Wanganui: Clicking into place

5 Edmonds Drive, Wanganui

It's one thing surfing the internet for a bargain on TradeMe, but Valerie Gardiner prefers to buy bigger items, like houses. Having lived in London for 24 years and following the death of her husband, she decided it was time to come home to New Zealand. The question she faced was where would she and her two teenage children, Pascale and Luke, live?

Weighing up the pros and cons of the big cities, beach locations and even Australia, Valerie decided on Wanganui, which is where she went to school.

From London she spent a year talking to real estate agents in the area and getting friends to send newspapers.

"My parents viewed a hefty percentage of the Wanganui property market while I checked out the internet sites daily," says Valerie.

"Wanganui is full of lovely old houses, and I was sure I would find my New Zealand treasure, which I could restore. But when I was looking they were hard to come by or they had some flaw that made them less desirable."

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