robo500

Hi Everyone,

Im in the uk at the mo, wife and 2 boys aged 6years and 7months, ive got a telephone interview on Thursday with a company in Perth in the Osborne Park area, sorry to ask a question that im sure has been asked a thousand times but what areas are good for families with a nice community spirit etc.
currently my commute to work here in the uk takes about 45 mins im not really looking for my commute to take any longer than that in Perth so taking a centre point of Osborne Park how big a radius should i be looking?

We have never ever been to Australia before and thinking about it all im slightly nervous of the move however its something ive wanted to do for a good while, i guess im in search of a better lifestyle and better area to bring up my kids and the fact that my job pays more in Australia is also tempting although i understand i cant directly compare my Uk salary in the Uk i earn 27.5k a year my same job in Australia is offering a salary of 80k aud a year converted its about 45k gbp.

Thanks for any help

Vegemite Kids

Hi Robo,

Welcome to the forum.

27.5k GBP -> $80k is a good rate and I think you'll be relatively comfortable here on that even though Perth is expensive. (I say relatively cos I dont know what your current lifestyle is like, but on 27.5:80 you should be able to at least duplicate what you currently have)

As to suburbs, have a look at www.reiwa.com.au and www.realestate.com.au focussing your search on Innaloo, Glendalough, Woodlands and Wembley Downs initially

All are nice suburbs and very close to Osbourne Park.

As you are prepared to travel 45mins you could also consider anything from Ocean Reef in the North to Beechboro/Ellenbrook in the east and Murdoch /Leeming in the south, although the traffic coming in from the south across the Narrows can be quite bad so you may want to stay north of the river (NOR). This may not be an issue if you are working shifts.

If you are comfortable posting your budget for renting / buying, we can maybe help you narrow down the suburbs.


VK

robo500

Hello VK,

Thanks nice to be here, where abouts are you from?.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I will have a nosey on the websites you mentioned cheers for the info.

I suppose that was going to be one of my next questions in that would we be able to have a comfortable lifestyle on that kind of salary? my wife is a medical secretary so i think she might be able to earn somewhere near to that kind of salary too, what with never ever visiting Australia before its a big step out into the unknown however i feel its worth a chance as the way things are over here is starting to get me down.

With regards to renting or buying im not really sure yet of what my price range would be (im not really sure where to start working it all out) i suppose the best thing to do is rent first we dont particulary lead an expensive lifestyle here in the Uk with 2 kids they kind of take any spare money youve got generally lol, we have a mortgage here in the Uk and currently paying around £500 gbp a month on it and we are fairly comfortable with that i.e still got enough money for bills/shopping/treats etc. with salaries being what we are likely to be earning do you know what range realistically we should be looking at?

Cheers

northernbird

I would agree with Vegemite Kids regards location. As for salary for a medical secretary you would probably be looking at around the $50k a year mark for a Level 2 Medical Secretary. Not sure of the exact pay scales but nowhere near $80k pa.

edmontron

Osborne Park is a big semi industrial area. It would be handy for you to rent in the areas previously mentioned, but these are expensive areas to buy into. Consider going further North, in areas such as Duncraig, Greenwood, etc where it gets cheaper to rent and to buy, as Osborne Park in any case is easy to reach via the Freeway. In Innaloo you would probably rent a 3/4 bedroom/ 2 bathroom modern house with only a small al fresco area as an outdoor entertainment space where as further north you would have more garden to the front and rear, maybe a pool and the house would be older probably from the seventies.

jimbo_d

Ossy Park is also a great place to live and for somewhere close to the city is still relatively affordable to buy or rent

HelenTD

In addition to Innaloo, Glendalough, Woodlands and Wembley Downs, I would add in Doubleview, Scarborough, Karrinyup, Tuart Hill, Stirling, Mt Hawthorn, Joondanna, Yokine, Gwelup, Wembley, North Perth, Leederville. These suburbs are 1-2 suburbs away from Osborne Park and would also be closer to a large variety of hospitals for your OH, plus there are private practices in many locations. Osborne Park is very busy with traffic and it can take a fairly long time to move through.

Very heavy traffic on Hutton Street (and nearby streets) heading on/off Mitchell Freeway ramps, also traffic coming through Wembley/Glendalough heading for that Hutton St entry for the freeway north. Busy around the Powis St end for traffic coming off the freeway. The freeway is a bit confusing around Osborne Park, as you can exit the freeway at Powis St when heading north, and you can enter the freeway at Powis St when heading south. At Hutton St, you can enter and exit going both north and south (don't worry, you'll soon get used to this).

I wouldn't recommend Ocean Reef in the North to Beechboro/Ellenbrook in the east and Murdoch /Leeming in the south, if you want to keep your commuting time down. The Mitchell Freeway is very slow moving in the morning peak, almost at a standstill, same goes for Kwinana Freeway (the name for the freeway from SOR until it meets the Narrows Bridge in the CBD). Wanneroo Road can also be slow in the peak. Some parts of Beechboro I would consider dodgy and although there are a few BE members who love Ellenbrook, I wouldn't fancy the commute or the location personally. Some people love Morley.

As VK said, your budget for buying would limit the choices of suburbs, but it would probably be good to rent reasonably close to Osborne Park while you get to know Perth. There are lots of parks and playgrounds scattered around the suburbs, plus at various beaches, so family-friendly.

fairywings

Not sure if you are interested in travelling by train, we live in Port Kennedy (Warnbro station is very close) and my hubby works in Ozzy Park. The trains are very good, cheaper than driving, very frequent and gets you past the traffic. Hubby loves looking out of the window at the cars stuck on the freeway.

What we thought about before we moved here was what was important, we needed to be close to the beach, close to a railway station, the house had to have 4 beds and 2 bathrooms (only so that we would have space for people to come and stay, as people visit for longer than a weekend we needed to factor in some space so that we weren't on top of our guests). We then looked on the real estate websites to work out what areas we could afford and which ticked all of the boxes. On our visa validation visit we drove around the areas we were interested in and had a look at their shopping centres at different times of the day to see how they feel. I have to admit that we picked well as we've now lived in Oz for just over 2 years and love PK and Perth.

Good luck.

HelenTD

Good point, you can travel to Glendalough or Stirling stations, depending on which part of Osborne Park is closest. Would that involve a change of trains from one line to another? I also use the supermarket test, or shopping centre if there is one nearby, can give you lots of clues about the area.

fairywings

Glendalough & Stirling stations are on the Clarkson/Joondalup to Mandurah lines, you don't need to change trains as they go straight through Perth however the timetable suggests its separate trains. www.transperth.wa.gov.au is very good at route planning, if you put road names in it will provide you will public transport routes and times

robo500

Just wanted to log back on quickly and say thanks to everyone who has replied its much apprieciated, im at work at the mo so shall have a good read later on tonight and take in the great info you peeps have given!

I cant promise i wont come back with more questions though lol

Cheers

HelenTD

That's what we're here for!

Vegemite Kids

I recommended that 'circle' based on the fact that I work in the CBD and have collegues that live in Ocean Reef and Beechboro who can get into the city in less than 40 mins and my boss lives in Melville and it takes her about 25 mins to get to the office, therefore thought that Ozzy Park wouldn't be too much differnet. Thanks for letting me (and others) know thats not the case Good info to have. Must admit though that the collegue who lives in Ocean Reef starts at 0630, so that may skew the travel times.

ETA: wanted to karma you for this info, but apparently I have to spread my reputation around LOL

Vegemite Kids

We fully expect that, and will be disappointed if you dont!

HelenTD

I personally don't get the whole getting up in the middle of the night thing. OK, an early start should mean an early finish, so you can have a couple of hours of leisure before you go to bed at 8 pm, leaving suburbs dull and lifeless.

I do often travel north on the freeway, getting on at Vincent St, at about 8-ish. Going south, the traffic is hardly moving, right up until about 8.45 by the time I've got north to about Hepburn Ave. Sometimes it's due to an accident, but there's just such a large volume of traffic now. I've been stuck at the Hutton St lights for 3 changes before now. Osborne Park has got very busy too, and the traffic lights and road engineering just hasn't kept up with the growth. You learn which roads to use to avoid a dangerous right turn, because there's no arrow, and loads of cars trying to do it. Perth really needs some decent planners and councillors!