fingers456 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Hi. We are a family from the Birmingham in the UK moving to Sydney for my husband's work at around April time. We have 4 boys aged 13, 10, 5 and 3 years and have no idea where to start looking for somewhere to live. My husband is to work in Paramatta and we are hoping to find a 4 or 5 bedroom house to rent within commutable distance. Hopefully on public transport. We are hoping to get a weekly rental of $1200 at the max. Two storey accommodation with a pool would be our dream! Could you possibly tell us of any areas to start our search in? We would like a family area with lots going on for children as our kids are upset to be leaving their clubs including cubs/scouts groups, karate and swimming. We also would like an area with good public schools and parks/leisure space. Any advice you could give us would be fantastic. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talieandtribe Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Hi, I'm looking for something similar. North Ryde looks good. I think it ticks all your boxes, even a pool. Ryde Secondary and Chatswood get good results. I'm looking at Turramurra, Killara and Cherrybrook too mainly for their public high schools. They also are on the train line. Some good sites that I've been pointed towards from here are http://allhouses.com.au http://www.allhomes.com.au wrong link sorry http://www.domain.com.au http://www.myschool.edu.au http://bettereducation.com.au/CompareSchools/primary/wa/compare_wa_primary_schools.aspx April, wow. Busy time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Hills district the obvious choice (refers to most of the area north of Parramatta, east of Blacktown, west of Beecroft Rd/Pennant Hills Rd) Great family areas, lots of good schools, lots of leisure facilities, extensive bus network to take you to Parramatta which is the nearest big commercial centre: http://www.cdcbus.com.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/12488_Region_4_Network_Guide_NOV12.pdf Well in budget too. You shouldn't have any trouble getting your house with pool for that money Also look at the various suburbs in the city of Ryde, to the east of Parramatta. Bus services here are operated by Sydney Buses, but for some reason they seem to have taken their network map down? Useless...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingers456 Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Thanks so much to everyone for quickly replying to our queries, they have all been incredibly useful. Does anyone have any views about the Liverpool area? We just noticed it is a quick train commute to Paramatta and also North Rocks. Good family areas or best avoided? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I don't think there's much point in moving to Liverpool if your husband's job is in Parramatta, as Parramatta has all the facilities you could wish for. Liverpool probably has them too, but it's further away from Sydney CBD, and Parramatta is more central. You might be able to get a nice home in Parra, itself. I don't know where to recommend. I pass through Parra everyday on the way to Penrith, and I look out at all the suburbs and stations. I don't mind Penrith since I've been working there, and you'd probably get a mansion for $1200 there! 20 minutes on the express train to Parra too. I always admire a particular housing estate at Doonside, or perhaps between Blacktown and Doonside. The homes do remind me of England because they are semi-detached, and they are next to a bush reserve. I noticed the name of a school at Rooty Hill today and 'Googled' the name 'Loyola', which I now know is the name of the man who founded the Jesuits, so it must be a Jesuit school? There's a heap of development there, new gym and aquatic centre next to the school, extension to the RSL, Novotel next door. Not that I'm recommending Rooty Hill to live in but the school may be OK. Maybe you could look at places closer to Sydney, between Parra and Central Railway - Ashfield, Croydon, Strathfield, Burwood, if they are within your budget. The express train I like to get - Blue Mts - stops at Strathfield, Parramatta, Westmead, Blacktown, Penrith. That's why I like those places, and you have the suburban trains on the same line as well. The Hills District is very nice, but there's no trains (yet!?) , just buses. It's hard for me to be objective, not having a family. Perhaps, if I could afford it, I'd live around Strathfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Rooty Hill????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Thanks so much to everyone for quickly replying to our queries, they have all been incredibly useful. Does anyone have any views about the Liverpool area? We just noticed it is a quick train commute to Paramatta and also North Rocks. Good family areas or best avoided? Most would say avoid. A lot of this is possibly down to it just being one of the poorer areas of the city, as ever there is snobbery around. I don't personally know it very well - went to Warwick Farm once for work, thought it was a bit grotty. But that's one small area of a large city (as in city of Liverpool) I wouldn't get hung up on the train too much, for a job in Parra. Train services here are all centred on Sydney CBD, with Parra along one line, so if you are looking to commute exclusively by train there it cuts your choices down a lot On the other hand, Parramatta is a massive hub for bus services. Parramatta City Council would like to develop it as a hub for Light Rail services and I think that could work really well - but realistically it's 10-20 years away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingers456 Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 Thanks, that is great advice. Do you know roughly how much a small second hand car would be over there? We were wondering if commuting by car would give us more flexibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Cars are expensive second hand.....go on http://www.carsales.com.au and have a look Try searching for a Mazda 3 for comparison purposes - it's the top selling car here so there are tons of them Having a car for a household is pretty much essential here but it can be a big help when you first arrive if you can get away with just the one, and commute by PT - buying 2 cars straight off the bat needs a big chunk of change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I have brought up 4 boys in the Hills District. It is a great place to bring up children. It has all the amenities you desire and a very easy commute to Parramatta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dermo1 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I have brought up 4 boys in the Hills District. It is a great place to bring up children. It has all the amenities you desire and a very easy commute to Parramatta. Hi Ellie, We recently moved to Oz from Uk end November, we stayed in Parramatta hotel for 2 weeks then picked Castle Hill to rent. We have a nice 4 bedroomed single storey house with pool for $750 per week with walking distance to Castle Towers shopping centre and the bus stops (express bus to city only takes 40 mins) our kids are 6 and 4 and we love it here. I would say it takes 30 mins to get to Parramatta using the Cumberland Highway to James Ruse drive. North Rocks is also a lovely suburb. Good luck with house hunting. Be prepared for a battle as rental goes quickly. Have advantage over others with references from estate agent or character references plus we showed our bank account total proving we can afford it plus we were ready to move in ASAP which all helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi Ellie,We recently moved to Oz from Uk end November, we stayed in Parramatta hotel for 2 weeks then picked Castle Hill to rent. We have a nice 4 bedroomed single storey house with pool for $750 per week with walking distance to Castle Towers shopping centre and the bus stops (express bus to city only takes 40 mins) our kids are 6 and 4 and we love it here. I would say it takes 30 mins to get to Parramatta using the Cumberland Highway to James Ruse drive. North Rocks is also a lovely suburb. Good luck with house hunting. Be prepared for a battle as rental goes quickly. Have advantage over others with references from estate agent or character references plus we showed our bank account total proving we can afford it plus we were ready to move in ASAP which all helped. Tho' not familiar with bus routes from Castle Hill to Parramatta, I doubt the go near the Cumberland Highway. Old Northern Road and Windsor Road are the main roads. These two roads are busy during peak times but there are dedicated bus lanes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Maybe you could look at places closer to Sydney, between Parra and Central Railway - Ashfield, Croydon, Strathfield, Burwood, if they are within your budget. . Definitely not. Get used to living in that area and when you're ready to buy a house, you'll find you can't afford one! Parramatta is the demographic centre of Sydney and there's a lot going on, so it's not a bad place to start looking. The Hills District is a nicer area than Liverpool, and there's plenty of young families there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I was sitting in the cafe (Juice & Java) by my unit on Elizabeth St, the other day, looking at all the buses stopping, & heading all over the Eastern Subs - Coogee, Maroubra, Little Bay, Mascot, Botany, Kingsford, Marrickville via Redfern (did not know that route - 308), leaving every couple of minutes. Buses to the city leave at the same rate from down on Chalmers St, 200 metres away, and Central station itself is 600 metres. I guess if you can afford to live in this area, or maybe closer to one of the beaches, it is a nice thing to do. It's like living at the hub of a wheel, with all the spokes leading out to the various parts of Sydney. The proximity to the coast also means that the temperature is ten degrees cooler, maximums of around thirty, as opposed to forty! There are plenty of families around the inner city and I guess they are willing to swap the lack of a garden, living in a terrace house, for the convenience of being able to walk or use public transport, 'wanting' rather than 'needing' a car. Watching a couple of 'nippers' jumping and diving into the sea at Clovelly the other night, made me think how great it must be to live by a beach. But I could probably live anywhere in Sydney, and I hate commuting, so if I got a new job, and I was just starting my career, I'd be looking to move close to my workplace. I would also like to be walking distance to facilities - shops, bus stops, stations. Maybe try doing 'practice' commutes from various places you fancy living? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 It really depends how much money they've got. A house big enough for four boys would cost over a million dollars in inner Sydney, even as far out as Strathfield. Don't get me wrong, I love the inner city too, but it is very expensive for a family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingers456 Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Thanks everyone. We just want to rent, not buy. Others have suggested Castle Hill, Kellyville or maybe Carlingford. We'll try there perhaps. We need to get a serviced / furnished flat first, for a month or so, while we wait for our stuff to arrive and find a longer-term place. Are these all on the coast / around the city centre, or will there be some further out, nearer Parra? Also, we need health insurance to get the visa. Is it worth paying extra for dental cover, or is it easier to pay as we go if we need treatment / check ups. Does anyone know how much a simple examination / scale / polish is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 For dental cover, do some sums Personally, I self insure for dental - I looked at how much a top level cover plan was but wasn't happy with the caps (watch for these) as it's the one-off big bills you want to cover that are the whole point of insurance IMO. An annual cap of $1000 for treatment for the family isn't a lot of use. So I put the same amount in a savings plan instead - so far I am well up, and get the benefit of the interest on the money at the same time. If a big bill comes in then at the moment I've more than $1500 to pay it with so am OK with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie 2 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 There are serviced apartments in Parramatta. www.meritonapartments.com.au There are others if you google serviced apartments Parramatta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 For dental cover, do some sums Personally, I self insure for dental - I looked at how much a top level cover plan was but wasn't happy with the caps (watch for these) as it's the one-off big bills you want to cover that are the whole point of insurance IMO. An annual cap of $1000 for treatment for the family isn't a lot of use. So I put the same amount in a savings plan instead - so far I am well up, and get the benefit of the interest on the money at the same time. If a big bill comes in then at the moment I've more than $1500 to pay it with so am OK with that That is basically what I do. I've been confused about the need for medical insurance since I arrived. Looking at the amounts you have to pay, I thought you could just put the same amount in an account. (Financial advisors always say you should try to have three to six months(?) worth of salary available on call? I try to go to doctors who 'bulk bill' everthing - easy enough with GP's, though specialists don't do it. I think I got $80 back from Medicare for a $200 bill to see an ENT surgeon. I paid $3,000 to my dentist last year, and I'm sure I've asked her a few times whether I need insurance, but she says it's not worth it. Because I spent so much, together with podiatrist's fees, I was able to claim some of it on my tax return. I still have over 20,000 pounds in mini cash ISA's in the UK, and I thought I would keep that as my emergency fund if I wanted to have a private hospital operation, but if you have an accident, or an emergency, they just whip you into hospital. It's not like the USA, where they ask you if you have insurance before they operate? (Or is that just a myth?) The one insurance I read you should have (and I don't) is for the ambulance? But, for all that, I'm still confused. Do I NEED medical insurance? Am I rorting the system by not taking it out? Is there something that I am missing? PS I looked at your photo and wondered 'what is that thing stuck on the end of his finger? Then I had a closer look. Might be time to blow another grand on a new pair of glasses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 ...if you have an accident, or an emergency, they just whip you into hospital. It's not like the USA, where they ask you if you have insurance before they operate? (Or is that just a myth?) The one insurance I read you should have (and I don't) is for the ambulance? But, for all that, I'm still confused. Do I NEED medical insurance? Am I rorting the system by not taking it out? Is there something that I am missing? I paid $3,000 to my dentist last year, and I'm sure I've asked her a few times whether I need insurance, but she says it's not worth it. Because I spent so much, together with podiatrist's fees, I was able to claim some of it on my tax return. I still have over 20,000 pounds in mini cash ISA's in the UK, and I thought I would keep that as my emergency fund if I wanted to have a private hospital operation, but if you have an accident, or an emergency, they just whip you into hospital. It's not like the USA, where they ask you if you have insurance before they operate? (Or is that just a myth?) The one insurance I read you should have (and I don't) is for the ambulance? But, for all that, I'm still confused. Do I NEED medical insurance? I've always had medical insurance and my husband never has, so I see it from both sides. Cover for dentist, optical and podiatrist aren't part of basic medical insurance - they're covered by an optional "extras" policy which you can choose to tag on. I wear glasses and have typical NHS teeth (full of fillings), plus my hobby is dancing, so it's worth it for me. If you don't use those services much, then extras cover probably isn't worth it, and you'd pick a policy which didn't include it. If there's an emergency, you won't be turned away from hospital for lack of insurance, so don't worry about that. The ambulance won't refuse to pick you up either! We've also found waiting lists in the public system aren't nearly as bad as some people make out, though maybe that's because we live in Sydney, or maybe it's just lucky the type of problems we've had. The reason most people have medical insurance is tax - you pay a lower Medicare levy if you have it. People used to wait until they were old (and more likely to need it) before they got insured. However some years ago, the government introduced a rule whereby if you didn't take out insurance before you were 30, you'd get slugged with a big surcharge in old age. My husband is facing that problem now - if he were to take out insurance today, he'd have to pay a 60% surcharge on the premium!!! That's why so many people are insured nowadays. I took out insurance for tax reasons but now I think it was probably a good idea. I had a major spinal op last year and it cost $35,000. I had no idea operations could cost so much! Even with private insurance, I only got back $23,000. I'm not sure how much it would've cost in a public hospital, but I'm glad I was able to go private to access the latest whizz-bang technology, since it was a fairly risky procedure. As we approach retirement, it's likely we'll need more medical treatment than less! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARYROSE02 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Thanks for that info about medical insurance. I did take it out with Medibank Private in 1979, mostly because my firm paid the premium, I think, and, six months later, had a hernia op in a private hospital in Mosman - the days when you had a week in hospital rather than in and out on the same day. I shall do some more research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fingers456 Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Hi again, we're cracking on with our move but still waiting for the visa so progress is slow. Our 5 yr old is having nightmares about spiders though. What's everyone's experience of the critters? Do you have to check under your pillows every night, and never leave clothes on the floor? Or are they hardly ever seen? And how many different types of nasty ones are there? Funnel webs we know about, but what are the others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talieandtribe Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Hi My three were worried about spiders too (and we were) Not entirely over it but this place did help. http://www.reptilepark.com.au/ We went to all the shows, the spider show really helped us all feel calmer. The owner tells you all about funnel webs, how slow they are and easy to catch. We spent three weeks in Killarney Heights and didn't see a single spider. I have spent 6 months in Engadine and met one huntsman, the Australian family I stayed with had never seen one before! There are things that I was pulled up on like; Putting washing over my shoulder from the line=not the best place if a spider is on there Putting shoes straight on from outside of the back door Leaving clothes/towels on the floor Leaving the screen open on sliding doors Sugar on the work tops But they are small things that become second nature living somewhere warm with more bugs. It's a bit of a shock when you do see a huntsman, they are massive and fast... but not everywhere We did all look under our pillows for the first week. I looked under the sun visor before getting in to the car every time! Some Aussies are just as scared as Poms. Hope he gets over it soon. Talie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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