ABANERD

Is it a descent amount of money?

For leading a normal life, nothing too fancy!, getting mortgage, buying a house ($350,000) in a descent family oriented neighbourhood! meeting day to day needs comfortably, is it doable with this salary in Sydney???

Please help!

itxrd

Had a couple of very similar threads recently so try a search mate. Assume its the equiv of 30 - 35k in the uk

carolinephillips

You will struggle to find a decent house for that price- try renting for a while, though that is expensive too, but it gives you more flexibility to move if you are unhappy with an area. We rented for 8 months before we bought. Some never buy at all, as they can afford to rent a better property than they can buy, although it is wasted capital.

IvanM

If just one of you on that salary you will be renting. The idea of buying will be limited to units in dumps.

Rod-Helen-Poppy

depends on what you call not lavish.

i dont want to dampen your spirits, but in the general scheme of things i wouldnt say $85k was a huge salary for a family of 3.

you need to find out 2 main things:-
1)if that is with or without super.
2)if they will let you claim LAFHA - living away from home allowance. this is a tax break for you and costs your company nothing, in fact it will save them money truth be told.

make sure you ask those questions; if they dont offer LAFHA ask why not. its only a few forms for some lazy so and so in HR to fill in really lol, and it will beneift you financially.

unfortunately the take home pay on $85k isnt that huge, and renting can be expensive, just like in england the niceer areas atrract the higher rents. you will probably find you will have to live further from the CBD to get more for your money, which means a longer commute.

also remember if your kids are of school age you will have to pay for them to attend school - i think its around $4.5 to 5k per child, but its free if you have PR. however if you take up PR you lose the LAFHA.

if your partner is going to work and bumps up the joint income then you will be very comfortable, im just not that sure what type of housing and where you could buy for $350k in and around sydney.

find out where you are going to be based at work, then research housing. use this website http://www.131500.com.au/ type the address of the house in and your work adrress to give you an idea of the commute you will have.

sydney is a fantastic place, but be under no illusion that housing can be on the expensive side.

good luck.

markbhx

If you can fit into a 1 bed unit near the city.
Interestingly this has 2 car parking spaces?? You could rent them out for $150 a week each.

http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...oloo-106623435

comet555

I believe the poster is coming on a 175 permanent visa. They would not get LAFHA on that and they would also not have the school fees, unless of course their kids went to some sort of private school.

Rod-Helen-Poppy

no worries - i never saw that info

even so id still think things may be a bit on the tight side of things for a family of 3.

all subjective though i suppose.

Steve2009

Actually, to be fair it's not capital at all. It's cash flow, and it's less cash flow than it would take to support the mortgage on a similar property. Interest payments (i.e. rent on capital) are on average four times the rental cost for Australian properties.

ABCDiamond

That depends on the area of Sydney you choose.

$350,000 in Western Sydney (with its 2 million population) would get you something like this:


Central Sydney, without the 1 hour each way travel, would of course be much more expensive.

Something like this for $675,000


I have lived in both those suburbs, and the Greater Western Sydney options give more value for money, in my opinion.

We managed on a lot less than $85k, so if not extravagant, then you should be OK.

Sandra

In terms of comparison to help people can you give a break down of how you currently live and what are your expectations in terms of living comfortably.

I know that seems like setting yourself up for some harsh comparison but much easier for people to help you when they understand what you are looking for or think you might be looking for.

Cheers

ABCDiamond

That seems very high ?

Rents for houses were unchanged in the June 2010 quarter, at the median price of $350 per week, according to RPData.com

An example of a $350 pw property, to compare against the above $350,000 property purchase.



A $350k mortgage costs $500pw in interest, in the first year, but dropping every year thereafter.

Not quite twice as much.

Steve2009

I'm not a tax expert but the after tax income on 85k for a family is about AUD 64,000? Using the rule of one third, your total spend on housing (mortgage or rent) should be less than AUD 410 per week. That is one third of net income.

Steve2009

The interest only drops because of capital repayment which is a separate issue. A renter could equally save that capital and earn interest of between 3 and 6 per cent after tax on it.
You are not comparing like with like.

ABCDiamond

But you must also take account that rents normally rise each year, whilst a mortgage repayment becomes less and less of a persons income (percentage wise) each year.