Wayne Potgieter

Take away anonymous usernames. Bet you a billion zim dollars people will choose their words carefully when they are not hiding behind a false username.

I am out with Manflu. Sorry peeps, but as patches so nicely put it, a snotty nose is no longer socially acceptable. Next one the first round is on me for atonement.

Ride your bike more dammit

That last shed is amazing. We also were considering one a while back as I prefer the bikes to stand on the wheels rather than be hung up.

I am a little sick with some bug at the moment. In fact, going for my first Covid test today, So unless I show major signs of improvement, I doubt I will make this one as I am pretty sure none of you want to catch my germs. However, if things improve, then I am totally in.

Anyone on here looking for a bunk bed desk combo for their kids? I bought and installed one for my daughter but she wants to go back to a normal bed. Includes a mattress and fancy memory foam topper. The one we have is solid white and the pedestal thingy moves around on wheels. I bought it new in April from these guys. https://nzlifestyleimports.co.nz/product/miami-white-loft-bunk-single-bed-desk/ $500 to a hubber for everything.

not sure why you are quoting my post when I was not the one to bring it up.

actually, there are amazing brands of vegan dog food that provides a fully balanced and complete nutrition plan. The science has come a long way. This is not the case for cats.

I agree with Chris. The gears are not really used much when my daughter rides a 20 inch. My son is on a 24 inch and he uses his gears all the time. Other than the gears, my kids have both used this and its really quite bulletproof https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/bikes/kids-bikes/kids-hybrid-bikes/precaliber/precaliber-20-7-speed/p/28106/?colorCode=black

Totara Park?

https://www.ruroc.com/en_nz/atlas-2-gold.html One of my favourite helmet brands has made a 18K gold one off helmet.

Hey DawieO I must apologise, I realise I started this ball rolling and then totally flaked out. Things are crazy in the Potgieter household right now - no excuse. When we do eventually get together, the coffee and/or beer is on me.

Please tag as NSFW.

Its actually nice on the other side of the bay. Glen Innes used to get a bad wrap, but its really coming along. Lots of money being spent on improving the neighbourhood. Its a good investment as its increasing in value almost daily and really quite central.

Which areas?

This is good advice.

I have come to accept that NZ does not have a huge casino sector because everyone gambles in property. I am going to ask my architect to install a blackjack table in my casino house

I found out something interesting yesterday when talking with the bank. When building, essentially you have two main options. 1. You buy a turnkey landand build, you put down 10% and the balance pays out to the developer when certificates of completion are done. 2. You buy land, and then appoint a builder to do the work - banks view this as a construction loan. You pay 10% on the land, then the bank settles when the deal goes unconditional, you begin to pay interest on the land mortgage. While that is going on, you pay 10% to the builder, and the bank pays the builder in staged payments through the build. Again, you only pay the interest on that mortgage. Generally speaking, you get more bang for your buck with option 2. Reason being, is with option 1, the developer has to buy the land and front 100% of the costs of the build. He is only paid out 9 months later and he has probably borrowed that cash. So he will be seeking a higher profit margin for his work. Because the house has a certain value as dictated by the market, the highest probability way to increase margin is to build slightly smaller and for lower specifications to create that higher margin. So, if you can afford the interest on the mortgage while renting, option 2 provides a better return. This means that in the time that it takes to build, your investment will grow a little more than a standard turnkey. I found that rather interesting. EDIT: There are downsides, time to completion on option 2 is about 3 months longer as plans need to be drawn up and sent to council. Also, you are facing higher risk as the builder starts already getting paid, so partnering with the right builder is essential.. Turnkey has less of these risks.

remember points 1, 6 and Interns contribution at number 7...Estate Agents Suck

where are you looking ?

That yamaha tri city scooter is quite interesting. It is not recognised as a bike in NZ. Next time you see one, take a look at the number plate. NZTA considers them cars and a motorbike licence is not needed. Great for zipping around town to work and back and none of the REGO charges associated with bikes.

There is an article floating around from January 2020 that says that the highest increasing neighbourhood from 2010 to 2020 was Silverdale with a 300% growth in median value over those ten years. At this point, in 2020 it has softened a little and is currently on 7%, of which 2.7% growth has happened since Covid began. Assuming a drop from the current trend of 14% per annum drops to 8% per annum, the median price increased from $275,000 in 2010, to $1,255 today (this reflects what I have seen myself over the weekend and are the properties I am looking to buy) then we decrease the rate of growth to a total thumbsuck of 8%, the same property increases to $2.8m in 2031. Now if these forward focussed figures are even remotely accurate, thats quite scary. Sure, a lot can happen between now and then, we could even see significant downturn, but the last ten years worth of growth is pretty scary for my risk averse south african brain.

I might be able to - just waiting on some information from a builder about a possible meeting with some designer dudes. If that happens, then I am out. If it doesn't happen - then I am in!

After a weekend of property hunting in the Silverdale/Red Beach/Millwater/Milldale area these are my observations. 1. Estate agents here suck. Worse than used car salesman that put banana skins in gearboxes. Totally one sided and blatantly obnoxious about putting their own needs in front of both the buyer and sellers. Apologies if anyone is related to an estate agent on this thread. 2. I looked in these areas 6 months ago and the average price has increased by about 20% and climbing. 3. I really like the style of clean and modern houses and think I could quite comfortably live there. 4. Its far from Auckland, but not as far as Wanaka. 5. Land and build is the best option for us. Freedom to design what we like, no estate agents (see point 1) and the prices are still somewhat reasonable (as much as AKL houses can be) 6. Estate agents suck.

Isn't the human body amazing. We can fill it with absolute rubbish and by and large it can derive the nutrients it needs. I would say that we have evolved to be able to process meat reasonably efficiently. I question whether or not that is the most efficient design. I read a few studies a while back about the bodies ability to absorb plant proteins more efficiently than animal proteins. I would say that plant proteins are better, but that does not mean animal proteins are bad, they are just "less good". My opinion here is that a whole food, plant based diet is the most optimum nutrition programme for humans. But again, that doesn't mean we cannot process or derive the nutrients we need from other sources.