Nextchapternoosa

We are a British couple with a 12 and 14 year old (all citizens) that have lived in Sydney for 17 years. My husband is semi retiring and we're moving up to Noosa at the end of 2017. We know Noosa very well as we have had a holiday apartment there for the past 10 years but living up there full time will be a whole different experience. We are taking advantage of a crazy Sydney house market and keen to escape the increasingly challenging way of life ($30k+ private school fees per child, high cost of living, pressure on kids to be brilliant at everything, after school activities ad infinitum etc) and want to lead a simpler life. So, my questions are:
- what private high schools would you recommend (unless local state high schools are great?) Is there transport to/from school?
- My daughter plays netball and son water polo - are there any clubs they can join?
- what kind of social life do the teenagers have? Is there a bad drug problem?
- What do they tend to do after HSC - Uni of SC, UQ in Brisbane etc (worried leaving Sydney might limit their options?)
- What part time work opportunities are there for teenagers (keen for them to get a job when old enough).
Appreciate any advice.

Beoz

Can't help on Noosa (nice spot BTW - one of the only reasons to head to Queensland) but I am curious.

If you take housing out of the equation, then what makes Sydney have a high cost of living? Your next most expensive thing is a car which you won't purchase every year. Next probably comes groceries and that's about the same, utility bills - Sydney slightly cheaper.

You own your house in Sydney and planning on cashing in. Not sure how the cost of living then becomes a factor? Private school fees maybe?

Nextchapternoosa

Ah...still have big mortgage in Sydney..but can sell up, make enough $$ to buy house in noosa mortgage free. Can't afford to pay mortgage, school fees, eating out, holidays, extra curricular stuff in Sydney for much longer. If interest rates go up a lot of people are going to be in big trouble. Plus if a housing correction occurs which is being predicted, the opportunity to cash in will disappear.

Beoz

You mean you can't afford the mortgage. Not sure about school fees but the rest will cost the same in Noosa.

Just making sure you aren't falling for the urban myth. Just because housing is expensive in Sydney doesn't mean everything else is.

Good time to sell I reckon. Sydney property appears to be getting the very slight wobbles. I keep my eye on it. There's a few places in the areas I watch which have come off auction and are now for sale and a few that have been passed in. Owners getting greedy and buyers playing wait and sees.

Nextchapternoosa

I seriously don't know how most people are affording it in Sydney. We know couples earning $150k each and are finding it hard. I don't know whether people are living beyond their means (school fees, eating out a lot, expensive holidays) or just trying to keep up with the Joneses. Will the pressure to go skiing in Colorado at Xmas and Europe in Summer be the same in Noosa (not that we do that).

As for the actual move, I know hubby and I will be fine (we did it before moving from London to Sydney) and are very sociable. But worry that it will be a big adjustment for kids...guess just gotta feel the fear and do it anyway!

Beoz

Afford what? For couples who did not recently pay through the nose for a Sydney property, $300,000 for a couple is a piece of cake.

No different to any other city in Australia if you rent and invest elsewhere wisely. Salaries are higher in Sydney anyway.

Sounds like in your pending retirement its a good move though. Free up some of that massive equity.