brian and wendy

we have been looking at the www.realestate.com.au
and are trying to find areas that are popular with a few expats, we would ideally like to be living about 50km commute distance from Sydney, as that is where my husbands job will be, can anyone give us some names of towns/bays that we can look at with the prospects of buying, we have no children so schooling is not a requirement

emigratingherberts

What sort of place are you looking for? Beach, inland, harbour. Do you need to be by railway line or will you be driving into CBD. It also depends on your budget. Any ideas on north, south, east or west. If you narrow it down a bit you may get some more responses. Hope this helps.

brian and wendy

We are open minded with the area, my husband will have to drive into work, but all we want is a started area where expats are, so as to cushion the whole move from friends and family, budget would have to be around £250,000 english pounds

emigratingherberts

If you go onto google maps and put in Sydney you will be able to look at the suburbs the correct distance away that you want to live. Then if you go to http://www.domain.com.au/public/apm/...aspx?mode=rent (not sure how to put in a link - not that clever on computer) and put in the suburb name it will bring up lots of stats on that suburb ie. Percentages of nationalities in the population, average house price, income etc. This may help get an idea of where the british live. We are moving to Sydney at the end of the year so I have trawled through many suburbs, but not as far away as you are looking. May be able to help if you can give an idea of location, if not someone already in Oz might be a better bet.

markandgill

Hi Brian & Wendy,

I would recommend Cronulla

It's a really nice spot just out of sydney.

I have relatives who live there and we were there in May this year......Fantastic area and if I was moving to sydney this is definately the place I'd go.......not just for the relatives but because it is great!

My cousin works in Sydney and drives in everyday......he reckons it takes anywhere from about 40 - 50 min in morning and night - rushhour if you like.

I think it is quicker during other times of the day - it took us about 20 min from airport to cronulla via taxi.

emigratingherberts

Can't believe it - my link worked
Hope it is of some help to you.

MartinH

If your husband is working in the CBD you realise that 50 km is a seriously long commute? I am not an expert but I would guess 75-90 minutes or possibly more depending on where you live and what time you travel.

NickyC

Sydney doesn't have a particular area where British people congregate - unlike Perth's northern suburbs. You'll find people of British extraction scattered all over the city - eastern suburbs, North Shore, Northern Beaches, Hills, Sutherland Shire etc. Why come to Sydney if you only want to live amongst British people anyway?

Your best bet is to put your budget into realestate.com or domain.com and see what suburbs pop up for a realistic idea of where you can afford to buy.

tonyk38

I'm not entirely sure that's what they're saying, but point taken that some folks do want an expat community to move to and this probably makes settling in more difficult, not easier.

Aussies aren't creatures from another planet (OK, maybe a few are, especially some of the um... 'madder' folks I've nursed) , and I've found them as often as not just as easy to make friends with as the expats I know up here.

markinhull

Hello

We are in the same boat but I will be working in North Sydney. For this reason we are looking at Chatsworth / Hornsby as this seems like a fairly straight forward commute.
Sorry, i know this isnt much help. I guess it is down to your budget and what you want for your money. The further out you go, the more you seem to get for your money.
Both websites listed seem to have a wide selection of properties and are updated regularly. I guess that if you see a house that you really want then that may help in deciding where to go.

Mark

brian and wendy

Nickyc, Sorry for the offence, it was not written to do this, It's just that i was worried that my husband is walking straight into a job once we get there and i do not know what to do for the best, i.e the job package includes 1 months rent free....but then what, i just wanted people with some sort of insite into whats the best actions, i know i will probably use that month to house hunt, it may be rental or buying, we are both outgoing and will not fine it hard to mix and make friends with anyone, it's just the rabbit in the headlights first month for me...sorry again

NickyC

Don't apologise! I wasn't the slightest bit offended - it was a tongue-in-cheek comment which is why I added the winking smiley? ().

Checkout the North Shore or Northern Beaches first. There are BE people who regularly get together in those areas. There are plenty of British people (and lots of nice Australians) in most other areas of the city though, so you won't be alone where-ever you move to.

verystormy

I am in the same situation, as we move to Sydney in May. I have come across a few good web sites that have info. Gumtree is good for private rentals and http://www.cityhobo.com/index.php is good for info on the different areas. Hope this helps