HMJ

Hello - Quite a lively board judging by todays posts, please be gentle.

I have a potential job offer in North Shore (we've been looking to move out to NZ for some time now). However it is not one of the areas that I know particularly well.........so.

If anyone can give any guidance, advice, and/or where to get any more (accurate and down to earth) information will be most appreciated.

- What are the nicest areas to live with family (suburbs preferred to central).
- What (if any) areas to avoid
- Is $400k enough for a family home in nice neighbourhood.
- Is an 80k salary enough to support the family in this area.

Many thanks, hope you can help

Sally1

Hi HMJ

What do you do for work?

There have been several posts on here about Auckland suburbs so I am sure you will get some good advice on the North Shore.

HMJ

[QUOTE=Sally]Hi HMJ

What do you do for work?

Hi Sally - I work in IT

lapsed kiwi

Hi

I'm not an Aucklander but have been doing some research because hopefully will be moving to North Shore in October/November. There is a very good book "Where to Live in Auckland" which will give you the low-down on all suburbs, school zones, property prices etc. I bought a copy and would thoroughly recommend it.
For your $400k, I would say you will get a perfectly nice, but not special, family home in a decent suburb, but not so near the beach. Worth looking at www.realenz.co.nz or www.open2view.co.nz.
It seems to get better value if you can do the commute to Hibiscus coast - where will you be working?
As to the $80k, some on this board will say that anything less than $100k is abject poverty in NZ, but I would say that this would be adequate with a small-medium mortgage, and comfortable if you can bring enough capital from UK to be mortgage-free.
Hope this helps. Are there many IT jobs going? I think I have a job in the pipeline but Plan B is always useful!

newkiwi

North Shore Citry is generally better value in terms of housing than Auckland. Nice areas for families include Takapuna, (the zoning for Takapuna Grammar School is apparently important), Milford and the so-called east cost bays. These include Browns Bay, Mairangi Bay, Murrays Bay etc. Even Albany (away from the coast) is a good option

Prioces vary, top beachfront properties are expensive, but there should be properties around for $400k. Have a look on realenz.co.nz

if you have a small mortgage, 80k should be fine. That is going to be around $1000 per week after tax, if you want to start budgeting. People with a large mortgage may struggle with that, but if you have a small mortage you should have no problems.

Most of North Shore is very family suburban type orientated.

Cassa

I agree, with a small mortgage then you would be OK on $80K. However if you plan trips home to the UK remember you will need nearly $2500 per person so it adds up. If you do not plan to go to the UK any more than say every 3 - 4 years then you will be ok. We are on similar here and are finding it hard. We have a mortgage of $250K and there is not much left after buying food and basics.

Good luck

HMJ

Many thanks to all for your advice and info.

In regard to IT jobs - I just did a bit of searching around for companies with IT vacancies that are willing to sponsor. Luckily I seem to have secured a position quite quickly.

Cheers

Sheenie

Hi there
We are looking to relocate to North Shore around the summer time and my husband is also in IT. It would be funny if you both ended up working at the same place!

He has had several interviews with a company in North shore and we were wondering too whether we would be able to manage on approx the same income as you.

We have a three year old so I have been looking around at houses and schools and thought Torbay, Takapuna areas seemed ok but Birkenhead was a tad pricey.

We're going out at the end of May for a face to face interview and were planning on doing a big reccie then.

Good luck on your move.

Sheena