Where to rent in Christchurch

[Rob K]

Now that we are heading to Chch, we need to figure out where to rent a place to live. This is a call for all opinions on the subject:

We're looking to rent a 3-BR house with a garden, in a neighborhoood that is good for a young family: safe, clean, close to a park(s), library, and small shops (as opposed to near a mall), and near transit.

A nice little community within the larger community - does this exist?

All input is

Rob

[Moorf]

Well, I am very biased about Sumner because we live here (been here 3 weeks).

Not the cheapest area in town but it has a great beach, library, cinema, great cafe scene, school, almost anything you could possibly need really.

We are renting a 2/3 bed house for 350/wk part furnished. Doesn't have that "housing estate" feel which we did feel alot of the other areas in Chch did have. It's like a village feel.

There are a few of us here in Chch so I am sure you will get further recommendations. Take your time to tour around ( we went ALL round Chch before settling here!). I expect your needs are different to ours as we don't have kids, but seems like alovely place for kids here :-)

Moorf

[kiwi]

I think St Martins and also Parklands has a lot to offer young families.
Queenspark is ok, but a bit far out (as in 2 more minutes in the car from Parklands and therefore..MILES!!)

Good villagey atmosphere. Quiet.

No malls in sight. Your best bet is to stay somewhere fully furnished for a few weeks and then rent unfurnished so your stuff can be moved straight in, rather than storing it. (and that will give you time to drive all over like Helen said)

I have a list of rents from ray white that they sent today if you want me to email you it, just PM me with your addy.

Sumner is the best spot...(no high school zone though) but again...you have to pick the right streets cos of the hoony boys in their hoony cars on the weekend!

Nicky

[Hannah-NL]

Ut oh ... hoony boys? :?
Is that something like illegal street races?

[kiwi]

yep...you got it in 1!

although they dont do drag racing..they save that for wigram...but they just drive up and down fast and noisily.

bless em

[veronica]

Theres a lot about the better suburbs but the ones to try and avoid Aranui. (think I have spelt it right.)and the areas to the further east of the city. having said that we have bought one in Linwood which is to the east. If you're only looking for renting then its not too crucial, if you are looking to just get the kids into a school and then get them to stay there its different. My own advice is to take a very short term rental, even if it means paying a bit more and spend a few weeks looking round and talking to people before making up your minds. What I think is acceptable you may not, and there are certain 'posh' suburbs like fendalton that I wouldn't want to live in either.

[veronica]

Hey Rob K kiwi has answered your question in depth on another posting, but I would still come out and have a good look round and make your own mind up.

[Rob K]

We have always intended to rent a place for a month before committing to a long-term rental. We have now rented a house for the month of Jan in St Albans.

Kiwi's post is very informative and we will certainly check out these areas. Thanks also to Moorf for the post on another thread about various areas in CHCH. Sumner looks very appealing to us, but we will definitely explore other areas. We have sold our house with all of our furniture. Although many people on this forum have mentioned that it is more economical to ship your own furniture, it wasn't a viable option for us. We live in an isolated area very far from any port and the shipping fees would have far outweighed the cost of our few belongings.

So we are looking to rent a furnished place. We like the fact that we won't be rushed into buying anything, and since we are thinking of building, we will get the furniture to fit the house!

In the meantime, if any of you know of a good furnished place for a family with four children available around February, let us know! We are not tied to school zones since we are homeschooling.

Sandrine

PS: By the way, I should introduce myself and the rest of the family: I am Sandrine, Rob's wife, and we have 4 children aged 8, 6, 4, and 1.

[tigerlily]

Hello-
slightly off your original topic- but since you mentioned homeschooling-
I have been very interested in doing that with my kids when they are old enough. I was disappointed to learn that it is not as easy in NZ as it is here in the states. Have you already looked into this? It seems that it can be done, just more paperwork and supervision than I am used to. Good on you for doing it!

[Rob K]

I have started a new thread in response to your question about homeschooling in NZ under the "Emigrate to NZ" topic (I thought other people on this forum might be interested).

Sandrine