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ADVICE ON STARTING UP IN CANBERRA


Classicman

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We are activating our visas and doing the LSD trip in July with a view to emigrating in Jan 2015..

The most pressing and difficult decision to make is which areas to consider living in in Canberra. I have been doing a lot of browsing on the property websites and we seem to be erring in the direction of Belconnen. I have a family of six and need a minimum of a four bedroom home. I also

Ike the idea of living very close to water. Our schooling requirements are for a year 11 teenager (hopefully he passes this year :-) ) , a year two and a kindy. Our oldest will be able to travel to the university.

We don't have work lined up yet but have interviews and appointments with recruitment agents and business brokers lined up for our July trip. I am leaning towards investing in a business and these all seem to be in the Fyshwick area. We are fortunate enough to be able to be bringing over enough money for us to survive for a fairly long time without employment although I wouldn't like to dig too deep into our savings.

To put things in perspective, we are currently in PE and live an above average lifestyle. I know we may have to take a step back, and that "class" in Australia isn't as important as in SA,but that's not why I'm asking. The move is going to be tough enough, so my thinking is that if I can make it easier on my family by keeping a similar lifestyle, then the transition should be easier.

Any views or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Edited by Classicman
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Classicman, we are in the same boat and also a family of 6 so I will be watching the responses very closely. Our kids are 21, 18, 9 and 5.

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Hi Guys

Canberra is a nice city, with older areas established near the city. The outer suburbs are between 0 and 30 years old. Most houses are 4 bedders or even 5 bedders. Bigger rental are around 200-230 m2. Most suburbs have schools nearby and universities are in the city and belconnen. If you are buying a house, then $500-750 is a normal house to slightly fancy. $850k buys a nice home with nice features and views, and $1,2m plus buys houses similar to estate living in South Africa.

Life is expensive and even a temp job will help. Business is different from RSA. Not an expert but many are one man shows and small. I think you need a lot of connections to get jobs etc. labour costs are high.

Good luck and enjoy the visit,

Flowman

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  • 1 month later...

Funnily enough we're also from PE and are also going to Canberra in January!

We're a family of 4, namely 2 humans and 2 furry kids going up with a very small window to find a job.

From my research - it seems you can't go "too" wrong with suburbs in Canberra, and South Africans appear to gravitate to the North, for whatever reason.

Looks like we'll be seeing more friendly city folk there! Good luck!

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  • 2 months later...

I am from PE and have been in Canberra since June. We are currently South, but moving North. There are definitely dodgy pockets in every suburb. Just look closely before you sign a year rental. You won't have big problems, just noise.

Your rands run out quicker than you think! Just secure some sort of work asap. The Aussie experience will help you as well and then just change when you find something better!

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I've been reading the Canberra Times online for some time now and have noticed that most of the vandalism and hooliganism seems to happen in the South.

We initially wanted to go to the North, then decided on the South (Tuggeranong) when we visited, but now seem to be erring back to the North (Belconnen area).

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The war between North and South is as old as time itself. Lol. No, but people in the North say the South is dodgy and people from the South swear the North is dodgy :)

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I'm arriving in Canberra on 25 Nov. I'll be in furnished accommodation for a week or so, and would love to find a rental in Gunghalin... Anyone from there or know much about the area? Hopefully finding a place won't prove too expensive or difficult

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There are HEAPS of South Africans in the Gunghalin area. I heard someone calling the suburb of Amaroo: Amarula for that reason - haha! The IGA in Ngunnawal has a big shelf of South African products.

We prefer to live closer to the city. Gunghalin is a bit too far from the city centre for my liking. We live in the inner North only about 5kms from the city but to do that we have to live in an older, not very modern house. I dream of a walk in wardrobe and a big pantry and a double garage but can't afford that where we live although we could have those things if we were prepared to live further away from the city centre. So I guess you just have to decide what your priorities are. Gunghalin has a big shopping centre with just about every shop you would need including a big hardware shop, lots of nice restaurants, dentists, doctors etc.

They are eventually going to build a light rail network which will go between Gunghalin and Civic (still a few years down the track but that will be nice). I think public transport via bus from Civic to Gunghalin isn't too bad - you can have a look at bus routes on http://www.action.act.gov.au/routes-school-holidays/200_gungahlin

Here is a link to check out what rentals are available in Gunghalin at the moment:

http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/act/rent-residential/gungahlin/11245110

Please let me know if I can give you a hand with anything when you arrive :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

OK, looks like we are heading for the South after all. We want to enroll our son at Erindale College due to their sports bias.

Any comments on the quality of this public school?

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