Original subtitles

- I'm on a hunt to help find everyday Kiwis their perfect country house.

Things are a little different out here in the country.

You still have the hustle and bustle.

Your neighbours can sometimes be a bit noisy.

Time moves a little slower.

But you don't get this...

in the city.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023

Get ready to meet Paul and Adrienne, the ultimate Otematata enthusiasts.

This couple knows this area like the back of their hands,

having spent countless summers camping here over the years,

but now they're ready to trade in their tent for a home.

They've set their sights on a three- to four-bedroom house,

open-plan living and somewhere to store their water skis.

So let's find them their dream home in this picture-perfect paradise.

Today I'm helping Paul and Adrienne find a holiday house for the perfect country escape in Otematata.

Now, with Paul being a builder, they're open to the idea of a fixer-upper

that they could put some work into and truly make their own.

There's a bush there that'd have to go. It's blocking the hills...

- ...but otherwise, it would be great.

- Come along as I show our couple three unique houses,

each offering the perfect country getaway experience.

- We could just shift in there, and we could just live in it like it is.

- It's gonna work really good for outdoor living in the summertime.

- Paul and I got married in 1987, however many years that is. - About 33 years ago...

ish.

I'm a teacher by trade. Paul's a builder, and particularly in the early years of our marriage,

if Paul had a project that he thought he needed a free labourer for, then I was there.

The idea of buying a house that has got maybe a little bit of work to do on it isn't really daunting for us,

because we've just been doing that sort of thing all our lives.

- Adrienne likes doing the design work, and I love building them, so it was a good match, really.

We picked this area because we love the lake,

we love water-skiing, a bit of trout fishing and the mountain biking,

and in the summertime, it's just picture-perfect here.

- I've holidayed in this region since the early '70s.

Paul and I got married. Paul enjoyed coming here, so we've carried on coming here,

but now it's time to have a more permanent place for us.

- Initially, we'll just use this as a holiday home.

- If we did decide to be here quite a lot in our retirement,

we want it to be really comfortable and have a bit of space.

- The budget we have for what we're looking for is around 650,000.

- Located two hours north of Queenstown, Otematata is a cosy town for locals

and a popular summer holiday spot.

Campers flock here for the amazing water sports, cycling and walking tracks,

not to mention the beautiful fishing spots.

Surrounded by beautiful mountains and the magnificent lakes,

Paul and Adrienne will have lots of reasons to enjoy Otematata.

The time has come to bring in our couple

and show them the first contender that I've lined up for the day.

Let's see if I can impress them with this one.

- Good morning, Matt. How are you? - Gidday, how are ya? - Good, good.

- And you must be Paul. - Paul, yeah. Gidday. - Gidday, guys.

So, Otematata for you, it's not a place that's unfamiliar, is it?

You've been holidaying here for about 30 years or so ― is that right? - Yep.

I came with my family in the very early '70s, and we camped,

and then Mum and Dad and their friends quite liked that, so they carried on camping,

but we think we'd like something a bit more permanent than a tent.

- Fair enough, especially when you get chilly winter mornings like here as well.

So you've been coming here a long time, but it's time to make things a bit more permanent

and find a house that you, at some point, can possibly semi-retire in ―

is that the plan? - Yeah. Yeah, that would be nice.

- And of course, you've got a couple of kids as well.

So maybe somewhere with a bit of room that they can come and stay with the grandkids.

Yes, yes. Children do seem to like to stay with their parents.

Especially in beautiful holiday areas like Otematata as well.

- I'm a builder, so a bit of work is OK... - Sure.

- ...but move-in-ready-ish would be good, four bedrooms would be nice.

-Any other kind of must-haves for you, Adrienne? - Afternoon sun in the backyard.

- Right. A little bit of sun in the afternoon, backyard. - Yeah.

- And a bit of room for the boat parking-wise. - Yeah.

- I reckon we can find you something, no problems.

So the first house that I brought you to, it is a three-bedroom home, this one. It is a brickhome.

Good thing is this one's had some nice work done to it recently. It's got a brand-new roof onit.

There's been some renovations made inside as well, so it's a really tidy property.

- From the outside, it looks good. The aluminium windows have been upgraded by the look ofit.

- Looks nice and tidy, not offensive, no. So, yeah...

- it's a good start ― if it's not offensive, we're on the right track, I reckon.

Well, are you ready to take a look around our first home?

- Yes. Yes, please. - Yeah. Show us what you found. - Let's get inside.

Yeah, after you, Paul.

OK, welcome in. Nice warm-feeling home, this one.

There has been some nice renovations made lately. So the carpet's only a few years old,

and there was a wall between the dining area and the lounge.

They've knocked that one out, Make it more of an open-plan feel.

So I think it's got a nice light, bright feel to it,

and it does face the right way for that afternoon sun. - Good.

- You've probably noticed that that deck out there is going to get a lot of sun in the afternoons.

- It feels fresh and clean. It is nice to have the windows

that are opening out to the backyard. That's nice. - For sure.

- And you can see the hills. - That's brilliant.

- Shall we take a look at the kitchen?

- Yes, please. - Yep.

- So, not the most modern of kitchens, but it's not the original.

It was put in about 25 years ago, this one.

Would a kitchen like that work for you two?

- As it stands, we'd be all right. It looks fresh and clean.

It's wee a bit tight, so possibly we'd upgrade.

- Right. So it's not something that would be totally crucial.

It wouldn't put you off the house, the way the kitchen is at the moment?

- Even though it's 25 years or so old, it's got everything you need.

It looks like it's got quite an old oven, but I'm sure if it works, no,

it wouldn't be a priority. As long as there's Paul's coffee machine,

I'm sure will be fine. - OK, yeah.

I might head out to that deck for a little while. It looks like the sun's come up.

So while I do that, you guys take a look around the rest of the house,

come and find me when you're done. - That'd be good. - Cool.

Enjoy. See you soon. - Thank you, Matt. Thank you.

- Mm, lovely view, Adrienne, out of this bedroom, waking up to that in the morning.

- It's a big bedroom, nice carpet. It's probably a queen-size bed.

Looks like it's just got a new ceiling in it too. - Yep, freshly painted.

So a wee bit of modernisation wouldn't go astray, probably.

- Gidday. Just enjoying this big classic Kiwi backyard, heaps of room out here.

That big functional deck. That's a good space, I reckon, for the summer evenings

and your barbecue out on the deck. - Yes.

- You've got your garage, so off-street parking.

Everything you need in the backyard ― what do you reckon?

- Lots of space, and I can see that it would be a really sunny backyard. - Definitely.

- So that ticks the box. - It's a lovely outlook.

There's room for barbecue. We would like it out here with our friends and family.

- So far, no major drawbacks to this first house then?

- No, you've done a good job with what you've showed us here.

- So what do you think it's worth? - I don't know about you, Adrienne,

but I'd say mid-600s. - That's probably about right, actually.

I think that would be pretty close. - Yeah, well, you are right, it is ―

looking at around 650 would be what they're thinking that this place would be on the marketfor.

- That was what we sort of expected it would be on today's market in Otematata,

because it is a holiday township.

- It's nice and fresh. The fire was going. It was nice and warm.

We could see straight out to the backyard straight away.

So we got a peek of what was coming.

- The hills, you can see them from every window in the house.

- Nice feel. - It's what we're after.

- Two more houses to show you today, so should we head off to house number two?

- Yep. - Yes, please. - Let's go.

This first option managed to tick almost everything on Paul and Adrienne's wishlist.

I know they said they weren't afraid to put in a bit of work for the perfect house,

so after the break, we'll tour two more options that could be perfect fixer-uppers for our couple.

- Today I'm in the town of Otematata, helping Paul and Adrienne

find a house in their favourite holiday spot.

The first house we looked at was an older build

but had lots of features recently redone, making it move-in ready.

Because Paul's a builder, this is a couple who are up for doing

a little bit of work if they find the right property.

So let's see what they think of house number two.

So that was a quick stroll just around the corner to the second house that I've got lined up foryou today.

This one is a beaut, built in the '70s.

It's been owned by one family that whole time, so they have lovingly looked after this place.

It really is a nice home. Four bedrooms, four.

So that extra bedroom, a little bit more room... - Yeah.

- ...a bit more room in general, actually. There's a lot more space inside that you'll see.

And you were talking about off-street parking being quite important. - Yes.

Obviously, lots of space here for the boat and for the cars.

From a builder's perspective, what do you think when you look at that roof?

- That needs replacing. - Straight off the bat. - Yeah.

- Roof's gotta go. - It looks waterproof, but it's old.

- Yeah, but nothing you can't handle yourself. - No, nothing we couldn't handle.

- Let's find out about the inside. Come on in. - Thank you.

- Come on in. - Oh, wow.

- Yeah, so, I did say there was a lot of space in here. Look at the size of this area.

So it has been extended over the years. It used to be a separate living area right here...

- Oh, OK. - ...and they've knocked that wall out, extended it out that way,

and so you've got a really open-plan living area.

Lots of light shining in through those windows at the moment,

so you can see you're going to get nice afternoon light in this house

and good indoor-outdoor flow on to that patio area at the back.

I feel like it's a little bit of a time warp in here at the moment.

I love walking into the space. I love that retro wood burner.

- Would that stay if you guys were to buy this house? - Uh...

Not so much?

- Adrienne, if you shift the black TV, the white will stand out against the wall there fine.

- Difference of opinions on that one there?

- Yeah. - OK.

There's so much to look at. This is just wow. It's big, it's big. - Yeah, it's huge.

- It's really big. - Turning our attention to the kitchen for a moment.

The kitchen has that nice big floating island.

It's not a brand-new kitchen, obviously, as you can see,

but it probably looks a little bit more modern than the first house we looked at.

- It's a big kitchen. - Yeah.

- There seems to be a lot of bench space, lots of cupboards.

Not sure about

the island. - OK.

- I don't like― I like things to be straight.... - Right.

- ...not on an angle, but not a deal breaker.

- I'm gonna be outside. I think you'll really like the backyard.

You guys feel free to check out the rest of the home, and I'll see you soon.

- OK. - Thank you, Matt.

Uh, right...

- Well, it's a wee bit tight for a master bedroom. - A wee bit.

It's small, but there's a lot of furniture in here.

It has got a double wardrobe, nice windows, gets afternoon sun.

It's just very small.

- We've got the four bedrooms, we're after; the other bedroom's a good size.

So swap out the master bedroom, make it work.

- Hey. - Hi, Matt.

- A nice little patio area out here straight off your lounge.

It's nicely covered, got the pergola. So all year round, you can enjoy it out here.

You've got views up to a peak up to Totara Peak out that way. - Mm.

- But what I really like about this backyard is how much love and attention

the current owner has spent on that garden ―

beautifully established vegetable plot there, really nice feel out this backyard, I think.

- I think it's a beautiful garden. It's lovely. You can't deny that at all.

Quite a bit of work to keep it looking like this. - There is that point.

Now, does that worry you a little bit, considering you're not gonna be full-time here straight away?

Paul, what do you reckon? - I think you'd have to, the vegetable part of it,

possibly turn it into grass just to make it more user-friendly.

There's a bush there that'd have to go. It's blocking the hills...

- ...but otherwise, it's a good-sized backyard.

- How do you think this one sits on the price scale compared to the first home we looked at?

- I'll put it at 660, as I guess. - It probably is worth a wee bit more than the other one.

- Well, I think you'll be happy to hear that it's about 656

is where it's listed at at the moment. - Oh.

The price is probably actually fair.

We could just shift in there, and we could just live in it like it is, but we'd want to do somework to it.

So we've got to take that into consideration.

- It faces the north-northwest. It flows beautifully.

It's gonna work really good for outdoor living in the summertime.

- Yet another great option for Paul and Adrienne's house-hunt.

Coming up ― I'll show our couple house number three, which is more of a bach style,

but could be just what they're looking for.

But before I do, I'll catch up with Hana, the deputy mayor of the Waitaki District,

to find out just how special this area is.

- In between all of the house-hunting in Otematata, I'm lucky enough to be meeting up withHana,

the deputy mayor of the Waitaki District, to hear more about this special place.

So, Hana, you've got an amazing area to be the deputy mayor.

From the Alps to the ocean, there's so much in this district.

- Oh, absolutely. Yes.

And it's so awesome to have you here to our beautiful district of Waitaki.

- It's absolutely beautiful

and so many activities. Obviously, a big, big influx of people during summer.

- Yes, definitely. Like, you know, the cycle trail, you know,

we've got the lakes, we've got the mountains.

We've also got all the different surrounding districts. It's a very special place.

- Sense the community is something that really strikes me travelling around this district.

It really does have a family feel. - Yeah, definitely. Yes.

And we do have an increasingly diverse community,

lots of different migrant workers that have come here and made Waitaki their home,

and also a lot of the locals, you know, they're really community-oriented.

- Otematata itself, the lakes are huge, obviously, drawcard for a lot of visitors.

There's so many water activities you can do up there ― water-skiing.

- Yeah, and it's a very popular place. You know, lots of people go out camping.

And what's not to love? You know, like, it's so close to the mountains,

the lakes, and the weather is really awesome as well.

- Hana, what would you say to people that maybe haven't visited your district?

You know, why should they come and see it?

- Well, they'll be missing out on lots of special things.

You know, we've got our Victorian heritage, we've got our ocean,

we've got our lakes, our scenery, the community and just the people.

I think they're the ones that make it a really special place.

- It's time to show Paul and Adrienne something a little bit different

for this final house that I have in store for them. Let's bring them in for a look around.

So this is our third and final option for the day.

It's classic example of the houses that they built

for the workers on the dam on Benmore,

The Ministry of Works houses.

So it's a classic kind of a bach-crib-style home.

There's been some alterations made to it.

Recently, they've put a new garage on there as well.

But realistically, this one is gonna be at the lower end of the budget.

so I wanted to show you this one as an example of something you might want to take

and put a bit of love into, but for a holiday house, I think it would be a good option foryou.

It's a nice, simple upkeep. What are you thinking, Adrienne?

Yes...

- I think when you said 'holiday house', you hit the nail on the head.

- Yeah. - I mean, I'll reserve judgement,

because we need to have a look through it.

- Let's get inside there and take a look around and see what we think.

- Yeah, no, show us what it's like inside.

- OK.

So another open-plan kitchen-living room,

smaller again than the last house we looked at, but still plenty of space.

You can look around and see there's work to be done,

but there is a nice new carpet on this place... - Yep.

- ...and this section of the house, this is the extension. They've added on this deck as we walked inside,

and a little extra room on to the side of the house. What do you think so far?

- Well, we've got two double couches in here, so there is room.

It's a good-sized living area. Yes, the roof needs a bit of attention.

- We're thinking it's probably under our budget,

which would leave us money for the improvements and to really make it our own.

- So positives and negatives. - Yeah. - Yeah.

- Time for you guys to have a good look around, and I'll be outside when you're done.

- Yep. - See you soon.

- We still get the hills, Adrienne.

- And it's got a built-in wardrobe, so there's a wee bit of space in there.

I like the windows because you get nice morning sun looking at the hills.

Just a different kind of work to what we could see in the other two houses.

- Yeah, you could shift into it.

- Another decent-sized backyard, this one... - Yes.

- ...and what we do like about this is it's easy care.

In terms of the holiday house aspect, that would work for you two. - Yes.

- Just a couple of fruit trees, but what I do like about this one is it does back on to a reserve.

Nice green space, again, thinking of family coming to stay... - Yes.

- ...somewhere to run around and have a play. - It's perfect.

- It's a nice backyard. It faces the sun. It is easy care. - It's got the views over thehills.

- That garage is a real bonus, could put a lot of gear in there,

couldn't we, Paul? - Yeah, that's for sure. - It'd be perfect.

- What do you think it's worth? - Probably in the low 500s

What did you think, Paul? - Well, I thought it was about the mid-500s.

- So 530 is what we're looking at for this house. - Right.

- So it's significantly lower than the first two. - Yeah.

- The price would leave us a lot of money to make it what we really would like it to be.

- It would be great.

- Paul and Adrienne certainly have lots to consider with all of the houses that we've seen today.

Are they gonna pick something that's move-in ready,

or will they go for one of the options that needs a bit of work?

I can't wait to hear what their decision is.

After giving out couple some time to discuss all of the options for their move to Otematata,

I'm catching up with them to see if they've come to a decision.

Kia ora, Paul. - Gidday. - Gidday.

How are you going, Adrienne? - Hi, Matt, good, thank you.

- Nice to see you again. You picked a beautiful spot for us to catch up.

It was great going through those houses with you when we were here a couple of weeks ago.

There were some interesting options. - Yes.

The first one I remember had a really nice deck off the lounge, that sliding doors out on to the deck.

What did you like about that first one?

- It was lovely. It had been upgraded inside, new carpet, roof had been done.

- Yeah. - It was only three-bedrooms,

but the outdoor living area, you couldn't fault it.

- Then the second home we looked at, I just remember how much space there was,

that huge living area, that massive open-plan lounge,

but the garden... was something that you weren't super keen on.

- Initially, we're going to use it as a sort of a holiday home;

a big garden like that, a lot of work, that would have to change.

And it had the four bedrooms, which was top of our list.

- On the third one, got the feeling that it probably wasn't really in the mix as much as the first two.

- Cost-wise, it gave us room for renovation.

It would do as a bach for somebody. - 'For somebody' the key word there,

but maybe not for you too, though.

So, we're coming down to the first two houses,

and I know that you have gone so far as not just put an offer in on one of them,

you've actually bought one of these houses, haven't you? - Our offer has been accepted.

- In the end, we went for house number two.

It had the four bedrooms and that very large open-plan living.

- Congratulations. I'm really, really glad that it's all worked out for ya.

And I can see you spending a lot more time out on that lake water-skiing, so all the very best.

- Definitely. - We will be, very much. - Cheers, guys.

Well, Paul and Adrienne certainly have a lot to look forward to

with their new holiday home here in Otematata.

I'm sure with just a little bit of handiwork, it's gonna be the perfect house for them.

Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2023