After a few weeks of frustration without any progress, higher costs, additional requirements and trying to figure out what to do and decide I am a little bit more positive about the outcomes.
Having some setbacks also makes you think more about what we want to achieve, what our priorities are and brings up loads of questions like:
Where do I prefer to live? In Whangarei where I work or in Pahi at our section an hour commute away?
Whangarei is not a bad place to live either with more amenities and also a stunning place looking at the featured image of this blog with an aerial view of the Whangarei Harbour. Our rental home is just on the left of the picture.
Where does Francis want to live ? He works from home or in Auckland and Pahi is closer to Auckland than Whangarei.
Do we really want to live in Pahi or are we going to use the place as a weekend getaway?
Are we going to spend money to build the dream home we like or do we try to avoid mortgages and keep the budget down to achieve the flexible lifestyle?
Could we live with a family of four in a tiny house trying to achieve a more flexible financial independent lifestyle as an alternative if we are not willing to pay the prices what it currently costs to build a home here?
What are we going to do with the house if we leave New Zealand?
Is it a wise investment to build a home which is more expensive than most homes in the area in an economical deprived area. Keeping on renting is however also just money down the drain.
To spread the finance we could develop our section at a slower rate over years but can I handle one or two more winters in our rental home in Whangarei? It has a beautiful view and good location near school and work but the house is also the typical cold, drafty, damp uncomfortable New Zealand home in winter time. Not looking forward to the next few months but it is a good reminder that we prefer to live in a well insulated comfortable, healthy home.
When trying to make a decision between all the options it is funny to see how your mind works and how it tries to convince you one week you are ready to decide you want to live in a tiny home in Whangarei and the other week you are convinced the best option is to build the house in Pahi we want and spend more money than we intended. They are actually luxury choices so I should feel blessed and either way I feel it will work out fine whatever we do.
Some options we have discarded is importing a prefab ready kit. Although there are some examples that could work well for our site and passive solar requirements it just doesn’t give me the satisfaction. Also the compromised design option of our house which meant moving the house to a higher elevation on the section to save costs felt like the wrong comprise.
In the background I am still chasing builders, contractors and suppliers to confirm prices or answer questions to decide on the building method we like to use. Further I am looking into fire safety rules for water supply and bush clearance. Rules for driveway and parking gradients. Also very excited and full of energy again having been in contact with an architect and builders who specialise in SIP buildings with finished prefab wall and roof modules so we could assemble our home like an IKEA kit.
Pretty exciting times.