Moving to Melbourne

[ash911]

Hi

My husband, myself and my 18 month old little boy are moving to Melbourne in September. My husband has just been offered a great job opportunity, so we are all off down under. We have lived in Sydney for 12 months previously, although we are currently residing in UK. I was wondering if anyone had a "where to live in Melbourne Guide" and if so, one could be emailed to me?

I am keen to find a family place, with good nurseries and schools - i have head Hawthorn and Kew are nice?

Also does anyone know if we rent our house out in Uk if we have to pay tax on the rental income, even if it doesnt cover the cost of the mortgage?

Sorry for all the questions - any info would be appreciated, am working with very short time frames!!!

Thanks

[crystalrose]

Hi

Just read your posting, I am really new to this website, sorry I cannot help with your questions but we are in exactly the same boat. My husband has been offered a job based in South East of Melbourne we desperately need to know the really good areas out there to live especially for schools we have three children at primary school in the uk one who is sitting her 11+ in September to go to grammar (which is free here) we cannot afford to school our children privately so are looking for the best public schools possible also wondering as we are coming over on 457 visas if public school are free and also if public grammar schools exsist or if you have to pay for grammar schools. It is really difficult but soo exciting at the same time. We would like to live pretty near the beach BUT as I said good school are at the top of the list. Are you coming over on a 457? we also have a house in the Uk we may rent out.

Kind Regards

Teresa

[ash911]

Hi Teresa

From what i can gather ( i have a couple of friends in melbourne) i think the east and South east are by far the nicer areas. We have been looking at Glen iris, Hawthorn, Kew and Malvern - but really am only going off their say so.

We are coming over on a 457 visa and i believe that public schools are free of charge in Victoria if you are on a 457 visa.

I think you are right, schooling has to be the most important factor when children are involved. i am lucky that my bub is only a baby still, i have a few years before Schooling really impacts me. However i would like to be settled somewhere and be able to chose good schools.

Let me know how you go, Good luck x

[gary12]

Teresa

We are off to Melbourne early next year. Our eldest is only at primary school in the UK. Just to put your mind at rest, I was talking to a woman last week who up until 2 years ago lived in Melbourne. Her children now, in the UK go to the local private seriously expensive private school and she said she would never have dreamed of privately educating her children in Oz. She said their education system is fabulous. They offer a wide range of subject, lots of which you don't get in the UK.

We have a where to live guide that another PIO'zzer kindly emailed us. It is at work though so we won't be able to get it until mid next week. PM us with your email and I will dig it out for you.

We are looking into renting our home at present and so I can't really answer your question re tax etc.

Kew is supposed to be a lovely area but I think it comes at a very high premium house price wise.

best wishes

Michelle

[Forgetmenot]

The areas of Melbourne you mention are very good areas to live but very pricey, rents are expensive in these areas. You can visit Realestate.com.au and look up property sale prices and rent. If you were to buy in these areas auction is usually the way property is sold and despite the government trying they have not been able to stop property being advertised for a lot less than what it finally sells for, sometimes 50 thousand plus.

There is a shortage of rental properties now and many people are going after the one property this is a problem in the areas you mention as a high percentage are owner occupied being such desirable places for professionals to live.

The private schools are close by and so these areas attract professional people.

The further out people live the less it costs but that is not for all places as it depends on being close to the beach, close to the rail line etc. Its the old real estate adage, position, position, position.

As I have said before Melbourne is such a large area that it depends where people work where people live if people do not want to spend a good part of their life sitting on public transport or in a traffic jam on a freeway.

We do not have grammar schools just high schools and some are perceived to be better than others, there are catchment areas for schools.

Education in Australia is different in each State the curriculum's are not the same although of course similar and this is a problem when people move from State to State and I think they should jolly well fix it.

I have raised my children here and they are now grown up and I sent them to public primary and private high school.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

[Pinhead]

You need to split the interest portion of your mortgage payments from the capital part.
Only the interest is tax deductable.

You need to take the gross income and deduct all your expenses (EA fee, interest, etc,etc) to work out if you make a profit, you only need to pay tax on the profit you make.

[Quoll]

Originally Posted by gary12

Teresa

We are off to Melbourne early next year. Our eldest is only at primary school in the UK. Just to put your mind at rest, I was talking to a woman last week who up until 2 years ago lived in Melbourne. Her children now, in the UK go to the local private seriously expensive private school and she said she would never have dreamed of privately educating her children in Oz. She said their education system is fabulous. They offer a wide range of subject, lots of which you don't get in the UK.

Michelle

If you are going to Melbourne I'd be asking that woman just which school her kids went to because I doubt it would be the norm and it would be good to target one that you know works.

A far higher percentage of Australian parents send their kids into the private system than in UK - the bulk go into the Catholic system - and the number is rising every year. The biggest move into private comes at Secondary level. If the natives are doing it in such large numbers, you would want to question why.

I certainly wouldnt describe the Aussie public system as fabulous although obviously individually there will be schools that are better than others. In my experience that really largely depends on the school leadership and if you have a charismatic and dedicated leader the school will be a better place than if you just have a principal who is on their way up the career ladder and ticking the boxes to get to the next rung. In general they dont offer anything out of the box and many migrant families I have spoken to have been disappointed that their children are usually a year or two ahead of their age cohort here.

In general terms, the school will reflect the socio economic make up of the area in which it is situated so if you wouldnt want to live in the neighbourhood you wouldnt want to send your kids to the local school.

BTW all the Grammars are private here - fees about $15K pa. I think there are selective state High Schools in Melbourne which go from Yrs 9 - 12 (Melbourne and McRobertson - single sex selective schools). Catholic schools are much cheaper though.

[Forgetmenot]

This lady in Uk probably lived in one of the affluent areas I mentioned and therefore she had no need to send her children to private school I did not send my children to private school because of the education, the education is fine, its as Quoll said the schools and its the leadership and its the have to take all comers at state schools.

My son is a maths science teacher in the State system and he works in the country simply because country is much nicer, children are on the whole easier to control and schools are not so large.

Our State schools are the same as those in the UK there are the problem ones one comes to mind but will not mention it as I know people on here live in the area but the Police go there regularly. Others are fine its modern life wherever you live in the world these days.

There is no perfect utopia, just better weather and space.

If I were you I would keep an open mind, come here and then make a decision there is no hurry about this and you will find the right school that suits you for your child/children.

[Ruby Okim]

Hi guys,

If any of you still need the Where to Live in Melbourne guide, PM me your email address and I'll send it to you.

As an aside, I live in Camberwell, which is kinda in between Hawthorn and Kew and is probably seen as a well-to-do area. We live in a 2BR 1Bath unit (a one storey house in a compound of five) and pay $320 a week, which isn't bad in my opinion. I usually shop in Box Hill as the market is cheaper and more diverse but it does have a good high street with many of the shops they have in town and even a Laura Ashley and Jigsaw! We chose the location because OH was working in Mulgrave and I was pretty sure that my job would be in the CBD and so far it's been really nice. Houses for sale around here can be very pricey but I've seen a few that would be within our budget.

Can't help with the schools as we don't have kids!

Hazel

[moving2melbourne]

Hi Ash911, Welcome to PIO. In a way you are lucky that son is only 18months old. You have time to move over here, have a look around different areas and schools then decide where you want to settle.
I would recommend state primary school and maybe a private secondary school or college as some are called. My eldest son is at a catholic private school and the fees are $3500 per year so it is not that expensive. You will have to remember that you have school fees to pay whether your at a private or state school, you also have to pay for all the excercise books, pens, pencils etc which can range from $200 - $500 per child per year (it may get higher than this as your child gets in to Yr 10)