We are in the process of deciding whether it is cheaper to ship all our furniture and belonging over to oz or to start over once we are in Canberra. Does Canberra have any "argos" type shops that are good for getting furniture and bits for the house cheaply to start with? What are people's experiences?
Also, we are looking at renting a property for the first year we are there. I have heard that with renting, you don't pay certain rates etc as you would if you owned the home - is this right? Any help on a rough breakdown of outgoings each month would be fantastic so we realistically work out what rentals we can look at.
To start with, we will be relying on my husband's income which will be around the $4200 a month mark. If we are looking at rentals of $500 a week, will we be over-stretching ourselves?
We will be moving with two kids under 3, does anyone have any suggestions as to where we could stay (without breaking the bank!) whilst looking to rent somewhere?
Is that income gross or net? If net then I think you will be just about okay with rent at $400 pw, anymore then you will start to struggle. Is Shaun's gross annual income about $60000? If it is and you do not work then you will recieve about $115pw in family assitance (means tested child benefit, this will probably almost go if you work as well). Try and do your budget weekly / fortnightly as that is how you are paid here, not monthly.
Renting you only pay rent, excess water (we have never paid this as with restrictions it would take some dodgy consumption to go over IYKWIM), electricity, phone, gas NO rates / council tax eqvs.
Where is his job, so I can give you ideas on locations? You sound like you are pretty much in the same boat as us with 2 under 3. My dd is 2y9m and ds is 8m, yours?
I would bring the lot and then some, in fact I would go shopping now to fill the container of everything. I nearly did an emergency shippment of nappies when I got here and found they did not sell pampers and dd leaked out of every brand I found here including huggies, thankly I discovered Aldi nappies after about a month of accidents. Bring kids clothes for at least 2 years, make sure they are in new shoes, new bedding as the beds are diff sizes here and it can be difficult to get new sheets to fit your UK bed. Do not forget to bring plug adaptors. By the time you bring your clothes and personal stuff by air you might as well FILL a 20ft container.
You can get quite nice places for the $450 mark - they usually require a bond and if you offer several months up front they quite like that too. They will also ask for at least a couple of referees who can attest to your rent paying etc. As for somewhere to stay when you first arrive - you could try Stayz - No 1 in Holiday Accommodation Rentals they are the site for short term lets. You can get a good idea of rentals in ACT on allhomes.com.au & allclassifieds.com.au - it has a buy/sell/rent section.
All depends on what you want for your money as to where you should try and get a place. In terms of commuting, nowhere is very far from anywhere in ACT and a half hour commute is about as much as anyone really does - OK 40 minutes on a bad day! Be aware that Jerrabomberra is not ACT it is NSW and there are implications for schooling.
As for furniture - well, we came with nothing a long while ago so probably not the best people to ask but yes there are some good cheap furniture places Fantastic Furniture and Freedom Furniture are a couple that spring to mind. Fantastic do basic room deals so you get the whole package for a room quite cheaply. Unfortunately our nearest Ikea is close to Paramatta in Sydney! Fishwyck is the place to go!!!!
In your rental property you will have to pay power (could be c$300+ per quarter, all depending on what you use it for - hot water costs $$$ for example) You will also have to pay for landline phone, broadband if you need it, car costs - fuel going up towards $1.50 a litre at the moment. You dont have to pay rates or water/sewage as the landlord will pay them.
Thanks Quoll and Rest Family for your info and help - it is really nice to have someone over there to answer these little questions!
We will be coming over in September. Our plan is for Shaun to come over at the end of August on his own, find us accommodation and a car and then I will come over with the kids. That is a trip I am not looking forward to - dd will be 3 and ds will be 18 months!
We are trying to find out roughly how long rental turnaround takes. ie, If Shaun saw a property he liked in the first week, how long would it be before he was able to move in? Also am I right in guessing that usually a bond is around $1800 and then around 4 weeks rent on top?
Not knowing exactly what to expect when you get there is such an exciting but nerve-racking thought but it is made easier by you guys!
Hi Rest Family (sorry, I don't know your names!), how long have you been in Canberra? How are you finding it?
Shaun will be working for the government and we would ideally need to be around 20 mins away. Is Evatt a good area/close by? Seems to have a few nice properties on the rental sites that aren't too badly priced.
When we arrive and settle in, we will have to invite you all round for a bbq to say a big thanks!
Good plan to send the DH to do all the donkey work!!!!!
Rental turnaround can be very quick - my boss saw a house on Monday, they called her refs that afternoon and she got approval on Tuesday lunchtime, got her keys on Wed and moved in on Friday (last week!). BUT (and this is the big one) she was looking for a couple of months!!! She did have the luxury of somewhere else to stay so could afford to be picky.
Evatt is OK but you really do want to check out the neighbourhood no matter where you go. It is about 10 km from town (all depending on which route you take) and in the rush hour you will be going with all the traffic but on a good run it is only 15 mins to Civic. Govt offices are all over the place so it rather depends on which dept you will be working with as to how long it will take.
Canberra itself is pretty pricey for accomodation, but maybe that's just because I preferred to live close to the CBD. Having lived in Melbourne and Canberra while on my 457, I'd say that it is pricier to live in Canberra than Melbourne.
Having said that, traffic jams are non existent, roads are wider, there are far less people. Most of the Canberrans I know would not want to live anywhere else because they are so used to the slow paced life. It is very suitable for family and young couple - lots of things to do for families i.e. cycling, hiking etc. Lots of schools and what's best - less distraction and bad influence for the kids which is always a worry in the bigger cities. Sydney is only a short drive away if you fancy doing something different for the weekend. It is much colder in winter than anywhere else in Oz but at least it is always crisp and dry.
If you are single, avoid Canberra because it is too expensive to afford your own accomodation, so you'd always have to share, which is remisnicent of my uni days of yore. Having said that, my single friends are living it up in Canberra. One of the best thing about Canberra is - it is very rare to find some who has been born, raised and lived in Canberra. They usually come from somewhere else be it for work or family commitment. So everybody's more open to welcoming new friends and contacts, which I didn't get in Melbourne. In Canberra, they understand what it is like to be a newcomer and will try to make you fit in. However, be prepared for the non-Canberrans to make fun of you - I got that a lot. But after a while, you will start to appreciate Canberra. I certainly did!
Canberra real estate is hot! Things will be advertised on the day, and it will be gone so quick. Some places even practise rental bidding which was supposed to be not right, but everybody does it. Not sure if it is legal or not. The minute you see something you like, arrange a viewing and don't take too long if you see many others there inspecting with you. There is a reason for the real estate market - fewer people want to in buying property for rental investment because the return isn't that much after tax and liabilities. And yet, because almost everybody coming to Canberra are outsiders, they are a lot of renters. Months to avoid - Jan/Feb because that's when the government services bring in their new recruits from the other states. So everybody will be looking for a place to live. You'd be hard pressed to find something then. Good luck!
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Fab-ou-Liz
Submit 175 online - 8/2/08
Submit all paperwork - 3/3/08
Still waiting for CO....:GEEK:
Last edited by fabouliz; 09-04-2008 at 11:56 AM.
Reason: forgot some other info
Thanks guys for the info. I can't wait for September to arrive now, I'm one of these people that likes things sorted out so the not knowing where we will live, what date we are going etc is driving me mad!
The stuff that is going on over here with mortgages and the housing market now reinforces the view that we are doing the right thing!
As my daugher will be coming up to school enroling age when we move, any idea's on what schools to avoid?
I look forward to seeing you all soon and enjoying canberra life!
Thanks guys for the info. I can't wait for September to arrive now, I'm one of these people that likes things sorted out so the not knowing where we will live, what date we are going etc is driving me mad!
The stuff that is going on over here with mortgages and the housing market now reinforces the view that we are doing the right thing!
As my daugher will be coming up to school enroling age when we move, any idea's on what schools to avoid?
I look forward to seeing you all soon and enjoying canberra life!
x
September will be here before you know it!!! At the moment the house prices especially the inner suburban ones and the cheap outer suburban ones are still going up but there has been a tiny bit of slowing in the market.
I know it sounds silly but our housing stock took a battering with the bushfires and there are still a number of homes which have not been rebuilt so our stocks are down even though there has been considerable new building out in Gungahlin and a lot of medium density living in the town centre. Add to that the advertising campaign the gov put in a while ago to bring people to Canberra and you have real pressure on the market. It may adjust a bit - we have to wait and see how the razor is going to slash in the budget. Last time a gov did that, the housing market stalled for a while as people took their redundancy cheques and moved out on their Seachange adventures. I guess we will all have to just wait and see!
Hi everyone!
Not been on the site for a while and have been busy working towards our visa....we have TRA and State sponsorship and have lodged our visa and are now waiting for a case officer to tell us to go for medical (hopefully very soon!!) We have been back a couple of weeks from a reccie to Oz visited my sister in Perth and did a 2 day flying visit to Canberra, to look at areas/schools etc...got loads of great information and were really looking forward to getting out there now....can't wait!
Can anyone recommend any accommodation for the first 2 weeks or so when we get there? everything seems to be staying in a b&b or hotel but we have found these really expensive, we are looking at renting for at least a year....have registered interest with the independent property group and lj hooker who have advised us to get in contact as soon as we get there to start looking... We have found a holiday (sort of caravan park) that we think will be suitable for a couple of weeks untill we get a rental.... We are hoping to be going out in sept time but dont know how long visas are taking to go through ...we have friends who's took only 3 1/2 mths from lodgment but also heard that theres alot more people now coming to the ACT so may be in for a longer wait....
Would be great to get in touch with people before going out... I have 2 girls 8 and 3 and my husband is a printer and im in the Travel Industry although dont work at the minute....
Zoe x
Hi everyone!
Not been on the site for a while and have been busy working towards our visa....we have TRA and State sponsorship and have lodged our visa and are now waiting for a case officer to tell us to go for medical (hopefully very soon!!) We have been back a couple of weeks from a reccie to Oz visited my sister in Perth and did a 2 day flying visit to Canberra, to look at areas/schools etc...got loads of great information and were really looking forward to getting out there now....can't wait!
Can anyone recommend any accommodation for the first 2 weeks or so when we get there? everything seems to be staying in a b&b or hotel but we have found these really expensive, we are looking at renting for at least a year....have registered interest with the independent property group and lj hooker who have advised us to get in contact as soon as we get there to start looking... We have found a holiday (sort of caravan park) that we think will be suitable for a couple of weeks untill we get a rental.... We are hoping to be going out in sept time but dont know how long visas are taking to go through ...we have friends who's took only 3 1/2 mths from lodgment but also heard that theres alot more people now coming to the ACT so may be in for a longer wait....
Would be great to get in touch with people before going out... I have 2 girls 8 and 3 and my husband is a printer and im in the Travel Industry although dont work at the minute....
Zoe x
Welcome Zoe - the more the merrier!
The first two weeks I guess you are going to have to try the serviced appartments or the caravan parks. Eaglehawk has some "villas" but it is about 12 km out of town so you would need to have your own transport. Crestview is out towards Queanbeyan and so same sort of transport required. The Canberra Motor Village has cabins and it much closer to where it is all at - you could do with public transport from there until you get a car. The best place to look for accommodation in Canberra is http:allhomes.com.au & allclassifieds.com.au which has both rental and for sale properties. They are getting snapped up pretty quickly these days though as the rental market is very tight.
