Hi Scaria197

There are loads of nice suburbs in Sydney, it really depends on what you priorities are. My wife and I moved to Sydney in March this year, we are renting a 2 bed appt in Drummoyne, which has beed ok to get us started. We pay AUD$320 per week (paid fortnightly). We're planning to move out towards the end of the year, I think we're in a similar situation to you (both 28, no kids yet), so here are some of the areas we are looking at (which we consider 'nice'):

BALMAIN - bus/ferry connections to CBD, nice parks + shops.
MOSMAN - ferry connections, nice parks, more boutique shops.
ROSE BAY - Expensive, more 'senoir population', nice beaches, limited shops.
SUMMER HILL - Nice Village Feel, Train connection to CBD.
SURRY HILLS - Close to CBD, Trendy area, shops, nightlife etc.
COOGEE - Nice Beaches, Bus connections to CBD, bit pricey.

On weekends my wife and I often explore differnt suburbs for something to do and a bit of a recon for when we move!
Our priorities are a nice suburb close to the CBD for work but not right in the centre. Parking is a nightmare in the city so public transport is a consideration when looking where to live.

I work (or hope to find work) in IT / Project Management. It's been 5 months now and I've spent most of it applying for jobs. (3 interviews in 2 days - I should finally land something next week)!

Hope this info helps! Good luck with the move,
Mark

Plus...

Yeah, you tell 'em! Every real estate agents I went to in Sydney all quoted weekly rental prices and then said 'paid fortnightly' - I never got quoted a monthly price, nor have I ever seen it advertised that way in Sydney.

I was quoted weekly but they wan you to pay monthly...that was for all 8 I saw that day...however as you can see it differs...

I certainly wouldn't rely on getting casual work here at the moment, there are a lot of people out there looking for work. Having said that though I keep reading about how impossible restaurants/cafes find it to get staff. With regards IT, it really depends on your skill set. OH works for a consultancy, they let some people go a few months back, had a lot of people "on the bench", sent home people on 457s etc. now eveyone is back billing and there are shortages in certain areas. Do be prepared though, the recruitment process can be very slow here and it can be tough to get senior roles without a network. It is very common in IT to have to take a "starter job" just to get some local experience, and I don't know what US salaries are like but Sydney salaries certainly don't compare to London, unfortunately real estate prices do!

Sydney is an amazing place to live and work though. As a childless couple I would say make the most of it while you can and live close to the city. Balmain would be my no.1 choice of where to live as a couple, OH and I also lived in Potts Point many moons ago which is fab, but not exactly cheap these days.

I agree I LOVE BAlmain and would live there for the villagey feel, it reminds me of Hampstead in London !!! But nearer the action so to speak....

I would live there WITH a child if I could afford more than a shoebox!!!

Just to be pedantic - I work in Payroll IT and most people do not get paid monthly, it depends on the sector you work in. Many Government agencies and Retail Industries pay fortnightly

Err, we pay fortnightly.

Yeh but you are an argumentative dufus. I pay rent fortnightly and is was advertised weekly.

Govt departments always pay fortnightly. I work in IT recruitment and all my clients in the private sector pay their perms and contractors monthly. Very rare outside of govt do employers pay weekly or fortnightly and the jobs that are paid this way are usually unskilled.

So, the conclusion is that some people pay rent fortnightly and some pay monthly.

Dufus? Is there such a word?

I get paid fortnightly & have for the last year with two different employers....everyone I know gets paid fortnightly. I work in IT. I have just signed a lease & was given the option to pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly....

OI, dont forget me, I pay rent weekly.

Used to get paid weekly as an IT contractor, now as a permy its monthly wages.

I and most my friends are paid fortnightly, seems quite usual here in most companies. For me and the OH it works really well as we get paid alternate weeks so every week have something coming into the account.

We pay our rent monthly, when we took the contract the agent said under $500 a week they offer the choice of fortnightly or monthly, over $500 and it is monthly only.

Our rent in Balmain is $700 a week for a 2 bed house

FFS!!! Rent is paid however you agree it with your rental agent!!! The rent is a weekly amount as everyone agrees, I hope!!! We had the option as to how we wanted to pay it, I plumped for a monthly payment as it suits me but they would of accepted weekly or fortnightly as well.
As for the OP's original question, with reference to Sydney, it is a HUGE place with no end of suburbs to suit everyone. Base your choice on; type of area you want (beach, harbour side, outer rural, inner town), social mix (caucasian, asian, middle eastern, mix, cosmopolitan), commute to desired working area (in Sydney the North Ryde is a large IT employment area) and check the http://www.131500.info/realtime/newjourney.asp website for typical journey times, and then look at what you can afford and redo the whole lot all over again!!!
The social mix is hard to determine without local knowledge but is important to some people who may find it easier to reside in an area of similar race/beliefs/activities.
A decent website to check for suburb opinions is http://www.cityhobo.com/index.php which has an honest and maybe slightly tongue in cheek view on suburbs.
Having said all that, our original choice, done online by canvassing opinions and looking at google maps and using the aforementioned websites still required time once here to confirm/deny our choice.
Hope some of this proves useful.

Good post!

Here is a rough guide on ethnic concentration in Sydney suburbs:

Chinese especially Shanghainese - Ashfield
Turkish, moslems - Auburn
Lebanese, Vietnames, Muslems - Bankstown
Filipino - Blacktown
Jewish - Bondi
Vietnamese, but also Lao and Han Chinese - Cabramatta
Cantonese - Chatswood
Greek - Earlwood/Brighton-Le-Sands
Korean and Cantonese - Eastwood
Assyrian, Yugoslavs, Vietnamese, Italian and Hispanic backgrounds - Fairfield
Sri Lankan/South Indian - Homebush
Armenian - Forestville, Willoughby
Bangladeshi - Lakemba
Chinese - Hurstville
Indonesian - Kingsford
Italian - Leichhardt
Serbs - Liverpool
Indians - Parramatta
Danes, Norwegians and Swedes - Manly
Polish - Mount Kuring-gai
Shanghainese/Korean - Strathfield
Japanese - Northbridge
Portuguese - Petersham
South African/Jewish - St Ives
Russians - Waverley

Well, all nationalities live in all suburbs and the above shows slightly higher concentration only.

http://www.domain.com.au/Public/Prop...x?adid=6104138. I like Cremorne Point. Its close to the city by bus and ferry. Cremorne village has nice restaurants and a friendly feel. Its a hop and a skip from Mosman village which is nice for shopping. I lived in Sydney for 20 years and love this area. Paying a little more for rent in the better areas close to the city can sometimes work out about the same as travel expenses and time lost travelling.