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 2024

Today's gonna be fun. We're hanging out with long-time friends Rebecca and Nik.

We're on the hunt for the ultimate investment property

in the breathtaking Te Anau and Manapouri area.

Now, Rebecca's got her heart set on transforming the house into a short-term rental,

but if I can work my magic, it might just become part of her and her husband Calvin's retirement plan.

So let's see what we can find in this stunning slice of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Today, I'm visiting the breathtaking natural wonderland that is Te Anau with best mates Rebeccaand Aneka.

I'll be helping Rebecca find a sound investment property that she can put a homely spin on.

A hunting lodge-style.

It is the perfect spot up there to hang his great big stag's head.

- Rebecca and Aneka are besties for a reason.

They share a love of the great outdoors, boating on the lake and a cheeky tipple or two.

- I love good-quality gin, which we both enjoy.

- Yep. Or a good bourbon.

- The ideal property needs to be cosy and unique, but Rebecca isn't afraid of a fixer-upper.

How do you feel about the feature wall?

- It's nothing that a paintbrush wouldn't change.

- It's easy fix. - Easy fix. - Yep.

So join us as we explore three very special homes

and share in the fun as we find Rebecca her perfect property.

- We first met...

oh, how many years ago? - About 12 years ago, probably. - Yeah.

- And then I had my son eight years ago,

and Rebecca was the first person that looked after him when I went back to work,

- and we've been friends ever since. - Since. And I trust her opinion.

- Nik and I together, we like to go out on the lake boating with our families,

going into Milford Sound or Doubtful Sound and... - Drinking gin.

Drinking. Drinking gin.

- About six months ago, I had some pretty major surgery

and in result of that, there was an incidental cancer finding.

So, since then, life is for living, enjoy it.

Probably changes your whole philosophy in life, to be fair.

The budget I'm working with is around 500,000.

Can go higher...

but if we can stick around that 500,000, it allows us

to be able to put money into a property.

- Te Anau is located in the far south of New Zealand, and is the main visitor base

and gateway to the glacier-carved Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound.

The picture-perfect region is home to the endangered flightless Takahe and abundant trout in LakeTe Anau.

The combination of outdoor recreation and the welcoming town centre

offers locals an irresistible lifestyle.

Whether they're boating on the lake or admiring the view of the Hunter and Cathedral Ranges,

Rebecca's future rental guests will be sure to love their time in Te Anau.

Let's head over to the first house on our list. It's a bit of fun and ticks all of the boxes.

Hey, morning. - Good morning.

- Rebecca. - Nice to meet you.

- And you must be Nik. - How are you going?

- Good. Hey, I'm so happy to be here. I gotta thank you.

This is my first time to Te Anau, and it's because of you that I'm here, so...

Can't believe you haven't been here before.

- And so, Nik, your job today is going to be helping Rebecca find the perfect place, right?

- Place for her, yep. Yep. - Excellent. - Yep.

- So tell me a little bit about what we're looking for.

I know that you're looking for an investment property, right?

- We're looking for a three-bed place that we can Airbnb in the meantime and make some money out of.

- What else does it need to have? I know a boat is a big part of your―

- Has to have good boat parking... - Parking.

- ...and preferably a shed to turn into a bit of a bar.

- Yeah, the home bar. Awesome. - It's gotta have a home bar.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love that. - Yep.

- Do you like the look of that house, though? That's the Linea Weatherboard on there ― you like that look?

- Yeah, I actually like the colour too, to be fair. - Yeah.

- And the deck. - Yeah. - Yeah.

There is a nice north-facing deck on this one as well. - Yeah, that's the way― oh, wow.

- And... - Oh, cool. Off-street parking.

- Off-street parking for the boats. - Yep. There we go.

So, shall we get inside and see what it's like?

- Yeah, let's do it. - Come on in. - Let's go.

- Right. So, what you got here is a nice big open-plan, perfect for entertaining,

living area, dining and kitchen all in one.

- It's just got a really nice feel about it. - Kitchen.

- When you walk in, you feel welcome.

- Polished wooden floors.

It's got a nice modern kitchen. It is warm, double-glazing,

- got your feature wall you've probably already seen. - Wall. Yeah.

- How does this space feel to you two?

- I like it. - I like it.

- Mountain views. - Lovely mountain views, eh?

North facing, so that's gonna be beautiful in the evenings

as well with that sunshine. - Beautiful view of the Murchies.

Yeah. It's lovely. - Yeah.

- Nice kitchen, plenty of storage. - Yeah.

- You've got a nice breakfast bench kind of area at the end of it.

Plenty of bench space. - Yep. - Yep.

- How do you feel about the feature wall?

- You could have fun with that wall. - It's different.

- True, although the advantage of having a big green wall like this is

any time you like, you can transport yourself anywhere in the world.

I mean, look at this right now.

I'm in Hawaii, right?

And, uh, hi. I'm in Delaware.

Can't do that in every home. - No, you can't. - No.

- What do you reckon your husband would think?

- I think he'd like it, actually. It has a dishwasher, so he'd be all good.

- All right, so that's just the kitchen area. Why don't we head through to the dining room?

So, the dining area, I think is one of the features of this house,

just because look at the view that you've got

while you're having your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner all day long. - Have a drink there.

- The view... - The view's outstanding.

- What's not to like about the view? - How could you not like it?

- And also, they've done quite a nice job with the kitchen-pantry area over here.

They've put a little bar area in. What do you think of that?

- The bar is brilliant, love it, straight out on to the deck.

- Yep. - Perfect space.

- How about I let you guys take a look at the rest of the house by yourselves for a little while?

Have a good look around, and I'll be outside.

- Perfect. Thank you. - Cool. - See you soon.

- Very small bedrooms. - They are small.

The kitchen and the dining room's got heaps of space

and then the rooms are quite small. - Quite small.

What do you think price-wise? - Probably 500...

- Yeah, I thinking a bit higher. - ...at least.

- I was thinking 530, 540, just given its location. - Yeah. Where it is. Yep.

- OK, let's go outside and find Matt and see what the price actually is.

- Yep. Let's go. - OK. Let's do it.

- Hey. Great big backyard, this one, isn't it? - Isn't it?

- And obviously, the highlight is this deck. We've been talking about it.

- Yep. - Beautiful views.

What would you do to the space, do you reckon?

- I'd probably just carry on the seating right along... - Mm-hm.

- ...and just put some plants up just for a wee bit of privacy. - Privacy.

- Yeah, for sure. - And that's probably about the only thing.

- Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah.

- Could be a good option. OK. - Could be, could be, definitely. - Definitely. Yep.

- What do you think the price is on this house?

- I think probably 530, 540.

- Yep. - Yep.

- Pretty much bang on, about 530 is what they're looking for. - Oh, OK.

- Yeah, the price is, I think is really reasonable actually to be fair, yeah.

- Especially for the area.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

- That's the first one done. - Yeah.

- I've got two more great options for you. So, should we hit the road and head down to Manapouri?

- Definitely. - Let's go. - Cool, let's go.

- Well, a strong start to our house-hunt today, but there's more to come in our second house.

Just wait until you see this cosy fixer-upper I've got to show Rebecca and Aneka.

- Today I'm house-hunting with Rebecca and Aneka,

who are looking for a local investment property.

We've got a good contender in house number one,

which boasted a north-facing deck and off-street boat parking,

but house number two is strong in its location and charm. So let's see if our besties agree.

You two are locals. You know how great this location is.

I mean, look where we are. You've got views to the Takatimu Ranges out there.

You've got the Hunters that way. You're a two-minute walk to the lakefront.

- Oh, wow. - Two minutes from the boat ramp,

which is very important for you, obviously... - Important, yep.

- ...and really close to a local pub.

The home itself sits on about a quarter acre.

Compared to the first one, this will need a little bit of work... - Mm-hm.

- ...but I know that's not something you're afraid of. - No, not at all.

- Yep. It's a three-bedroom home, nice cottage style, built in the '60s. What do you think sofar?

- I love it. - It's cool.

- It's got a great look to it, doesn't it? - Perfect.

- So all things are looking pretty good so far? - Definitely.

- Let's get inside and see what we think. Head on in. - Cool.

- OK, come on in.

All right. So, obviously it's a bit smaller than the first place that we looked at,

but there are good bones in this home. - Yep.

- Probably does need a bit of work, though, and the carpet probably needs to be looked at.

That kitchen could do with a bit of a spruce up, but you did say that you weren't scared of a fixer-upper.

- I think the carpets definitely need change. - Yeah.

Just clean it up a little bit. - Clean it up, freshen it up, modernise it.

- What do you reckon Calvin would think of that kitchen?

Would he be able to whip up some culinary creations in there, do you think?

Oh, he doesn't whip them up, anyway, but...

- ...he would be saying it needs work.

- Yeah, but that's OK, right? - Definitely. It's OK.

- Once it's updated, I think it would look really good.

- It'll change the whole house. - Yeah.

- Nice little indoor-outdoor flow to a deck straight off the dining area there.

- Yeah. - And also a really good bonus of this property ― a big garage as well.

- Oh, awesome. - Lots of storage space...

- Yep. - ...or... - Bar.

- ...could put in a bar. - Could put in a bar. - Yeah.

So being a '60s cottage, there are still some of those original features.

- Yeah. - Some of the original windows are in here.

So go and check it out, have a good look, and I'm gonna be outside when you're done.

- Cool, thank you. - Cool. Cool. - Cool, see you soon.

- It's a decent size.

- They are bigger than the last one. - Yeah, they are definitely, and all the sunlight coming through there.

- They just need a... maybe another paint.

- Yeah, that's probably about all you'd have to do ― and the carpet. - Yeah, and the carpet.

- But all the bedrooms are a decent size,

which is good for the rental side of it. - Yeah.

- Gidday. - Gidday.

- You know, this deck's got a couple of nice features to it.

Enclosed at both ends, so obviously that wind won't be a problem... - Mm-hm.

- ...and it does have some drop-down clear blinds as well,

so all year round, you could enjoy this really without worrying too much about the weather.

You've got some olive trees I can see.

You've got the grapevines growing as well and some raised garden beds as well, so...

Are you a green-fingered person in general?

- Not overly, but I've got good friends.

- You've already got― - You can just chuck them in and see how we go.

- You've already got the call-up to come round for a working bee, mate.

Now, obviously, you know that the price of this one will probably be lower than the first,

just because there is some work to do. - Yep. Mm-hm.

- But where do you think it sits at the moment?

- I'm thinking because of its location, probably around 500,000. - Yeah.

- I've got some good news for you. - Oh!

- It's actually on the market for around 460.

- Wow! That is surprising. - Yeah.

- So leaving a little bit of wiggle room for the renovations that you need to do...

- Yeah! - ...and that's a good price.

So, might be worth considering getting in quick on this one. - Yeah, really good price.

- It's a good price.

- I think the price is really good. - I was surprised.

- It's probably 50 K lower than what I thought it was going to be.

- Yep, especially with that shed.

- Still one more house to look at, so let's hit the road, eh?

- OK. - Cool, let's go. - Come on.

Well, what a charmer house number two is.

Rebecca and Anika are gonna struggle to go past that one.

Coming up ― we've got one more gorgeous home to see.

It's a rustic-style lodge, boasting plenty of unique charm for visitors wanting an Instagrammable stay.

And before that, I just can't pass up a visit to Milford Sound,

where I am truly overawed by its majestic beauty.

- Te Anau is the gateway to Milford Sound.

So before we tour house number three, I visit this stunning natural wonder

and get to experience for myself what makes this region so special.

The journey just to get to where we've been standing today has been unreal.

I mean, the fact that we're even able to be here

is due to some pretty amazing stories that you were telling us.

The people that made this road. - Oh, absolutely. The men of the Milford Road.

So all the history of how they created this road through and the hardships that they went through.

Building the Homer Tunnel is a sheer engineering feat itself.

- I'm kind of blown away right now.

This place has been on my bucket list for decades, and I'm finally standing here in Fiordland,

Milford Sound, one of the most breathtaking places you could ever imagine being.

Tell me about the experience on the boat, on the cruise.

- We're gonna be on a one-hour 45 to two-hour cruise out through this glacial created fiord,

and we're gonna see lots of different, powerful waterfalls,

both the temporary and the permanent waterfalls today, and hopefully see some really cool wildlife as well ―

dolphins, seals, penguins, those sorts of things also.

So it really does, you know, earn the title of one of the wonders of the world,

and hopefully we convince you to do the glacial facial.

- Glacial facial? - It is, uh, we'll go underneath the waterfall.

It is coming from an ancient glacier and is a pretty special experience.

Some people will say it takes 10 years off your life.

- Yeah, we'll see about that. - Yeah.

- Honestly, I can see why you guys have been voted number one so many times.

You guys do an incredible job. This has been one of the best days of my life. Thank you so much.

- Thank you so much and thank you so much for coming out with us.

We love to show people this wonderful part of the country.

- Look at it. Incredible.

It's time to head to our third house.

It's a rustic-style lodge, and it boasts irresistible views,

but let's see if Rebecca and Aneka like it as much as I do.

Alrighty, Rebecca, Nik, I have saved a real cracker of a property for the last viewing today.

It really is quite special. Look at that river stone cladding,

the first thing you notice when you walk up to this.

Honestly, if I saw this as a holiday house listed online... - Yep.

- ...it's got such a unique look to it, I'd definitely stop and take another look.

What do you think of the look of it? - I love it, very unique. - It's cool, yeah.

- Got, like, the old sort of homestead look to it.

- Plenty of boat parking, would you say? - Should be plenty.

- Yeah? - Should get the boat in there, no problem.

- For the last time today, shall we take a look around?

- Yeah. - Let's go. - Come on in.

Welcome to the hunting lodge.

So this was built in the '80s by the owner.

It's a real cosy feel, so much timber everywhere. How do we feel about a brick floor?

It's something I haven't seen before. It'd be interesting to see how practical it would be.

- It would keep the house really warm once the fire's going. - Yeah.

- Floor is something I find really interesting.

It's almost I love to hate it, hate to love it. - Yeah.

- I love that big open fire

surrounded by the river stone as well. - Yeah, it's beautiful.

- That's the feature of this room, isn't it? - It is, 100%.

- And one little quirky little thing I've just noticed,

they've got the pulley system drying rack.

Everything dries really quickly up there, and it's out of the way. - Way.

- Yeah. - For sure. - Really good.

- And the kitchen, not a huge kitchen. - Yeah.

- Do you think you'd be able to survive with that kitchen for a while

and maybe look at somehow improving it? - Possibly.

Yeah, I think we possibly could, yeah, could make it work. - Yeah?

Calvin, what's he gonna say when he walks in here?

- Oh, he's gonna say that is a perfect spot up there to hang his great big stag's head.

- OK, time for you to have a good look around.

Do take your time, really get a sense of the space... - Mm-hm.

- ...and I'm gonna be out in that nice private backyard.

See you soon. - OK, cool. - Cool.

- What do you reckon? - It's a very unique space, isn't it?

- It's a cool wee space up here. - It is, isn't it?

Kids would love it. - Yeah.

- What do you think about the rest of the house, Nik?

- I love the fireplace. The kitchen needs to be a bit bigger, though.

- Yeah, the kitchen is a concern. Those two bedrooms are a great size.

- Yeah. - That whole indoor-outdoor living there's really good.

Bathroom's great, laundry's there.

What price do you reckon this house is at? I'm picking 550 to 560.

- Mm, yeah, I was thinking close to 600.

Let's go and find Matt, eh?

- Hello. - Hey.

- So I know you were mentioning the kitchen was a little bit small... - Yep.

- ...but I'm thinking, who needs a kitchen when you've got a great big barbecue out of the back like that?

Again, this backyard, heaps of space, very private, obviously, with that farmland right there behind you.

- Yep. - But I love the look of the house from here as well.

Look at all those river stones lovingly placed by hand.

And also, they've continued that theme through to the garden as well

with the rock wall using those same stones. - All the birds.

- If you took the rocks back a wee bit... - Back a bit.

- ...you can have a hell of a lot more lawn space.

- Yeah. - You can open this section right up. It's a labour of love.

- So, the price, what's your guess?

- 550 to 570 kind of range.

- Yeah, it's about 600, I was thinking.

- Yeah, OK. Yeah, well, it's on the market for 550.

- Oh, OK. It is. - So, that's pretty good, right?

- Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah.

- You get a lot of house for 550. - Yeah. Better than I thought.

- If one of these houses takes your fancy and you wanna talk turkey, let's get back in touch.

- Oh, definitely will do. We'll let you know what we decide. - All right.

Lovely to hang out with you guys today. - Cool. Thank you.

That was a lot of fun. - Awesome, thank you. - Thank you.

- The price was surprising. - The price was very surprising.

I thought it would have been 20 K to 30 K higher than where it is.

- Yeah, especially for how much work's gone into it. - Gone into it.

There'll be a lot of interest in this. - Yep.

- It's been a big day of house-hunting for Rebecca and Aneka.

I've presented three amazing options which are gonna be hard to choose between.

So, I can't wait to know which house they prefer.

A few weeks have passed, and Rebecca's had some time to discuss her options with Annika.

So I'm stoked to be catching up with them again to hear Rebecca's decision.

Kia ora, you two. How good to see you guys again.

- Hey! - You too.

- And finally, I get to see this place. This is your local, isn't it?

- It is. It's a cool wee spot. - This is The Church.

- So, I hear there's been quite a lot of movement.

You guys don't muck around, do you? - Yeah, there's been a fair bit of movement, actually.

- So after I saw you, Calvin came and had a look at the house. - Yeah, he did.

- And one of the three that we looked at, you've already... - Had it accepted, had it accepted.

- So we've had a successful house-hunt. This is amazing. - Yep.

- The first place that we looked at, it had that great deck on the backyard

looking out to that spectacular view. - Yep.

- It was a really nice Linea Weatherboard home.

Do you remember anything about that one? - Yep.

- The green wall. - The green wall.

- Yep, that's right. That was the highlight of the home.

Good option, that one, though. - Oh, it was.

In terms of a holiday home, it was all set up, ready to go. - Yep.

- Yeah. Bar. - Yeah. - Yeah.

- Now, the second home, it was a fixer-upper of the three. - Mm-hm.

- It definitely had lots to like about it, though. - Mm-hm.

Really liked the shed and the outdoor entertaining area

and the section, really good section.

- Yeah. - Yep. - Yep.

- So really interesting option, that one.

Then the third home we looked at, really cute quirky home with all the stone everywhere.

Really awesome place, that one. Calvin would have loved.

- Loved it. Brick floors, heaps of timber.

Nah, it was pretty cool. - Yeah.

- Which one was it? Which one did you go for?

- We actually went for the fixer-upper.

- The fixer-upper? - Yes!

It's got the good outdoor entertaining area. It's got pretty much everything we wanted.

- Enclosed backyard. - Enclosed backyard.

- Awesome. So that's what took you over the edge. - Yeah.

- It had everything that you wanted, that you were looking for.

- And we could put our own stamp on it. - Yeah, amazing.

And you know what, you were looking for a smart investment. - Yep.

- That's the one, really, isn't it? You can add value to that place. - Yeah, it is. Mm-hm.

- Apart from everything else, thanks for letting me see this incredible part of the country.

It was so good to spend some time.

- We hope you come back here soon. - Yeah, you gotta come back. - Yeah, I definitely will.

Cheers to that.

Well, a huge congratulations to Rebecca

on purchasing house number two with its classic cottage style.

Wishing you nothing but success with your rental property,

and hey, I'd love to stay myself next time I'm in town.

Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.

www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024