terryg

"melbourneflorida.org/info " - think youve got the wrong Mebourne........................

NinaU

You're right!! Thks for letting me know.

Nina

Mandy Bale

having just dug out some bills I'll try to give you some idea of some costs here in Sydney.

Rent, 4 bed + study large house in nice suburb...$2058 Per month
Gas............................................... ...........................$ 50 Per month
Electric.......................................... ..........................$100 Per month
Phone............................................. ..........................$40 Per Month
ADSL internet.......................................... ...............$100 per Month
Petrol, 2 cars and one motorbike...........................$200 per month
Food shopping.......................................... ..............$800 per month
car rego's and insurance (2 cars and 1 motorbike).$460 per month
School (allowing for volun contrib. and trips etc.)...$50 per month
kids activities (clubs etc.)........................................$400 per month
misc (days out, cinema, entertainment)..................$200 per month

Total per month............................................. ..........$4458 (WOW)


OK most of this is fairly accurate for us but I haven't included shopping for things like clothes ect. We are not a typical family as we have 2 cars and a motorbike which are expensive to insure and Rego. We have 2 kids, 6 and 7years, both go to a very good state school (www.jpps.net). We could cut costs considerably if we got rid of my husbands Nissan Skyline which is the most expensive to insure and rego, and we could move to a smaller house with much less rent to pay and also not go anywhere. But hey you only live once so whats the harm in living a little if we can afford it!!

Mandy

Mandy Bale

oops forgot to add

Home contents insurance.............$45 per month
Foxtel............................................ $65 per month

so add another $110 to the total!!

Mandy

NinaU

Thanks so much Mandy. This is really helpful.

Nina

kevmitch

Mandy

Changing the subject slightly, did you find any problem renting - i.e. no previous history in Australia, no Landlord references, etc? It has been suggested we may need to stump up at least six months rent and the deposit upfront - not a problem, but I would prefer to 'pay as we go'. Did you find this?

We're looking to move into a similar house somewhere around St Ives/Hornsby/Kilara/Forestville area from around August onwards - can you recommend any letting agents?


Thanks


Kev

Mandy Bale

Kev,

We rented a smaller 3 bed house to start with and paid the whole 6 months up front. When we moved to this place we arranged direct debit payments with no problems. Basically the estate agents go through a points system with you as to what references you have and as we had none then we didn't get the points needed so we paid up front, you may have to do this but the 6 months go very quick and before you know it you'll have bills behind you and plenty of references for next time. There are plenty of estate agents around here but not sure around St.Ives area, your best bet is to go into www.realestate.com.au and do search for rental properties in the areas you mentioned, you will soon discover which estate agents serve that area and will get the links to their websites. All the estate agents here tend to put all their rental properties on the internet so you won't be missing out on any looking on the net. One word of warning, most property management at estate agencies are absolutely crap so you really have to throw your weight around a bit if you have any complaints or want anything done. Our landlord has actually dropped the agent now as nothing was getting done through them, so now we contact him and he gets things done straight away, its handy as he only lives around the corner. Also when the estate agents give you the property condition sheet make sure you go round each room and note every mark or chip no matter how small. We were niave when we first rented and got done for a stain on the carpet which was there when we moved in and ended up forking out for carpet cleaning the whole house!!

Mandy

renth

That does include a couple of visits to Langtrees though

kevmitch

Mandy

Great, thanks.

Sombody suggested taking date stamped digital pictures or video or the rooms/property when they were doing the inventory check, which I think is a damn good idea.

You mention the points score system - are three any references, information, etc (e.g. getting hold of your Experian credit file before leaving the UK, letter from bank, etc) which could help towards this? Or are they only interested in experience and credit history in Australia?

Where exactly are you living. You mention being 40 mins NW of Sydney's CBD - is that around Pennant Hills/Parramatta?

Once again, thanks


Kev

Mandy Bale

Hi Kev

Can't remember what the points thing was all about as we didn't really go into it, we were happy to pay upfront. I do believe it is hard to prove UK credit rating to Aussie estate agents but I think having a good bank reference proving how much you have in there helps, your best bet is to email an estate agent and ask them exactly what it is they want, most are quite helpful.

We live in Castle Hill which is near Pennant Hills. Its very nice around here and very family orientated and most of the schools are good so I'm told. Good shopping centre too (Castle Towers).

We took digital pictures of everything in this house but to be honest things like dirty marks on the walls don't show up in pictures so you have to write it down. This place we are in now was pretty dirty and we couldn't believe that the estate agents property manager was saying things like 'outside lights clean and in working order' when in fact they were covered in dust and cobwebs and didn't even work! I don't think she even turned them on to check! I think in every room I picked up things she didn't so you have to be very vigilant when it comes to this or you could end up losing your bond! when the landlord dropped the agents we had him round to go through the condition report as I don't think he even knew what condition the property was in and he was a bit shocked and embarrassed I think. Anyway, I'm sure not all property managers are like this although most of the people I know are renting and have had similar problems. I think we just had an inexperienced property manager that had a lot to learn.

Mandy

NinaU

Thanks Mandy. We would never have taken all these steps and would have surely lost our bond!!. Have saved this info in my 'Australia File'.

Nina

kevmitch

Mandy

Thanks again - I'm on the case and have earmarked a number of real estate agents to e-mail. Before I commit to anywhere I'll have to take a look around the Pennant Hills area - I've not been there, but it sounds good!! (You're not working for the Hills Marketing Board by any chance!!!)

Kev

Mandy Bale

no just like it here, but the houses are very expensive but also very big! Average house price for a decent 4 bed with pool would probably be around $650,000 to $700,000+. We are looking in the up to $550,000 range and there are some out there and there appears to be more coming on the market at that price, so we'll have to wait and see. Depends on what you are looking for. An average Duplex (semi detached) with 3 beds is going for around $400,000. Most have double garage, en suite, laundry etc, just in varying degrees of size. A couple of Local estate agents around here are
www.ljhooker.com.au (these were the agents for our rental so beware! but seem to price them reasonably)
www.shiresells.com.au (these tend to overprice the houses)
www.century21.com.au/wphills/ (these seem more realistic with prices)
www.louiscarr.com (these have been doing very well at selling properties within a few weeks of them going on the market around here, seeing loads of their 'sold' signs!)

by the way the only place in the 'Hills district' is at Pennant Hills, but there are direct city buses all over the place which are pretty good and reliable.

I've got carried away again, as you can tell I've done a bit of research into this!!

Mandy

Mandy Bale

Sorry meant to say the only place with a train station in the Hills is at Pennant Hills!

Sorry

Mandy

kevmitch

Mandy

Depending on what we can sell our house here for and how the business takes off, I guess we'll be looking around the $600-650,000 range, but not for at least the first 6 to 12 months until we've had a chance to have a good look around and decide where we're finally going to settle.

Thanks for the tips on the various estate agents. I've had a look on Realestate.com. Do the prices shown tend to be 'overstated', 'understated, or about what you actually need to pay - for both rented and purchased property? From an earlier string, I remember somebody saying the rental market around Sydney is awash with properties and they were able to get a (significant) discount on the published price ($400 per week against a listed rent of around $600)

You mention more houses coming into your price range. Does this suggest prices are stable/falling, or just more properties available?

Oh, I'd guessed you meant a station with regard to Pennant Hills, rather than the only 'happening' place!

Thanks

Kev