kellyjs

Hi everyone
I was hoping someone could share their experiences of their first few months in Oz,as we are hoping to move over in Sept\Oct this year with absolutely no idea of where to go and definitely no idea of where to settle! We need to worry about getting into long term leases as we will be looking at High Schools and most of them require you to live in their catchment area. Can anyone give me some advice about what to do when we get there? To short term lease (costs stupid money about 800 a week!) or to go straight into long term lease (do they make you commit to 6 months or more?)
Thanks as always for your support and advice
Kelly x

robos

try gold coast smile web site

http://www.goldcoastsmile.com/

do a search for posts by jonnahs mummy as she is part of gold coast smile

good luck

jan xx

tiredwithtwins

short term lets are just as expensive as holiday lets/hotel costs, depending on how big your family is i suppose.
some short term lets ive seen cost around $500/600 a week, but really are a good idea as they usually provide everything to assist you when you first land - most will pick you up from the airport, and provide a goody pack of groceries so you dont have to think about going out for stuff.
the alternative i suppose is booking a hotel for your first 2, 3 or 4 weeks - that way you can go centrally in brisbane, rent a car and then spend a week+ looking at the different areas.
im sure there are plenty of posters who have gone straight for a 3 or 6 month lease on a property - even in an area they dont know - that way will give you definate roots and get rid of a lot of uncertainty. the only downside is that unless you have a reli or friend in an area to go and look at the property for you, you cant guarantee you arent getting a dud!!!
Do plenty of research on the various areas - the web is a gold mine of info, especailly on sites like this one....just type in the area you are researching into the search - chances are someone will have discussed it!
and dont be shy about pm-ing people who you think may be able to help you....if they live in an area you are interested, pm them - or ask in a thread - what they think of the area.

sorry to waffle on......hope i havent bored you to

good luck,

sue

neil.b

Maybe a good place to start is to go to the particular state gov website and search the high school list. Visit the high school websites and look around,. There is always an email address for the principal of each school to drop him/her a line and find out if that establishment is right for your children. You then have a basic need catered for and you can then focus on housing in that area.

Neil

mand8002

We stayed in a furnished apartment in Brisbane when we first arrived as it was very central. We had no idea what suburb we wanted to live in so we spent the first few days just driving round different areas. We had schools to find so it was important to secure a rental as quickly as possible.
Mrs Dagboy has a couple of furnished rentals for short term stays you could look at
www.destinationbrisbane.com.au

suzimc

You might find some useful info here:

www.yellabrickroad.com

rossifumi

Where are you planning to settle?

Hold on, I know this really helpful couple who'll sort you out re: accomodation in Albany Creek, couldn't help enough, oh no they let us down at the last minute didn't they, I forgot.

Seriously now, send us a PM and we'll try and suggest ideas. Mrs Dagboy is a good source of information.


Rich

kellyjs

Thanks to everyone for the info. I just woke up (feeling the worse for wear after two days of celebrating finally getting the bond request!) I'll go through all the links you've sent me and come back to you all. I have looked at the Queensland schools website and trawled through quite a few school sites too. I'm quite liking the look of Brisbane State High and Bracken Ridge, My daughter likes Capalba...All miles apart from each other! I think the decision where to live will be totally dependant on which school we choose to be honest.
Thanks again, get back to you soon
Kelly x

kellyjs

Rich thats terrible! Will PM you later

phoenixinoz

We landed in Aus having never even visited before. I pre-booked a motel in the city for a week and the owners kindly offered to let us stay one day at a time after that if we couldn't find somewhere to live. This was cheaper than staying in a short term rental which by normal renting standards is VERY expensive.

We went looking for areas and rentals and managed to find somewhere and move in 10 days after arrival. The cost was almost a third of what a short term place cost, and it included a pool. We figured this wasn't a holiday, it was our new life, so we didn't want to line anyone else's pockets when eventually we needed to save as much towards our own home.

We stayed in the rental place for seven months, then bought our own home once we knew where we wanted to live.

Hope this helps and good luck

smiths

Hi

What's the name of the place you stayed in the City and how much was it, if you don't mind me asking

Heather