Matt

Hello all,

I met a guy over in the UK mid-march.

A job offer has come out of it.

25th April - "please make a decision as we would like you to start at the end of May".

Let me explain my position;

I have just gone self employed here in the UK so no notice period to serve. This means we can up sticks and go if we choose to.

My pal moved to Brisbane last September and if I had a choice I would go there - we have been considering applying for ages but like a lot of people were too lazy.

This company will fast track me in on a work visa.

The job is in Sydney.

The company that want me are willing to work out a visa for me, and something for my wife which I have to find out about tomorrow.

We have an 8 year old daughter.

We live in a very small country village between Leicester and Northampton at the moment and our daughter has a very pleasant life in and out of school, can ride her bike in the street etc..

We would not want this to be any different in Oz.

So, I have been looking on-line at rental property, and also reading some of the posts on this forum.

I have seen the posts about certain areas of Sydney being rather less desirable to live in.

I am willing to make the jump and rent over in Oz as well as paying a mortage here until my house gets sold (will be applying for PR as soon as I get off the plane), but I dont want my family to have a lower standard of living.

So, on to the advice.

We are looking for a nice area, schooling is paramount, and something fairly quiet and laid back, yet very very safe.

Doesnt have to be right in Sydnay as we can drive in and out for leisure, entertainments, beach etc.

Budget is up to $500 pw

I will be working right in the centre of Sydney, somewhere north of the bridge, but there will be a lot of travel so not in the office every day..

Up to 45mins/1 hour commute to the office would be ok.

So, any ideas where to live?

thanks in advance

Matt

PS Need some quick suggestions as I have to say yes or no to the offer tomorrow and I do need to know my family will be ok in the right area.

Thanks again.

Wol

I would have the employer give more time so that you can investigate, if that's a major problem for you. Certainly there are parts of Sydney where most of the women wear burquas, for example. But if time is of the essence, just come and find out for yourself - most emigrants have to find their niches after arrival, not before!

Matt

I've changed my wordings slightly...........

Matt

Hutch

The North Shore's popular with families and your budget would get you a rental here - like this - http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin...rea&t=ren&q=Go

or this one in Turramurra http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin...&tm=1177885060

Sandra

I agree I think you need more time - what is the long term pay of the job and what area would that afford you is a better question than what you can afford for $500 rental.

Upper North Shore is great for kids in the right areas, you might be looking at Berowa Heights for a more rural village feel. Schools are important too, primaries are usually all pretty good it is the secondary education choice you might have to think about more. Are you going to have $500K deposit and $400K in mortgage - the price of house in some 45min to 1 hour commute areas averages just under the million.

Is your wife going to work - does she need to be near any amentities?
The Hills district is excellent for families - do you like old or new housing, Kellyville to Castle Hill can give you some of these choices.

I came over 5 years ago on a quick 457 - I had been looking to move for a year before this. My income deal seemed good on paper but left us way behind where we thought we would be in terms of Sydney real estate when trying to live closer to work with a four bed house with pool etc.

Not saying it can't happen but we did not let our children play out in the street - usually too much traffic - actually I do not let my 14 years old daughter lay out now either but that possibly has a lot to do with her age Another area to look at would be Terrey Hills, possibly more rural but has nice schools, not a horrible commute but would be around the hour. Does have a half decent city bus service.

I think it would be very hard to say you are going to manage perfectly well and find a nice area for $500 a week if you had to move out of area shortly afterwards because you couldn't afford to live there.

Think about a move to London from where you currently live - would the change being offered allow you to move to the Capital city and afford a nice area where your daughter could play out? If not then I would say you may be limited in what you can afford here within an hours commute.

PS - the rental I paid in St Ives four years ago for a four bed no pool older house was $580 a week. There are cheaper available but either units or much older smaller places.

I think it is possible to get somewhere nice to rent for this money in Sydney but I do think you need to look at the longer term plan more closely.

Cheers Sandra

Matt

Thanks for the advice.

I was probably being a little too optimistic looking at $500 pw rent.

What prices would you guys be looking at for rent on a half decent place, and where?

The medium term is to rent as I will only be bringing 100k sterling with me, and I could probably only afford/get a mortgage for 350k ausd, so 600 ausd in total.

On the rent side of things, once OH got working we could probly afford $750 - $850 per month

regards

Matt

liverpool girl

We are here on a 457 work visa. Have been here since June 06 and love it here. We work in Crows Nest which is also just north of the bridge and live in Wahroonga which is one of the outer north shore suburbs. I would have thought starting work by the end of the month is very optimistic - I think it would take longer than than to get the visa sorted. You would need longer than a month to get everything sorted from your end in UK. We had 6 months to prepare ourselves and the last month or so was hectic to say the least, having already done some of the preparation in the previous months. I think the employer is being a bit unreasonable and optimistic in asking you to start at the end of the month.

We love Sydney and are really glad we made the move - but then I was very unhappy when I lived in Liverpool for the 5 years prior to coming to Oz. We were not that close to our family (ie didn't have them on our doorstep) as we lived several hours drive from most of them. I think that if we had had close family down the road it would have made the move quite difficult for us.
I hope you manage to make the right decision.

Sandra

Hope you did not find me rude, I think the rental amount was reasonable to look for a house it is just the area you might be restricted on. $750 to $850 a month is a big amount - equivalent to getting a $400-550K mortgage. I was advising against renting in an area getting settled and then finding you would be restricted on what you can afford.

There are plenty of options - you just have to think about what you might like, example would be to move to the more expensive (not necessarily better areas) and then buy a real cheap do it up sort of house for the long term when your money comes over. These areas may be nearer to beach and city.
East of the Pacific Highway Suburbs, Upper North Shore, Northern Beaches. I do not know the burbs south of the river but loads of people rave about Sutherlandshire.

I would be concerned if you have a nice house in the UK that leaving it to buy a three bed town house here (think terrace close living) might not live up to the possible dreams your may have of a newish four bed and pool.

If you really like new big houses then I think Kellyville and surrounds is an option - possibly not pool because of the land size but a big spa is always nice Look out for all the new builds etc.

Older established areas like Castle Hill and surrounds are all very nice and family orientated. $600K will buy something rather nice.

Also if you like semi rural - look at Terrey Hills, Mount Colah, Berowa.

Frenchs Forest and surrounds are also nice and nearer the city. It can be confusing looking at the websites for house as many do not come with prices attached because of the Auction route for selling. It is a guide to look on the average prices of the areas and the extra information the real estate agent sites have about the areas. You can look at the % make up of immigrants to the area - where I live the highest influx of non australians is South Africans - did not put us off

Make a list of priorites and the people on this site are very helpful in guiding you on what areas have what.

I was also concerned that your company seemed to be moving rather fast and that you may need financial advice about the value of the package being offered - it is easy to think the the $$$ amount will go far but with the price of property in Sydney eats into disposable income very quickly. I know this is the same as the UK but when we moved from an established position in the UK we found ourselves paying over 50% of our disposable income into housing here when it used to be about 30%. Everything can be different for different people I was just suggesting caution.

Knowing what I knew in hindsight we would have made our move very differently - but then if we hadn't lived what we did we might not of known!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers Sandra

nufc

sydneys northern beaches, check it out on the net

Matt

any particaluar areas?

do I just search in google maps for northern beaches?

Thanks

Matt

nufc

manly, harbord, curl curl, dee why, collaroy, narrabeen , all the way to palm beach, we live in north curl curl great place to live near beach, great schools, and loads of expats. yes do a search for sydneys northern beaches,

Tass

Hi !
Here's a reply I posted some time ago

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...highlight=TASS

(Thread called Sydney-South west suburbs by Tass.) in case link doesn't work.

and can now update it with the fact that in under 2 years we have now bought a 3 bedroom house with huge garden and 18ft inground swimming pool for less than $300,000.
We are very happy here and because of the family environment and close enough proximity to the city we would not look to move again in a hurry.
The local shopping mall expansion is now complete and has been built to include a large outside eating area, more like the al fresco environment of europe. I appreciate that as a city worker , you may feel it's too far out, but for the kind of money you're talking about, you could afford a big family house - rental or to buy- in a safe family orientated area.
Feel free to PM me and ask any questions , no matter how silly.
All the best with your search,
Tass.

P.S. Have 2 kids , a daughter age 8 and a son age 6.

yanH

Our time line was six weeks from the offer being accepted to arriving in Sydney. So it can be done in that sort of time line. It was a hectic period though to say the least!

yanH

I think the upper North Shore would probably be better than Castle Hill if you are going to work in North Sydney. Castle Hill doesn't have a rail line and so commuting to North Sydney by car would not be good Whereas the Upper North Shore has a regular train service to North Sydney (around 40 mins from Berowra). We live in Wahroonga (on the North Shore line) and my Office is in North Sydney and I've found it to be a good location. Feel free to PM if you have any more questions.

chels

Hello stranger(s) - we were wondering what had happened to you after the night out in the CBD