.

Nelson does seem like a perfect place to retire to!

Staci

[richsadams]

Thanks very much for the quick reply plus the contact info Staci! Much appreciated.

[Juniper]

Nice to hear that you are on the way! We are in Nelson right now, until at least early May. We intend to try out at least one more area (Taranaki) before deciding where to settle, but I love how much Nelson reminds me of our home town.

I would love to meet up with other forum members soon, if anyone's willing!

As for home loans, while looking for a bank, I noticed that there is one called Nelson Building Society, which has actually been around since the 1860s when Nelson was first being settled by Europeans. They still specialize in home lending, so it might be an interesting option to consider:
https://www.nbs.co.nz/about/

[richsadams]

Thanks Juniper! Love the picture of "old Nelson" on the building and loan website. We'll look into it.

[kiwieagle]

Welcome to the area everyone! I'm in Mapua. It's a great place (even after we were hit by Fehi and Gita).