KennyQ

Hi all,

Thanks for the people who replied to my last pleas !!

Looking for some quick and straight answers !!

Thinking of moving to Auckland from Glasgow where i was on a salary of £33000. I will be getting a salary of $75000 and a reallocation of $10000.

I would probably like to live in North Shore somewhere. No money to take over with me as i will be keeping my apartment in Scotland.

Can someone give me a rough idea of weekly costs for me in Auckland for a single, 28 year old who is quite sociable and enjoys a few beers. I would stay in "moderate" accomodation and probably share a flat with someone so i can meet new people. Would run a car also, again nothing fancy.

If anybody can help me with this is would be great (are you about Don??) as i am worried about the reports about people struggling on $80000 a year.

Am completely confused about the COL in Auckland, and if it is worth going !!

Thanks people !!

ukkiwi

You should be OK being a single guy - as long as your careful with the rent - ie dont pay more than a third of your salary. Dont go wild thinking you'll be loaded as you'll likely to find you'll have a similar disposable income to Glasgow.

I work with a few single guys that find it tough going at times - mainly to do with nights out on the beer taking all the spare cash.

www.rentcheck.co.nz

Where's the job BTW?

annaerb

You would have no problems living on $75K at your age. Some Families survive on less.

Where abouts are you going to be working? I think this would depend on where to look for accomodtion. Rent sharing would start from $120 upwards
plus expenses ie; power/phone/water, some Rentals includes these.

You can pick up cars reasonable but depends what you would be looking for.
COL depends on each individual.

If you advise the following I can send you some sites to look at.

Carol.

newkiwi

Hi,
Interested as to why you say the North Shore? Is that where your job is? If your job is in Auckland, you may want to look at living in Auckland itself, especially if you want to be social you dont want to worry about taxis across the bridge.

If youre looking to flatshare, a room will set you back between $120 and $170 pw, depending on location etc. A sinlgle one bed apartment in a nice centrla area (Ponsonby, Parnell, Mt Eden) will be around $300 pw.

Youre looking at around $900 - $950 pw after tax, if you want to start budgeting. Be as central as you can afford, without staying right in the CBD in student accommodation.

THe NZHerald has ads for flatsharing, but youll only be able to hook up something once you are in NZ.


Suburbs in the North Shore you can consider include
Northcote and Northcote Point
Milford
Takapuna
Devonport (expensive though)

In Auckland look at
Ponsonby
Grey Lynn
Parnell
Mt Eden
One Tree Hill
Kingsland
Herne Bay

feel free to ask away if you have any questions

good luck, pity youve missed most of the summer tho

KennyQ

Hi there, thanks for the reply. So most of my $1000 per week will be spent easily then???

Can you tell me how sociable the North shore is ??? My job will be located in Albany. I have heard that it is a nightmare commuting across the harbour bridge if i live in Central Auckland, although i dont want to live out "in the sticks" just to make it easy to commute to work.

Help is appreciated !!

Cheers

newkiwi

I lived in Grey Lynn, so i am not an expert in North Shore Living. If youre working in Albany i can understand why youd be looking to live on the Shore. I dont know Albany that well, from what I know its a growing suburb and own centre, but i dont know how sociable (bars eateries etc). On the North Shore there are a number of places to go out at i know of around Takapuna and perhaps also in Devenport. This site might give you a few pointers.

http://www.tourismnorthshore.org.nz

for living, the places on the North Shore i mentioned earleir are still good, bit of a drive to get to Albany, but youll be relatively close to Auckland CBD (taxi-rideable, just about) and commuting to Albany should be ok. Other places to look at include all of the East Coast Bays (quite suburban family orientated though) or Glenfield.

You will definately need a car!

ukkiwi

Best place socialise on the Shore by far is Takapuna - lots of pubs and cafe bars. Other areas have the odd pub but not much else.

KennyQ

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply.

How far/long would it take to drive to Albany from Takapuna?? my job would be situated in Albany, but it sounds like Takapuna would be a nice place to live.

Kenny

ps_wardle

Hi Kenny,
Takapuna is a lovely place to live, just busy enough, beautiful big bay with speedboats & jet skis etc. There are a lot of shops (even an indoor mall type place, not huge for UK but quite big for NZ), cinema, restaurants, cafes with terraces, really nice place, very relaxed feel to it.
Not sure on the distance thing from Albany.....sorry.

QUOTE=KennyQ]Hi there,

Thanks for the reply.

How far/long would it take to drive to Albany from Takapuna?? my job would be situated in Albany, but it sounds like Takapuna would be a nice place to live.

Kenny[/QUOTE]

whitesand

[





Hi Kenny Q,

Have just read your post. I will try to add some advice as I've been living in the North Shore until a few months ago.

Will post this first to see if it goes through. There are so many icons and bits and pieces on these threads that it is unnecessarily complicated to post it seems.













Takapuna is a lovely place to live, just busy enough, beautiful big bay with speedboats & jet skis etc. There are a lot of shops (even an indoor mall type place, not huge for UK but quite big for NZ), cinema, restaurants, cafes with terraces, really nice place, very relaxed feel to it.
Not sure on the distance thing from Albany.....sorry.

QUOTE=KennyQ]Hi there,

Thanks for the reply.

How far/long would it take to drive to Albany from Takapuna?? my job would be situated in Albany, but it sounds like Takapuna would be a nice place to live.

Kenny[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

whitesand

Hi KennyQ,

Think I've got it now!

Well, the first thing I would say to you is to take your time. Don't rush into anything too quickly. That goes for buying a car, choosing a place to live, and everything else.

As you say your will be working in Albany, I think the best places for you to live would be sticking to the North Shore as traffic between the north and south of Auckland (this is, acrosss the bridge) is horrendous.

There are some attractive places near Albany, such as, Glenfield, Milford and Tapapuna. Albany itself has some good new accommodation as they are building lots of town houses there. But it is not so close to the sea and I think you would be better living to the east of Albany and across the freeway - but not south of the bridge.

My choice would be Milford, which is beside the sea and only a fifteen minute walk (or a five minute drive) from Takapuna, where all the trendy cafes and restaurants are. There are lots of young people around Takapuna, but Milford is quieter place to live in, and I think prettier, with a great shopping centre. But both places are very colourful and attractive.

You can rent a two bedroom unit there for around 300 hundred dollars a week. This would be a good option as it allows you to decide if you want to share in the future, or if you want to move on to a house. You only have to give three weeks' notice to move. These units are unfurnished, but it is easy to pick up furntiture, especially in the weekend pages of the Herald and the North Shore Times which is the local newspaper, where you should start looking for flats, houses, etc., and simply phone the number there.

Again, same for buying a car. Take your time. There is a good auction house called Turners near Albany (on the freeway) and is has car auctions about three times a week. You could get great bargains there for a cheap car to begin with, until you know your way around cars and prices, etc.

The main thing, I think, is not to rush into anything - look around, hire a car for a week yourself, sit in cafes, have a coffee, read the local papers and go slowly at first.

You'll enjoy it, I'm sure.

Good luck

Whitesand

KennyQ

Hi Whitesand,

Thanks a lot for the replies.

So you would recommend Takapuna then?? Would like to move to somewhere that has a reasonable social life, and close to the beach. I would probably look to flat share with someone at first, so that it gives me a chance to meet some people. Do you know if Takapuna is an expensive place to stay ???

Thanks again

Kenny

whitesand

Hi Kenny,

Takapuna would probably suit you. Tapauna and Milford are about the same price for a unit. As you want to share, you will probably have a house with about two or three others. That would work at around 120-150 dollars a week. Both have lovely beaches.

You get a bigger place if you share, but you lose your privacy. But, I'm sure you'll find what suits you.

Takapuna or Milford to Albany should only be about ten to fifteen minutes travelling depending on the traffic. When I went to Albany during the day I could come back to Milford in around ten minutes. They have a good Pak & Save cheap supermarket in Albany.

Some lovely cafes and restaurants in Takapuna - also a great fish and chip shop! I wouldn't live in Devonport if I were you. It's pretty and touristy during the day, but dead at night and a bit of a bottleneck for traffic.

Cheers,

Whitesand

Campbells

Hi there,

You gotta see the Billy Connelly tour of NZ (if you enjoy him); give you a bit of an intro to NZ too!

My 5 cents worth.
I'm here on the LSD thing doing the job hunting, I rented a room, lodging with family (probably not for single bloke) but to give you idea of renting, I pay $150 p/w in Mission Bay which is one of the better areas.

I found this place via Trade & Exchange (like Scot Adds & online www.trade-exchange.co.nz); I would recommend that you took that kind of thing short term till you get your bearings. I didn't have to put bond down (deposit) short term agreement which could work for you.

The T & E also comes out every Thurs in paper form & has a great section offering all the areas according to the dialing prefix so you know which area the add relates to.

There is a whole heap of other stuff in there too, cars !

Shout if you need any other info

Good luck mate

Campbell

whitesand

Kenny,

Forgot to mention, give the New Zealand Herald a miss for flat hunting. Stick to the local North Shore Times - it's much better and has loads of flat/sharing and flats/houses in each week. The North Shore Times does flats on Tuesdays and Thursday. It's a free paper and if you can't find one their offices are beside the good fish and chip shop in Takapuna - they have piles of them outside the North Shore Times office.