sarisburysleuth

We desperately need some advice - we have been considering Australia for some time now and have decided that we should go for it. However, the more we try to find the 'right' place, the more undecided we become.

We are a family of four, with two children under 10. I am a design engineer (although now a technical manager) that could pretty much turn my hands to anything if given the chance and my wife is a specialist paediatric nurse.

Our house wish list is as follows:

• Within 10km of the coast
• Priced up to $500k inc. around 0.5 acre (could never afford this in a decent part of the UK)
• Within 30mins of civilisation - shops, etc
• Within easy reach of good schools, a decent hospital and in an area where some form of technical/engineering/manufacturing work exists, although I don't know anything about the mining industry.....yet!

We have considered Perth, Melbourne and Sydney so far and are really struggling to find a location that we can focus our attention on. Unfortunately we seem to be immediately drawn to the cities as it's the obvious choice for good career opportunities, but surely there must be some decent jobs outside these areas.

Any suggestions or feedback gratefully received.

spuddyo

It's hard to suggest one area in Australia as it's so big. Do you have a preference for one state that might get you started ? The $500k budget isn't going to buy you a 1/2 acre near any of the main cities, even 50km out you will stuggle to find a block of that size wth a livable house on it.

How about the weather - do you want to live a hot and tropical lifestyle or more temperate with cold winters and hot summers ?

I have noticed a lot of Brits arriving in the area where i live just recently, on The Central Coast 1.5hrs north of Sydney. Your $500k will buy you a three bedroom house on a 1/4 acre block around here and it has good amenities, schools, shops, great beaches, lakes, light industry and commuting distance to Newcastle and Sydney.

good luck with your search.

On the other hand, how about Tasmania ? $500k will buy you a nice block near Hobart. I'm sure others will chime in shortly with suggestions.

Dorothy

$500k is not going to get you 1/2 acre block with a decent house 10 km from the coast in the Perth area.

Penny45

Not an expert but think you should forget about Sydney and Perth for a budget of under $500k. Adelaide may suit - my school friend has a 500m block one street back from the beach in North Haven. Paid about $500k, you can go further out and get more for your money. There is some sort of submarine base/building going on around that area too. She gets train into the city 20mins I think - quite often dolphins swimming when she crosses a bridge! Lovely coast line, can park anywhere very easily and Largs quite a nice wee town nearby. Much easier to get about than Sydney or Perth too, some people say it's boring but I like the open feel of it. Wineries just an hour and half away with nice countryside.

elice_in_oz

Nor in Melbourne or Sydney for that matter.

$500k got us a 680sqm block with a really good 3-bedroom house about 25km from the beach and within 30 minutes out of peak hours driving to the CBD.

With your budget, you will have to either revise your wishlist or go quite rural.

moneypenny20

Go back to the drawing board. Can you get a visa? If yes then move on to can you get work. If yes, where? What's the climate like in those places where you can get work. Do you like it hot, humid, temperate, dry etc etc. Then you narrow it down even more, finally coming down to how close to the sea you want, how close to the CBD you want, what suburb do you need to be in to go to a particular school etc etc etc.

Bermudashorts

Or Sydney or Melbourne.

Perhaps Brisbane or Adelaide are options.

mulben

If you broadened your search from just coastal to inland areas with good aquatic areas , you could probably get all your list in North East Victoria in
Yarrawonga (pop.27000) or Albury-Wodonga (pop 105000), with Wangaratta (pop.16000) a maybe.

Specialist medical facilities in Albury (best outside Sydney in rural NSW )
One hour by plane to Sydney / Melbourne.
There are some great little villages just north of Albury. Lots of hobby farm blocks.

quoll

You wont get anything for $500k in Canberra - and it is more than 10km from the coast anyway.

I dont fancy your chances with that wish list TBH - not if you want jobs as well as a place to live

sarisburysleuth

Sorry, I should have mentioned that when we had considered Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, we were not looking for a 0.5 acre plot! This has crept onto the wish list since then - we have always wanted a little space around us. There are houses that meet most of our requirements, but we're uncertain of the job opportunites in those areas. If we can find a hospital for my wife to work in, we should be OK for a visa, on paper at least.

Some of the places we have found are:

Warnbro, Rockingham, Aldinga Beach, Mornington and we very much like semi-rural.

But where do people work out there???

Thank you for your reponses so far.
As before, any ideas are very welcome

elice_in_oz

Mornington is mostly a holiday destination for Melburnians so some of the real estate is not cheap. People nearer Melbourne commute to Melbourne to work, others I guess work locally in the area. Not sure about hospitals in Mornington, although I know Frankston has a rather large one. Commute to Melbourne will depend on how far you are into the peninsula. Trains stop at Frankston so it could take anything from one hour to 2.5 hours.

Buzzy--Bee

You can buy acreage in Langwarrin South for about $500k, this is with NO house on it. This is an area about 50ks from the CBD and about 6ks from the coast.

You might get an old knock-down included in the price.

BB

kips

Like you we had a budget of $500,000. After looking at what that buys in Perth we decided to look 30-45km north and south of the city.

We have ended up Baldivis, which is 43km from Perth, a 10-minute drive from Warnbro and 15 minutes from Rockingham. Rockingham has a public hospital and there is a private hospital at nearby Waikiki.

The train ride from Warnbro to the CBD takes 40 minutes and this option is used by plenty of workers in this area.

The drive in rush hour can be an hour or more depending on whereabouts you need to be in Perth and if there are roadworks.

My husband works in Osborne Park in Perth but it only takes him 35 minutes as he leaves at 2pm and finishes work at 10.30pm so misses rush hour traffic.

There are lots and lots of British expats in this area, particularly families because $400,000-$500,000 goes a lot further here than Perth.

We've just bought a flat 770sqm block (35m long and 22m wide) for $208,000 on the new semi-rural Parkland Heights estate in Baldivis. Couldn't do this in Perth. We've just signed up with a builder to build a 4x2 house.

Have to be honest the only bit of Rockingham I like is the foreshore which is lovely. And the bit of Warnbro I like is by the ocean.

I would prefer to live closer to Perth - simply because all the jobs I am applying for are in Perth - and was willing to live in an older suburb in an older house which needed a bit of work but hubby insists on a new house with a swimming pool on a large block !!!

eddie007

If the nurse LOoking to move is a RSCN and not adult as well then you can forget Waikiki private... RGH has a temp job freeze... Peel Health campus down in Mandurah might have jobs for paeds nurses...or Freo... Or Joondalup.. But best bet would be PMH until the Fiona Stanley has been completed...

Using public transport for shift working nurses IS difficult... And a lot of the hospitals charge staff for parking.... I understand its $75 for freo nurses right now... RGH and Peel dont...

If the nurse is general trained and doesnt mind going back to an adults job prospects will be better...

Another issue is... Being a specialist in the UK doesnt mean your qualifications and experience will be recognised here... Nurses often find themselves back at square one....

fish.01

A possibility:

You could get a place like this 8km from the beach in a semi rural area on > 1 acre out the back of the Gold Coast. City of 500,000 so should have all your requirements though I don't know much about the Currumbin Valley so a local may be able to say whether they are suitable. Not the most useable land, not for traditional crops anyway, but should be very private in a beautiful setting.

Listed at $499,000 (you should offer well under)
one and a quarter acre block
8km to beach

http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...lley-109575021

or

$542,000 (make them an offer under 500)
10km to beach

http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...lley-109096421

or

Dual living 5 bedroom
$550,000 (make them an offer under 500)
one and a quarter acre block
11km to beach

http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...gera-109605616