My wife and I were issued our permanent visas last week and we are planning to go out to Australia in Jan after we have tied up what seems like a thousand loose ends.

However we are now very confused about where to live.

It seams like the 2 main options are Gold Coast or Sydney but we are not sure at all.

One day I find myself saying "We'll go to the Gold Coast, definitely! better weather, commute to brissy if necessary, better house options etc" then the next day "Sydney is the place we should go, definitely! more job opportunities, city buzz etc" I even convinced myself that perth was the move for me. It seems to go round in circles.

The more we research and think about it, the more confused we get. Can anyone who may have been in the same boat help with recommendations?

Theirs my wife, my 1 yo daughter and me. I am a design engineer but would do any job if house prices were reasonable.

Thanks

Have you ever been to australia?

Unless you're fully loaded concentrate on finding out about employment prospects in the areas you are considering living, etc etc... Until you sort that out everything else is just bollox...

Yes I lived in sydney in 2002 for 18 months after traveling east coast on working holiday visa. I loved sydney but have a family now and a bit of savings behind me.

Totaly understand what your saying, but a good job in sydney will afford me a townhouse a 45 to 60 odd min commute from sydney or some such, where as an avarage retail type job in gold coast and I can also afford a townhouse.

hi i`m probably biased as i live in the gold coast and have only visited sydney ( for a month ) for me it would be GC every time as sydney just seemed like london with heat, far too busy for me that and your brass will go a lot further on the GC

for my two pence worth i`d write a list of what you want from your new home / area and see which gets the most ticks

Cheers for the advise, making a list is a v good idea.

I must admit I am leaning towards the GC at the mo as I hear the unemployemnt is just 4%

Have you considered Melbourne? Big city,lots of jobs, cheaper housing than Sydney and great beaches and countryside!

Buzzy

I understand that weather is not as good. They say you get 4 seasons in 1 day in melbourne.

Is melbourne where you are? How do you think it compares to Sydney or Brisbane?

This been discussed a lot recently.

People who live in Melbourne like me love the weather here, long hot sunny summers, sunny warm spring and Autumn and still mostly sunny cooler winter.

Melbourne is much more affordable than Sydney and has more work opportunities for most people than Brisbane.

Have a look through threads started by me for some more discussion and pictures.

Buzzy

I don't think theres much in it in terms of affordability between Sydney and Melbourne if you take into account the fact that job opportunities in Sydney are far better and wages there are higher .

You could argue forever about the weather in the two cities but i'd say generally Melbourne has better weather in Summer/ Autumn , in Sydney Winter / Spring would have the edge.

People in Melbourne seem to be happiest in general. Where as Perth/Brisbane seem to be love it or hate it type of places.

Research all the areas you are interested in, if you have till January you have lots of time to look at things important to you and your family ie, jobs, lifestyle, housing etc.

We couldn't decide on Perth, Queensland or Victoria visited all three and liked them all, I think in the end it will come down to housing prices with us.

Are you on commission Buzzy

I've lived on the gold coast for 3 years and would choose it over Sydney, but that's just me. I prefer to be away from a major city.