AA Insurance Location, Location, Location NZ, episode four recap
We’re at the halfway point of season two of AA Insurance Location, Location, Location NZ. The eight house-hunters we’ve followed so far have come to the show with different budgets and different wish lists, but fundamentally they’re all after the same thing – a place that’s going to grab their hearts and instantly feels like home.
This week we’re back in Tamaki Makaurau, where Paul is helping a Scottish clan build their Kiwi future and doing his best Tom Cruise impression, and Jayne is holding the hands of an adventurous couple who are swapping their yacht for a lock-up-and-leave on dry land.
Great Scot!
Start your property search
Scottish teachers Susan and Jim Dyer and their son James came to Aotearoa nearly a decade ago and have no plans to leave. They’ve done the hard yards and gained their citizenship and are now looking for somewhere to put down roots, after living in four different rentals. Nine-year-old James sums up the experience of renters everywhere with his simple yet significant request: “I would like to be able to hang things on the wall.”
The Dyers are working with a budget of $950,000 and want a three-bedroom home with a yard for retired guide dog Ginny. They would love to stay in or around their neighbourhood of Mount Wellington, close to schools and the local football club (Jim would also love a mancave where he can watch the Scottish league at its unpalatable match times). The NZ property market is incredibly daunting and a total minefield. “Good thing I’ve navigated a few property minefields before,” announces Paul as he rolls up to save the day.
The Dyers are looking for a home that has good wardrobe space and is close to the park. Photo / TVNZ
He stays local for property number one, an off-market three-bedroom with a great yard for Ginny and James. However, the lack of wardrobe space and power sockets in the bedrooms raise a few red flags, and MIFM (most important family member) James thinks the bedrooms are simply too small. Next up, Paul nudges the family out of their comfort zone and heads to New Windsor for a quintessentially Kiwi weatherboard home that’s on a 600sqm freehold site. The house passes the wardrobe and socket test, but the Dyers struggle to get their heads around the postcode and deem it a “possibly maybe”. The last house is in Ellerslie and is close to Susan’s hairdresser and Jim's football club. It also has a big deck for hosting friends and boasts a stylish renovation. James scores it 10/10.
The Dyers end up missing out on the auction for number three, but the good news is that not long after, they purchased a three-bedroom family home in Mount Wellington with plenty of space and a dog park just across the road for Ginny.
Land ho!
Lee and Larry Deverick are currently living on their boat at Hobsonville Marina. The empty-nesters sold their beautiful home in Whangarei and set off to sail the Med for 10 years, and after soaking up the cuisine and culture, they’re now home and back to reality as Lee plans to go back to work full-time. They’re looking for lock-and-leave flexibility to potentially escape winters – ideally a three-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse with a small patch of grass for the puppies they plan to foster. They’re working with a budget of $900,000, but Lee confirms they can stretch to $1.2m for the right place (Larry grimaces at that point).
The fact that they’re cash buyers puts them in a good position, and Jayne takes them first to a deceptively spacious townhouse in Epsom. They love the size of the kitchen – “bigger than the galley,” remarks Lee – but steady on sailor, they feel crammed in as it’s attached on both sides.
Lee and Larry Deverick want a lock-up-and-leave home after completing their global yachting adventure. Photo / Supplied
It’s off to Farm Cove for property number two, which gets a big tick for its proximity to Half Moon Bay Marina. The tidy three-bedroom brick and tile has had a smart makeover, but it’s just not speaking to Lee and saying, “This is the one.” Larry agrees, noting that the bathroom is too short for his liking.
For home number three – the wildcard – the trio head off to Beachlands, where the heavens open as Paul invites them in. Lee’s penchant for a good kitchen island is catered to in the four-bedroom stunner, which ticks all the boxes. However, the number of bedrooms ends up being the fly in the ointment, as it feels a little too big and not so much of a downsize.
While the Devericks loved all the properties, they’re not quite ready to put pen to paper just yet. But after looking at Jayne’s options, they’re much clearer about what they want and where they want to be.
Fashion Watch
Another week, another blazer, with Paul sporting a lavender number as he sprints a lap of the park doing his “Tom Cruise run”, after he and Jayne lament their real estate Mission Impossible.
Lines of the Week
Paul muses about wishing he too could sail around the world, but then remembers he watched Jaws too many times as a child. “For me, even taking a bath was terrifying,” he says.
Jayne gets with the puns when Paul tells her she’s his lucky charm. She replies: “You’re my four-leaf ‘Glover’.”
- AA Insurance Location, Location, Location NZ appears on TVNZ 1 at 7.30pm on Sundays and on TVNZ+
