Brisbane for a Young Family of 4

[Nula1986]

Hi All,

The company I work for have offered the possibility of transferring from the UK to either Sydney or Brisbane on a 482 Visa. I am 34, married with children aged 2 and 6.

I am trying to get an accurate idea of what my monthly outgoings would be so I can work out if it will be affordable or not. At this time I have a preference towards Brisbane due to cheaper real estate. My weekly rental budget would be around $550 (max) for a 4 bedroom house.

The job role is remote based, but it would be nice to be within a 2 hour drive of the airport as travel is required fairly frequently.

I'm interested to know:

1. Which residential areas should I look to rent in? Areas which are safe, have good schools and fairly close to parks/beaches. I'm also a keen road cyclist so would ideally want to live somewhere close to good cycling routes.

2. What monthly bills should I expect to pay for a family living in a 4 bed house in Brisbane? Here is a list I put together from some internet searches. Does it seem about right? and have I missed anything?:

Rental (Monthly)	$2,383.33
Electric	$100.00
Gas	$50.00
Water & Council Tax	$57.00
Home Contents Insurance	$52.00
Mobile Phone (1x for Wife)	$45.00
Internet	$124.00
Petrol	$80.00
Vehicle Tax	$58.00
Vehicle Insurance	$91.00
Groceries	$1,000.00
TOTAL	$4,040.33

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A

[Marisawright]

I can't answer your question. However if you are on a tight budget, then you are right to ignore Sydney.  Housing - whether you rent or buy - is about double the price in Sydney for a equivalent property in an equivalent area.  

[Quoll]

You’re also right to avoid NSW because you’d be stung for upwards of $5k pa for education (per child) on a temporary visa.
You might want to add in health insurance (300+),  parking (possibly), other transport unless you get a company car, budget something for doctors and dentist visits and prescriptions and also random costs of schooling (uniforms, visits, special events, stationery etc), child care if your OH wants to work (100+ per day)

Edited March 25, 2021 by Quoll

[Marisawright]

I'm curious, if it's a remote job, why does it have to be Brisbane or Sydney?  There are other airports which might suit depending where you need to fly to.  Is there an office in Brisbane?  If not, have you considered the Sunshine Coast for instance?

[Paul1Perth]

I would go for Brisbane over Sydney, just because of costs, both are really nice cities. 2 hours of the airport will give you a masdive choice, you could maybe consider the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast if you like beaches.

Brisbane is not close to nice beaches but is a nice City.

[Nula1986]

12 hours ago, Quoll said:

You’re also right to avoid NSW because you’d be stung for upwards of $5k pa for education (per child) on a temporary visa.
You might want to add in health insurance (300+),  parking (possibly), other transport unless you get a company car, budget something for doctors and dentist visits and prescriptions and also random costs of schooling (uniforms, visits, special events, stationery etc), child care if your OH wants to work (100+ per day)

Hi Paul, thanks for the response. The company have advised that the package would include medical care for me and the family. Reference the school tuition fee's, am I right in sating that the fee's are not payable in Queensland as it stands today? But they are in NSW?

[Nula1986]

12 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I'm curious, if it's a remote job, why does it have to be Brisbane or Sydney?  There are other airports which might suit depending where you need to fly to.  Is there an office in Brisbane?  If not, have you considered the Sunshine Coast for instance?

Hi Marisa, there are two roles - one in Sydney which is where the head office is and the other position is based out of Queensland. So the role in Queensland come with more flexibility in terms of property locations although I wouldn't want to be too far from the airport and there will be a frequent requirement o travel. I have been looking at properties north side of Brisbane and towards the sunshine coast. Is there anywhere that you would recommend?

[Marisawright]

24 minutes ago, Nula1986 said:

Hi Marisa, there are two roles - one in Sydney which is where the head office is and the other position is based out of Queensland. So the role in Queensland come with more flexibility in terms of property locations although I wouldn't want to be too far from the airport and there will be a frequent requirement o travel. I have been looking at properties north side of Brisbane and towards the sunshine coast. Is there anywhere that you would recommend?

Brisbane Airport and Gold Coast airport are both classed as International Airports, so it might be worth checking out where you can fly to from them, to see which one would suit.  There is also an airport on the Sunshine Coast itself (as well as several other airports up and down the coast).

Edited March 26, 2021 by Marisawright

[calNgary]

49 minutes ago, Nula1986 said:

Hi Marisa, there are two roles - one in Sydney which is where the head office is and the other position is based out of Queensland. So the role in Queensland come with more flexibility in terms of property locations although I wouldn't want to be too far from the airport and there will be a frequent requirement o travel. I have been looking at properties north side of Brisbane and towards the sunshine coast. Is there anywhere that you would recommend?

Deception Bay and Morayfield are known for being a bit 'ikky'.

North Lakes is a bit like a huge English estate but with detached houses and shops, schools etc and quite popular with migrants.

Bribie Island is lovely but if anything happens with the bridge you are stuck there / cant get home.

Sandgate, Redcliffe, Scarborough would be worth a look if you want access to a beach/ waterfront.all nice places for families.

To be fair there are way more good areas than bad, so a lot comes down to personal choice. The best way to find an area is to spend days driving around when you arrive and see what 'feels' right for you. You would be surprised how much one suburb can vary compared to its neighboring suburb. Some of a lot of wooden Queenslander style homes which lots of people love. Some are more brick 2 stories, a lot brick single story (a bit like a bungalow ), so again its what you would like.

Have you been on Realestate.com and looked at houses, purchase prices and rental costs and availability? I spent hours on there short listing areas before we moved so we could check them out once here ( although we still ended up at the opposite side of Brisbane once we got here and drove around ! lol).

Hope this helps a bit

 Cal x

[Quoll]

2 hours ago, Nula1986 said:

Hi Paul, thanks for the response. The company have advised that the package would include medical care for me and the family. Reference the school tuition fee's, am I right in sating that the fee's are not payable in Queensland as it stands today? But they are in NSW?

Correct. But you never can tell when a state may suddenly impose fees. Suppose it all depends on their need to balance a budget.

[Nula1986]

On 26/03/2021 at 12:12, calNgary said:

Deception Bay and Morayfield are known for being a bit 'ikky'.

North Lakes is a bit like a huge English estate but with detached houses and shops, schools etc and quite popular with migrants.

Bribie Island is lovely but if anything happens with the bridge you are stuck there / cant get home.

Sandgate, Redcliffe, Scarborough would be worth a look if you want access to a beach/ waterfront.all nice places for families.

To be fair there are way more good areas than bad, so a lot comes down to personal choice. The best way to find an area is to spend days driving around when you arrive and see what 'feels' right for you. You would be surprised how much one suburb can vary compared to its neighboring suburb. Some of a lot of wooden Queenslander style homes which lots of people love. Some are more brick 2 stories, a lot brick single story (a bit like a bungalow ), so again its what you would like.

Have you been on Realestate.com and looked at houses, purchase prices and rental costs and availability? I spent hours on there short listing areas before we moved so we could check them out once here ( although we still ended up at the opposite side of Brisbane once we got here and drove around ! lol).

Hope this helps a bit

 Cal x

Hi Cal,

Thanks for the response. I've been in touch with a friend who migrated to Brisbane about 8 years ago. He has suggested some areas north of the Brisbane and also in the Sunshine Coast area. I would ideally want a 4 bedroom property to rent. I've been looking on realestate.com but there doesn't appear to be many good options with my top end budget of around $600 per week. Do you think this budget is sufficient?

A

[Marisawright]

7 hours ago, Nula1986 said:

. I would ideally want a 4 bedroom property to rent. I've been looking on realestate.com but there doesn't appear to be many good options with my top end budget of around $600 per week. Do you think this budget is sufficient?

$600 a week sounds tight.   In most nice suburbs in Sydney, $600 a week would barely get you a two-bedroom apartment.   Brisbane is cheaper, but I'm not sure it's that much cheaper.

[ramot]

8 hours ago, Nula1986 said:

Hi Cal,

Thanks for the response. I've been in touch with a friend who migrated to Brisbane about 8 years ago. He has suggested some areas north of the Brisbane and also in the Sunshine Coast area. I would ideally want a 4 bedroom property to rent. I've been looking on realestate.com but there doesn't appear to be many good options with my top end budget of around $600 per week. Do you think this budget is sufficient?

A

My son has recently bought an immaculate detached low set 4 bedroom 2 bathrooms, $630.000 Sippy Downs Sunshine Coast rented it for $630. Good location, schools, university, good shopping. Costs vary around the coast. 

However prices are rising very fast here with hard competition for rentals, but if you aren’t dependent on working in the area, the Sunshine Coast is a lovely area, but a bit far to commute to Brisbane daily, due to heavy traffic at peak times.

It takes about an hour to Brisbane airport on a clear run, from Sippy Downs, Mooloolaba and Caloundra, but a lot longer if there is an accident.

Sunshine Coast airport at Maroochydore has restarted more local flights to the other major cities again, and I think a smaller airline Alliance? has started going to some more regional places. 

Sorry I cant help with Brisbane prices.

[Marisawright]

3 minutes ago, ramot said:

 the Sunshine Coast is a lovely area, but a bit far to commute to Brisbane daily, due to heavy traffic at peak times.

It takes about an hour to Brisbane airport on a clear run, from Sippy Downs, Mooloolaba and Caloundra, but a lot longer if there is an accident.

I've seen episodes of Wanted Down Under where people are heading for Brisbane, but they're shown houses on the Sunshine Coast (probably so the cameras can see a beach nearby).  Not practical for most people.

To the OP, if you're considering it, use Google Maps, use the Directions feature, and try changing the time of your journey to peak times.   The difference between a clear run and peak hour can be stunning.  I think migrants often imagine Australia is this lovely spacious, traffic-free zone.   We don't get the same density of traffic as the UK, but we still get traffic jams!   

[Paul1Perth]

On 28/03/2021 at 06:33, Marisawright said:

I've seen episodes of Wanted Down Under where people are heading for Brisbane, but they're shown houses on the Sunshine Coast (probably so the cameras can see a beach nearby).  Not practical for most people.

To the OP, if you're considering it, use Google Maps, use the Directions feature, and try changing the time of your journey to peak times.   The difference between a clear run and peak hour can be stunning.  I think migrants often imagine Australia is this lovely spacious, traffic-free zone.   We don't get the same density of traffic as the UK, but we still get traffic jams!   

Google maps is a great research tool. Street view is good too.

[DrDougster]

If you're a keen cyclist I'd look out towards Samford.