I.too, would be very wary of buying unseen, even in the UK, where estate agents aren't opposed to engineeing photos to omit certain unattractive features and dressing up some things in the write-up that are more favourable, whilst playing down others that are less desirable. They'll do anything to sell a house and claim their commission so you need to be on your guard. I can fully understand how tempting it is to want to buy from all those beautiful photos on the Net, but it could be a costly mistake if you get it wrong. That's not to say that all properties for sale are potential minefields. There are plenty that are what they say they are, but knowing which is which is the trick.
We bought our NZ property long distance, but we had Taffy acting as viewer. Even then we had quite a few nasty shocks when we found to what extent the previous owner had taken his DIY 'expertise'. You'd probably be better off with a newer property, but that still doesn't guarantee it would be totally trouble-free. You'd never know if there's an electricity pylon or pig farm next door to the place.
You could take a look on
here . There are handy tips for expats buying property in NZ if you hunt around the site. They are based in Christchurch and say that they deal a lot with people buying from overseas. They imply that you can trust in the properties they offer for sale, but don't actually show many, unless they've got them tucked away somewhere.