Eva Winterburn

We have PR but our friends on 457's or partner visas pay the same, I am pretty sure all primary and secondary state schools in Victoria just charge for stationary etc, so in the hundreds per year, not thousands... Private schools are around $25k per year and upwards...

Hi! State schools in Victoria are not charging more for temporary/international residents so that should be less (we pay about $600 a year for primary school) Biggest expense would be your housing , if you need to be in commuting distance to CBD, I would budget between $750 and $1500 per WEEK depending on your preferences. Overall you should be fine! Good luck with your decision.

Mine are 7 and 8, youngest one went to 'kinder' here for a while and found her feet quickly! Bayside has lots to do but more spectacular stuff a bit further out: tree surfing at Enchanted garden, Philip island for penguins, Wilsons prom for glamping, Healesville for native animals and wineries and our absolute favourite was skiing at Mount Buller! For flying holidays Bali, Fiji or Port Douglas, just a shame we need to work sometimes :-)

Loads of good schools, both private and state, my kids are at Sandy east and love it, very different from UK schools though! All bayside schools seem to be ok, so once you are here just go visit to get a feel.. Swimming pools are mainly indoors, and of course you can swim in the sea. Lots of people have their own pool in the garden. Bayside has lots of sporty and cultural stuff going on, and really good facilities (parks with play grounds, skate ramps and public barbecues are our current favourite) The libraries offer lots of activities both for adults and kids. If you have children and your container has not arrived you can join the toy library!

Traffic is not too bad, but parking close to impossible...very small car park at station that is filled very early (long before 7) and all streets around station have 2 hour parking limit... I guess that is the same at the other stations...easier to take the bus or cycle (but that may get interesting as the weather is somewhat unpredictable...today 42°...pffff)

Sandringham is situated between the Sandringham line and the Frankston line so depending where you live you can use either or both. The Sandringham line is the last stop so going in you can always sit, coming back a bit busier but most times you can sit straight away, if not you will soon as it empties out. And it has sea views! The Frankston line has express trains and normal trains, you can get on at Cheltenham or Southland, express you will have to stand, slow train you can sit most days... Having both lines close also helps if lines are flooded or somebody jumped... Tickets currently just over $8 each way (this includes your bus and tram in the city) so cheaper than driving and cbd parking!

We are in Sandringham and we love it, kids too, there are fantastic playgrounds everywhere and lots of activities for little ones! Commute to CBD: leave the house at 7.30 (bus to station as car park is full long before then) and back at 6.40 on a good day... Median house price $1.7m, if you can afford more go closer to CBD, if less move land inwards a bit! Happy to help with Bayside related questions!

Have you tried this site? It may help make things clearer (or not ;-)) https://www.microburbs.com.au/ Anyway, our migration agent said most new arrivals change suburb after the first year so I would try to stop worrying and go with your gut feeling!

Hi Paul, No idea what that specific salary could be but you will need between 2 to 2.5 times the amount you earned in pounds (ie. 50k Gbp should translate to between $100k to $125k) Housing is very expensive, that will be the biggest difference I think! My husband got a lower initial offer than expected and said he was hoping to get $20k more, they gave him another $17k so worth asking if you can... Good luck with your interview!

We are in Sandringham, typical commute: leave the house at 7.30 to get to Collins street by train, back around 18.30 on a good day..

We lived 8 years in the UK and are now in Bayside, Melbourne, and we love it! There is no right or wrong, people are different, and if you really want it you can make it work! Hardest things are missing the family, and some weird stuff that hits you like Christmas, it is just not Christmas when it is 40 degrees and you are eating shrimps on the beach, but a lot of poms celebrate 'christmas in july' Just a few things that may help: My husband works in collins street in the CBD, about 16 k/10 miles from here, leaves home at 7.30Am and comes back at 6.30PM on a good day, he works late often and in the weekend so not easier than the Uk! They 'hire and fire' easier here, so if you want to work hard you can higher up quicker than UK.. His salary in dollars is 2.5 times what he earned in pounds, and the difference goes mainly into the much higher mortgage (but also bigger house), other costs are roughly the same..some things cheaper like fuel and alcohol, other more expensive, and some things unexpected, like school costs, our kids go to a state school but we still have to pay around $1200 per year (for two) and they need a laptop from grade 3 ($1000), things like that can throw you off...GP visit for adult $80, dentist very expensive....flights to Bali or Fiji cheap :-) bayside living priceless! There are dollar shops and places like Aldi etc, so you can shop cheap if you know where to look, like anywhere it just depends where you live! Kids have settled in really quick and have an awesome life here, our 8 year old just came back from three day school camp on Philip Island, and they have things like chickens and olive trees and outdoor vegetable garden and kitchen at school! Good luck, and feel free to ask questions (time for me to pay back as I used this forum a lot before we came!)

We bought our house in Bayside, Melbourne at auction just 6 months after we arrived from the UK and it was the best decision we have ever made...(and luck was on our side, we sold in the UK before we left and exchanged our £s just before Brexit vote..) Our mortgage broker did the actual bidding for us as we were nervous to go too high ourselves, worked out well, so if you can find somebody who can do the bidding for you! The agent had no idea who our broker was bidding for as we stood across the street amongst the neighbours... The property was listed for $870k to $970k, which everyone knew was way too low, people estimated it to go for $1.3M, turned out the reserve at auction day was $1.1m....the marketing campaign failed terribly as all other bidders were out at $1m, and local people thought it would go too high so they went to other auctions (they are all at the same time for some silly reason), so we had a steal at $1.1m! Well, sort of...a fixer upper for over a million was not what we expected after selling our nearly new property in the UK for less than half that :-( but we had a building inspection done prior to auction and thought it worth the risk.... We have since renovated the property (spend $150k) and it was this week valued at $1.5m, market value $1.7m, not bad for one and a half year. Property prices here are rising much faster, and rent is high ($800 to $1400 per week in our area) so get in while you can, I would say. Auctions are scary, unpredictable and not for the faint hearted...you have to balance your expectations and reality, and you need to be invested enough to go for it, and not too invested so you know when too walk away...and remember, at the end the property goes to the person willing to spend the most money on the day! Good luck!