Real Life Stories Buying A House In New Zealand

Date Published:

09/07/2008

Ken Pitts decided to pursue his passion and set up a polo vacation company Down Under with his wife. Here he tells us about visa applications, five-year business plans – and his abiding love of the game.

My name is Ken Pitts and I’m 57. Earlier this year, I bought a five bedroom house in Matira on New Zealand’s North Island with my wife Audrey. We offer polo vacations – guests stay with us and play polo next door at Westward Downs farm.

Our son, Matthew, has played polo and worked with the horses at Westward Downs since 2004. He left school at 16 to pursue his polo ambitions and was offered the job at the farm a few years later. We went over to see him when he toured with the Young England polo team and we liked it so much we thought we would move out here for good

The property next door to Westward Downs came up for sale shortly after our trip. It has a swimming pool, tennis courts, spa and stable block, which we are converting into two more bedrooms.

The Emigration Group helped us with our visa application. It’s a very complicated process and there are a lot of hurdles along the way. They also helped us to put together a five-year business plan – something I wouldn’t recommend anyone attempting without expert assistance!

Amberwood (as our house is known) took its first guests in February and we’ve had great feedback so far. We’ve still got a lot of work to do but we’re getting lots of bookings. We even had someone book a two-day training session for a birthday gift.

I worked in IT for 23 years. IT is a tough old business and I figured if I put as much effort into running this as I did working for someone else, we could make a go of it.

My wife has always been into horses and ran a small stables from our home in the New Forest. Our younger son, Toby, also plays polo and will be joining us at Amberwood when he finishes his A levels this summer. There’s a popular misconception about polo – that everyone has lots of money and is terribly posh. But behind the scenes there are a lot of people who work incredibly hard – and they’re certainly not all wealthy!

We tailor polo vacations to suit all level of riders, along with those who just want to holiday in New Zealand. We also offer horses for sale, stable management courses and lessons on the rudiments of the game. However, most people just want to saddle up and play. A typical seven-day stay at Amberwood costs around £1,000 and that includes four days of intensive riding, bed and breakfast and either lunch or dinner.

Argentina is often associated with polo but I think it can be quite an intimidating country to visit. For Brits, there are language barriers and cultural differences, but in New Zealand you don’t get that. Here, it’s much more relaxed and the approach to polo is different – the focus is on the game rather than money.

Moving to New Zealand has allowed us to buy a nice property, set up a business and still have money in the bank. We paid £270,000 for Amberwood – for that price, we would never have got anything near as beautiful or spacious in the UK. This is an incredibly exciting venture for us. Polo is a passion the whole family shares, and this is a great opportunity to create something solid for the future.

For more information on the Pitts’ polo vacations, call 0064 7 825 4535 or visit New Zealand Holidays.

Why not see how far your money might go if you buy abroad? Search for your dream overseas property on aplaceinthesun.com

Back to top