A first home with heaps of space for $350k

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PHOTO:RED HOT REAL ESTATE/SUPPLIED This property in Waimate seeks offers over $350 and offers a plethora of opportunity to first time buyers.

According to STUFF finding an affordable property is hard – but there are still some gems out there. Each week, Homed is featuring a first-time-buyer friendly home on the market that might (just about) come in within budget.

No, you haven’t slipped back to 2010, although the price on this two bed home in Waimate, with its spacious section and sleepout might make you think you have.

Built in the 50s, this fuss-free weatherboard home barely takes up a third of its 642sqm section, one that’s just crying out for a couple of soccer nets, or even a big extension down the track. And the owners are asking for enquiries over $350,000.

**RED HOT REAL ESTATE/SUPPLIED**

**This property in Waimate seeks offers over $350 and offers a plethora of opportunity to first time buyers.**

“[Waimate] is probably one of the last places in New Zealand that hasn’t been subdivided,” says real estate agent Rose Burke, who is handling the listing.

The Auckland transplant, who has lived in Waimate for about 16 years, says, if you’re looking for a slower, more relaxed way of life, Waimate has everything you need.

“We don’t have traffic lights. We don’t have roundabouts. Five o’clock on a Friday night, rush hour is three cars at the stop sign on the corner.

**RED HOT REAL ESTATE/SUPPLIED**

**The living room has plenty of space for the family.**

“When I moved down, I bawled my eyes out coming across on the ferry, because I thought I was leaving everything behind. But you drive into Waimate, and everything just lifts off your shoulders. Everybody just cruises.”

While the town is small, that also means “everything is within pram-pushing distance”. And there are bigger towns are just a short car trip away.

“We’re half an hour between Oamaru and Timaru. It’s an hour’s trip from the lakes, which is a big holiday destination for us down here. You can still go ice skating, it’s only a few hours to Tekapo.”