Here’s What To Check Before You Buy On A Slope

That dream hill view can come with a quiet question: what’s actually holding the ground up? We sit down with Evan to unpack the real-world risks and realities of buying and building on a slope in New Zealand, with plenty of Wellington and Dunedin context where flat land is the exception, not the rule. If you’re looking at a house on a hill, this is the practical checklist conversation you want before you fall in love with the outlook.We get into retaining walls and hillside sections, including what to look for with older crib walls, why drainage and wall geometry matter, and how surcharge loads can turn a “fine for now” wall into a future failure. Evan also shares what it’s like building on steep terrain, where the house is tied into the hillside and carried out on long piles. It’s a candid look at the on-site reality of drilling, including what happens when an auger hits hard greywacke rock and the engineer has to make a call.From there we zoom in on the buyer’s red flags: subsidence and settlement clues such as uneven paths, cracking to foundations or cladding, and windows that have dropped out of level. We also talk about the messy part people forget, like limited access that makes repairs expensive or even borderline impossible, and how storm-driven slips can turn into insurance stress. If you’re doing property due diligence, organising a building inspection, or weighing up a hillside purchase, you’ll come away with clearer questions to ask and fewer surprises.If this helped, subscribe for more straight-up property and building chats, share it with a mate who’s house hunting on a slope, and leave a review with the biggest hill-section question you want answered next.Send us Fan Mail Support the showBuy your first home in NZ Weekly Webinars You thought it's not possible or the dream is too far away? Come to my webinar and I will show you, you are much closer to your dream, than you think you are!Join Here - https://bit.ly/4m9SL72