"That was the plan when we bought it a couple of years ago," he said.
"But the wife is a bit of a family person and she doesn't want to be too far away from all her grandchildren - she loves them being around - so we bought a place in town."
Meads is looking forward to some quiet time in his new house, a four-bedroom property in Te Kuiti.
"We have no immediate plans other than to take things quietly at this stage," he said.
PGG Wrightson Real Estate agent Peter Wylie said the farm, which has two homes on three titles and comes with a two-stand woolshed, a hayshed, a farm storage cottage, cattle and sheep yards, would go under the hammer at Waitete Rugby Club in Te Kuiti on November 30.
Mr Wylie said it would definitely sell, probably to someone in the dairy sector or people looking to downsize their farms.
Meads has spoken before of how difficult he would find it to leave after a life on the farm.
He told author Brian Turner in his 2002 biography Meads that he and Verna had thought "once or twice" of buying a house in Te Kuiti, but he felt it easier to relax out of town.
He said he would miss not hearing dogs bark occasionally in the night.
He also doubted he could get used to going outside and looking over the fence at neighbours.
"It's just not me," he said. "It will be a sad day when we've got to leave the farm."
But life on the farm was hard, Verna Meads said in the book.
"We never had holidays - I can think of only two holidays in our lifetime. I am a bit sorry now that I never took the kids away."
The family also suffered financial hardship.
The book says Meads at one time bought more land, borrowing money from overseas to pay for it.
But it turned into a "nightmare" - they discovered one morning that 'we owed half a million more than we thought' - which resulted in a 14-year battle with the bank.
The family struggled to recover.
The book says part of the farm was sold to repay some of the debt and that losing a major part of their property meant the couple were dejected and, at times, angry and despairing.
Meads said: "I am not on any rich list in New Zealand and never will be."
The farm has been in the news over the years.
A sign on the property advertising the Chiefs Super 12 rugby team was put up illegally. The rugby franchise was told the 6m by 3m billboard - which carried the message "You're in the heart of Chiefs country" - might be a distraction to motorists and needed resource consent.
