It's Really Not Easy

[K-Vdm]

I am researching schools and areas and looking and deciding but jeepers it's freakin difficult! I am now even more confused than ever!

Love the beach areas as it's just awesome, really liked what I saw in Hallet Cove, Henley Beach but then the Campelltown area and the Hills are so beautiful!

How on earth do you determine where you will stay and which school your child will attend? I feel like a chicken without a head and wonder how we will be able to decide... I have been looking at the My School's website and compare schools there to the whole of Aus etc..

Some of the schools I really like are close to the city but wow - these areas are SO expensive.. I actually got depressed looking at those prices p.w for rent. Cannot see us being able to afford anything over $350-370 a week.

We will need at least a 3x1 as our futniture that is coming with won't fit in anything less and I would not want to part with it if not really really needed...

The further you are away from the city, the cheaper it is, but how much does travelling cost you then (petrol for car and public transport)?

If anyone care to share again (yes I know this has been discussed so often but please indulge me), weekly/monthly/quarterly etc costs - just a broad idea of what we would need to earn to be able to make a living..

Dankie baie baie!

[Pampoenie]

Hello daar - ja, maklik is dit beslis nie, Ons woon in North Adelaide, bly vreeslik lekker hier, die skool is goed en dit is baie naby die stad - het vir die eerste ses maande nie eens 'n motor gehad nie, het bus gery, en trein - maar dit kos jou ten minste $30 per week per persoon - kinders is goedkoper - $10. Ek kan eerlik vir jou se dat ons baie naby die aarde lewe, ons eet nie uit nie, koop nie klompe klere nie, en maak baie gebruik van die gratis vermaak wat die stad bied, maar jy gaan ten minste 'n bruto salaris van $65000.00 per jaar moet verdien - ons het net een dogtertjie van 7. Ons sukkel sekerlik nie, het elke maand genoeg om alles betaal te kry, maar belowe vir jou dat ons nie vreeslik baie oor het vir enige onvoorsiene dinge nie - vrou moes tandarts toe so rukkie terug, het $500 per besoek gekos, 4 besoeke verder - ons het dit gevoel! Baie sterkte, ek is seker jy gaan 'n ander mening kry by elkeen wat jy vra! Baie groete

[HouseInOz]

I am not sure about other cities, but my conclusion on Brisbane (and do correct me if I am wrong)..... close to the city equals old/older houses, beautiful inside, but not the look SA's like...very expensive very very; going further out even closer to the Bay area, newer houses, well kept gardens (the gardens are just not so old), bigger blocks of land, flatter and cheaper, pleasantly cheaper houses. Strange but true, just the way things work over here.

So after doing this exercise TWICE - I hope I get it right this time, now that I have lived here for a few months. Probably one needs to live in a place before you will REALLY know.

Any COMMENTS????

BTW - Adelaide is currently one of the most livable cities according to varies studies conducted.

[K-Vdm]

Hello daar - ja, maklik is dit beslis nie, Ons woon in North Adelaide, bly vreeslik lekker hier, die skool is goed en dit is baie naby die stad - het vir die eerste ses maande nie eens 'n motor gehad nie, het bus gery, en trein - maar dit kos jou ten minste $30 per week per persoon - kinders is goedkoper - $10. Ek kan eerlik vir jou se dat ons baie naby die aarde lewe, ons eet nie uit nie, koop nie klompe klere nie, en maak baie gebruik van die gratis vermaak wat die stad bied, maar jy gaan ten minste 'n bruto salaris van $65000.00 per jaar moet verdien - ons het net een dogtertjie van 7. Ons sukkel sekerlik nie, het elke maand genoeg om alles betaal te kry, maar belowe vir jou dat ons nie vreeslik baie oor het vir enige onvoorsiene dinge nie - vrou moes tandarts toe so rukkie terug, het $500 per besoek gekos, 4 besoeke verder - ons het dit gevoel! Baie sterkte, ek is seker jy gaan 'n ander mening kry by elkeen wat jy vra! Baie groete

Baie dankie vir die reply! Jitte - $500 vir tandarts!! Dek medies dit nie?

Waar in Noord Adelaide woon julle en as jy nie omgee dat ek vra nie, in watter skool is jou dogterjie? Ek is al gedaan gekyk en search.. Nie 'n maklike taak as jy geen cookin clue het nie

[K-Vdm]

I am not sure about other cities, but my conclusion on Brisbane (and do correct me if I am wrong)..... close to the city equals old/older houses, beautiful inside, but not the look SA's like...very expensive very very; going further out even closer to the Bay area, newer houses, well kept gardens (the gardens are just not so old), bigger blocks of land, flatter and cheaper, pleasantly cheaper houses. Strange but true, just the way things work over here.

So after doing this exercise TWICE - I hope I get it right this time, now that I have lived here for a few months. Probably one needs to live in a place before you will REALLY know.

Any COMMENTS????

BTW - Adelaide is currently one of the most livable cities according to varies studies conducted.

From what I saw it seems that further out of the city equates to cheaper housing, but then it won't help having a cheaper rental if your transport costs will be more than the difference ...

Gosh.. Confusing to say the least!

[Lynnie]

Hi,

Ek het die skole in Brisbane gepester met emails vol vrae - almal het teruggemail en deeglike antwoorde gegee... MAAR ons sal eers die skole (ek het 'n lys van 5) gaan besoek en 'n gevoel kry van die skool. In Brisbane moet mens ook in die :catchment" area woon vir jou kind om na 'n spesifieke skool te gaan. Op die 457 visa hoef mens slegs vir skoolklere, boeke, ekskursies te betaal - nie skoolfonds as sulks nie.

Verder is die openbare parkering blykbaar HONDduur... dink die beste sal wees om maar self te gaan kyk....

BAIE STERKTE!

[Pampoenie]

Hi - sy is in North Adelaide Primary School - North Adelaide is 'n woonbuurt net buite die stad self, pragtige woonbuurt, kyk op www.realestate.com.au - poskode 5006 - ons is op 'n 457 visa, ons medies dek dit nie, het slegs hospitaal dekking - op hierdie staduim kan ons nie regtig meer bekostig nie, betaal nou $210 per maand, as jy vol medies wil he, kos dit jou enige iets van $450 en meer, weet nie wat hulle dek nie - kyk op IMAN se webwerf. Ons - of moet ek se my pragtige vrou - het reeds geweet waar sy gaan werk voor ons hier arriveer het, dit het dit vir ons baie maklik gemaak om naby haar werk blyplek te kry, gelukkig is die skool ook net 3 minute se stap, en ek is die een wat moet pendel - dit werk baie goed vir ons, die skole begin 8.40 en kom 3.10 uit, so dit is belangrik dat ons naby die skool bly om betyds te wees vir werk. Voor en naskool sorg is nogal duur indien jy daarvan gebruik gaan maak, dit kos $8 in die oggend en $16 in die middag tot ses uur - so ons probeer om nie daarvan gebruik te maak nie. Laat weet gerus indien jy meer inligting - natuurlik maar uit my oogpunt - verlang. Groete

[Bronwyn&Co]

Hi K-Vdm - do you have any idea where you or your wife will find work? If you know this it helps a lot. Generally I think it's better to live close to school as possible, & travel to work. Are you happy with a 3 bedroom courtyard home? These are generally better quality than an old house, but will maybe have smaller rooms. Friends of ours put their kids in Athlestone Primary & lived out Highbury/Athlestone/Dernancourt way. There is good public transport into the city & the rentals are reasonable. It is also pretty near Linear Park. You have lots of choices. Start with likely work area then match up a school, then find a rental in the school catchment. Good luck!

[K-Vdm]

Hi K-Vdm - do you have any idea where you or your wife will find work? If you know this it helps a lot. Generally I think it's better to live close to school as possible, & travel to work. Are you happy with a 3 bedroom courtyard home? These are generally better quality than an old house, but will maybe have smaller rooms. Friends of ours put their kids in Athlestone Primary & lived out Highbury/Athlestone/Dernancourt way. There is good public transport into the city & the rentals are reasonable. It is also pretty near Linear Park. You have lots of choices. Start with likely work area then match up a school, then find a rental in the school catchment. Good luck!

Hi there!

We have no clue as to where we will find employment. We are currently searching and applying for various jobs for hubby all over Adelaide. It will definitely be much easier if we knew where he was going to work, but until he finds something that will not be the case. Also if he hasn't secured anything before September, we will be coming over anyway..

We would prefer a newerish type of house - and I know most is really pricey...

Going to see what we can do/source in the next few months!

Thanks

[wiltonest]

Hi,

We had the same problem when deciding where to live. We rented a furnished house for a while and had a good look around.

We first stayed in a great place in a suburb called port noarlunga and it's a great place to start out.We stayed with tamara from homes downunder and it was really lekker. Decided to live in the area after our furnished stay but it was difficult to find a rental house.The area around Christies beach, port Noarlunga, and Seaford is a good place to bring up a family. Seaford has South African doctors at the medical centre. The homes are cheaper than closer to the city as well but the beaches and shops are all within walking distance,just google the suburbs for pictures.

You don't need a car for the first week as well because everything is close by.

P

[K-Vdm]

Thanks again for all the replies! SO much appreciated!

Think the biggest thing now is to find a place to stay for 2-3 weeks that won't kill our budget.. Anything furnished is hellish expensive and those not furnished has to be rented for longer periods...

Will just keep looking

[Heymanse]

I can totally relate to your confusion. We also didn't know where we'd end up or even where to stay just in the first few weeks after our arrival. We ended up renting a place a furnished apartment in Parramatta in NSW and looking back, that was probably the worst place to be. Searching then for jobs and a place where you know where you'd live for at least the next few years can be daunting indeed. I would suggest that you search for temporary accommodation (furnished) for the first month. In the meantime, make a list of the suburbs you'd like to settle in and see them for yourself when you're here. Of course, if you're lucky enought to find employment before you fly over, that would make the decision on where to settle slightly easier.

When looking for a property, it might be worth mentioning that our experience was (and I know of other people with similar experiences) that half of the boxes and odd furniture like gym equipment, chest freezer etc, was left in the garage because there simply was not enough space in the smaller houses we first could afford. Don't get too stressed out if you're not able to find a decent sized house first time around. If in the end your first house does not work out for you, nothing is preventing you from searching for another house. By then you would also be more settled in and have a better knowledge of the area or might even then decide to live in another area. Your income might have changed and allow you to afford a larger house - all of these factors are things that for now, you have no control over. I know everyone wants to settle in and give their family some sense of stability, especially after a huge move like this, but in saying that, the move is stressfull enough, you don't want to add to that stress by going into a frenzy trying to find the perfect place We've been here short of 3 years and we moved into a really nice huge place April 2010 - a place that we could finally call home - well at least for the next 3 years when my son will finish with school.

I'm not sure about the rules in Victoria, but in NSW, if a child lives more than 3km from their school, they get a free buspass from the Government, allowing the kids to take a bus to school for free.

With regards to private health insurance, depending which level of insurance you take and this will differ between the different healt funds, only part of your dental is covered. HCF for instance will cover only $32 of the total amount which could be anything from $150 plus. Medicare does not cover dental. Also your health insurance is capped for instance, if you want to just have a general check-up (preventatie) you get 2 visits per year and application of fluoride - 1 visit per year, that is per family member.

Hope that some of the information was useful. Good luck with the job and house hunting!

[Etienne123]

Dinge lyk baie keer 'n bietjie daunting, maar ek is nou al 'n maand hier, en kyk nie terug nie. Vasbyt en as julle raad nodig het vra maar net.

Et

[Die Krugers]

Hi

Sover ek onthou, kry mens n meet and greet in Adelaide, wat mens goedkoper behuising vir korter tye bied. Gaan google dit net, dit mag dalk help!

Tania

[K-Vdm]

Hi

Sover ek onthou, kry mens n meet and greet in Adelaide, wat mens goedkoper behuising vir korter tye bied. Gaan google dit net, dit mag dalk help!

Tania

Hi daar

Dit was altyd die norm maar nie meer nie

Hulle het dit reeds in Desember gestop.. Jy kan meet en greet kry maar dis dit..

Ek loer maar nog rond, hoop ons kry iets bekostigbaar... Gaan ook kyk of ek nie 2 kamers in iemand se huis dalk kan huur nie.. Dis tog net 'n paar weke tot ons die regte verblyf het..

Sal nader aan die tyd met erns begin kyk

[K-Vdm]

I can totally relate to your confusion. We also didn't know where we'd end up or even where to stay just in the first few weeks after our arrival. We ended up renting a place a furnished apartment in Parramatta in NSW and looking back, that was probably the worst place to be. Searching then for jobs and a place where you know where you'd live for at least the next few years can be daunting indeed. I would suggest that you search for temporary accommodation (furnished) for the first month. In the meantime, make a list of the suburbs you'd like to settle in and see them for yourself when you're here. Of course, if you're lucky enought to find employment before you fly over, that would make the decision on where to settle slightly easier.When looking for a property, it might be worth mentioning that our experience was (and I know of other people with similar experiences) that half of the boxes and odd furniture like gym equipment, chest freezer etc, was left in the garage because there simply was not enough space in the smaller houses we first could afford. Don't get too stressed out if you're not able to find a decent sized house first time around. If in the end your first house does not work out for you, nothing is preventing you from searching for another house. By then you would also be more settled in and have a better knowledge of the area or might even then decide to live in another area. Your income might have changed and allow you to afford a larger house - all of these factors are things that for now, you have no control over. I know everyone wants to settle in and give their family some sense of stability, especially after a huge move like this, but in saying that, the move is stressfull enough, you don't want to add to that stress by going into a frenzy trying to find the perfect place We've been here short of 3 years and we moved into a really nice huge place April 2010 - a place that we could finally call home - well at least for the next 3 years when my son will finish with school.I'm not sure about the rules in Victoria, but in NSW, if a child lives more than 3km from their school, they get a free buspass from the Government, allowing the kids to take a bus to school for free.With regards to private health insurance, depending which level of insurance you take and this will differ between the different healt funds, only part of your dental is covered. HCF for instance will cover only $32 of the total amount which could be anything from $150 plus. Medicare does not cover dental. Also your health insurance is capped for instance, if you want to just have a general check-up (preventatie) you get 2 visits per year and application of fluoride - 1 visit per year, that is per family member.Hope that some of the information was useful. Good luck with the job and house hunting!

Thank you so much for your lengthy reply! I really appreciate all the input!

Dinge lyk baie keer 'n bietjie daunting, maar ek is nou al 'n maand hier, en kyk nie terug nie. Vasbyt en as julle raad nodig het vra maar net.Et

Dankie Ettienne, ek sal beslis vra!