Guest julianpoggenpoel Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Hi Sam, (Samfire) I just came across your post and was wondering how you and your family got on settling in Canberra. I'm currently in the middle of the daunting process of collating all paper work and applying for my 176 (Graphic pre press). I'm currently at the "skills assessment" stage so early days yet. I noticed you mentioned that your husband was in the printing trade as well and that he got a job offer while doing enquiries, how lucky was that!!! Are there lots of vacancies for print professionals in the ACT area? Was the process fairly straight forward, is there anything I should be particularly vigilant about? Any tips and help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. hope you and your family have a great new year, regards Julian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Hi Sam, (Samfire)I just came across your post and was wondering how you and your family got on settling in Canberra. I'm currently in the middle of the daunting process of collating all paper work and applying for my 176 (Graphic pre press). I'm currently at the "skills assessment" stage so early days yet. I noticed you mentioned that your husband was in the printing trade as well and that he got a job offer while doing enquiries, how lucky was that!!! Are there lots of vacancies for print professionals in the ACT area? Was the process fairly straight forward, is there anything I should be particularly vigilant about? Any tips and help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. hope you and your family have a great new year, regards Julian Not sure whether Samfire reads these boards any more or not. The family went back within a few weeks when they discovered that the wages werent going to come close to supporting their family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clickettuk Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Personally I would avoid Tuggeranong but that is a very personal p.o.v - the schools down there really dont float my boat, they are all open space and Conder PS is huge and Lanyon HS wouldnt be my first choice. Sure, nice views but ..... If I had to live anywhere in Tugg then it would probably be Fadden but it's a nasty drive into town in the rush hour whichever route you take. Woden Weston is OK - mainly built in the 60s and 70s. Chapman has probably the best rep or Torrens/Farrer on the other side of Hindmarsh with Melrose HS or Alfred Deakin HS being the pick of most parents. Gungahlin is the new build area of the moment but the houses tend to be bigger and the blocks smaller - the schools have a pretty good rep at the moment though. The very new suburbs like Harrison look horrible IMHO because they dont have the vegetation grown up there yet - sort of moonscapish. If I had plenty of money I would be heading for Yarralumla, Reid, Campbell, Griffith (older suburbs more traditional homes) or Aranda (bushy suburb with good school). With marginally less money, then Ainslie, Hackett or possibly Watson, Downer. (I live in Ainslie - big block, small house). Avoid Richardson, Charnwood and Eastern Narrabundah as a general rule but wherever you go though you want to look at the neighbourhood because it can be very variable. We also have a strong independent school system alongside the government system and at HS about 50% of kids actually go to private schools. Real Estate & Homes for Sale, Rent and Share | allhomes is the place to be looking for properties and if you go to googlemaps we have pretty much a universal streetscape coverage. Google earth is also good for getting the feel of a suburb. At the end of the day though, rentals here are scarcer than hens teeth so you may just have to go where you can get a place in the first instance. Hi, We're arriving in Canberra on 3rd February and have sorted out a short term rental for 28 nights. We've heard that finding rentals can be really difficult in Canberra so do you think 28 nights will be enough to find a longer term rental? We've been looking at a couple of websites for rentals and there seems to be lots of choice. Are we missing something? Why are rentals considered so difficult to find? How does it work finding a rental? Are most places viewed via an open house system or can you book an appointment with an agent to go and visit? If its typically open house, does anyone have any suggestions on how to stand out from the crowd and be selected by a landlord????? Thanks for any advice. Michael. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hi, We're arriving in Canberra on 3rd February and have sorted out a short term rental for 28 nights. We've heard that finding rentals can be really difficult in Canberra so do you think 28 nights will be enough to find a longer term rental? We've been looking at a couple of websites for rentals and there seems to be lots of choice. Are we missing something? Why are rentals considered so difficult to find? How does it work finding a rental? Are most places viewed via an open house system or can you book an appointment with an agent to go and visit? If its typically open house, does anyone have any suggestions on how to stand out from the crowd and be selected by a landlord????? Thanks for any advice. Michael. 28 days will probably be enough but be prepared to extend if you have to. The best place for rentals is Real estate properties & homes for sale, rent and share - pretty much the only place really, I reckon 90% of rentals get on there but you will always find a list of private rentals in Saturday's Canberra Times as well. Sure there are lots of places to rent - some of them you probably wouldnt want to let your dog live in for a range of reasons (dont be misled by the pictures the real estate agents put up and always check out the neighbours!) however there is always a big influx of people at the start of the year - there will still be gov transfers looking for places and the students will be arriving shortly to take up the cheaper places. Be prepared to pay more than you think you will. If you have pets you will be behind the 8 ball as well as most landlords will choose people who dont have pets over those that do! Landlords will tend to choose people who have good jobs and will prefer people who dont have kids and always be smartly dressed and be prepared to pay upfront (especially if you dont have a job) and bring some references with you - they do check referees. Generally it is an open house viewing but if they have something on the books which has been there a while then they will do individual viewings. Things should be easing off by the end of Feb beginning of March I should think but it really depends on what you will be looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abrellm Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Not sure whether Samfire reads these boards any more or not. The family went back within a few weeks when they discovered that the wages werent going to come close to supporting their family. I just stumbled across this thread from googling and its really a treasure trove of information. Hopefully they are still relevant? My family and I is now in the process of applying for Skilled Migration visa and hopefullly will find some success after trying for more than a year. Was recently turned down in Victoria as IT professionals are not really in demand there anymore I am not sure if this has already been asked but coming across this comment regarding Samfire, can anyone share how much one's salary will need to be to support a family of 4 in ACT? We are not looking for a high-end place but something that can allow us to live reasonably comfortably. Thx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I just stumbled across this thread from googling and its really a treasure trove of information. Hopefully they are still relevant? My family and I is now in the process of applying for Skilled Migration visa and hopefullly will find some success after trying for more than a year. Was recently turned down in Victoria as IT professionals are not really in demand there anymore I am not sure if this has already been asked but coming across this comment regarding Samfire, can anyone share how much one's salary will need to be to support a family of 4 in ACT? We are not looking for a high-end place but something that can allow us to live reasonably comfortably. Thx. I know people are going to say "we do it on much less" but I reckon you need at least $80k to make ends meet. The average Canberra salary is around the $80k mark and unless you are single and in a house share or have other means then you will need it. If you think that you are going to spend the best part of $25k pa just on a rental property it puts things into perspective. Most families I know are two income families and they need to be, to meet the mortgage/rental repayments. There is a thread on here about cost of living in Canberra which might give you a bit of a clue. You might also want to be a bit suspicious of IT vacancies here too - many are for the APS which requires you to have Aus citizenship so a good number of vacancies are taken out of the total pool. I have no idea what particular skill sets are in demand but that would bear research IMHO. If you are happy to be a help desk jockey then you will probably pick up something. You can get into the ACT public service with permanent residence but not the APS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abrellm Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Thank you so much Quoll. I have done some searches for jobs via internet jobsites and you are right, most of the jobs do require citizenship as they involve government documents and stuff.. Another thing I noted is that most positions are also on contract and pretty short contracts too (averaging 3 months). Is this the norm for work opportunities in ACT or just IT? I will search up the Cost of Living thread and check out more comments on this topic, but I'd rather err on being a little more pessimistic than optimistic :-) Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Thank you so much Quoll. I have done some searches for jobs via internet jobsites and you are right, most of the jobs do require citizenship as they involve government documents and stuff.. Another thing I noted is that most positions are also on contract and pretty short contracts too (averaging 3 months). Is this the norm for work opportunities in ACT or just IT? I will search up the Cost of Living thread and check out more comments on this topic, but I'd rather err on being a little more pessimistic than optimistic :-) Thanks again. Canberra is becoming increasingly contract based - partly because a lot of work sort of filters down from the Govt which is the big employer so they may farm out a contract which requires x number of hours/weeks work in which case the successful tenderer will only employ for the contract period. The APS continues to be a bit jittery - with incompetent government and big deficits there will have to be cuts somewhere and governments usually cop some of that and Canberra generally doesnt fare too well in that regard. A recent review of the ACT public service also pointed to the need for a leaner meaner machine so I suspect there will be more voluntary redundancies than new vacancies. Similarly even with NGOs (non gov organizations), many of which depend on government funding, specific projects often have defined end times and then the organization has to re-tender in a competitive market so there is no guarantee of funding beyond a particular date. The program I am currently working on ceases funding in July and although we may tender to continue the service I would think we have a less than 50% chance of getting it (I dont mind, I am "retired" but keep on getting dragged back into work!) Private enterprise does what private enterprise always has done and historically it tends to have a more fluid workforce and is more erratic about its long term viability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest turners gang Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 hi all, we have been in Canberra now for 9-10 weeks and after reading lots of threads relating to where to live/schools ect I thought I would pass on some of our recent experiences... short term furnished rentals are expensive we stoppped in a 2 bed apartment (we have 3 boys ) which cost us $2200 for 9 days !!! car rental also not cheap... we are now in a fully furnished 3 bed apartment costing $760 per week !! Finding what you would like as in long term rentals that tick the boxes ie size,condition,nice street/area will be the hardest trick to pull off... renting in/around Canberra is a circus... anything descent and ticks the above will generally be above the $625 & upwards ! We had an open mind as to areas but when you throw schools into the equation you find yourselves becoming more and more restricted... then there is the rental process . Your wife spends every day studying allhomes.act.au you see a lovely property 4 beds,lovely garden,inside looks lovely,good area/schools ect,ect so the viewing is 11:30am thurday... you turn up 5 mins early and so does at least half a dozen other couples/familes this is the rental market around Canberra !! saying all this we have secured a lovely house in Farrer ! Good luck everyone ...we love Canbeera and so do our boys !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest turners gang Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Hi, We as in my wife and 3 boys 4,6 & 9 we arrived in january and spent a lot of time looking at plenty of rentals... I totall agree with Quoll and a heads up on the rental market ... it can be tough ! see a nice rental on all Homes...Go along to the open day ( 20 mins max to walk around/inspect) and bump into half a dozen other couples/families who all love it ! everybody trys to sweet talk the agent..then leave application form with refernces/bank statements or proof of abilities to be a good tennant and then sit and wait... We ended up in Farrer paying $620 per week with a lovely home that was'nt an investment property so was as nice on the inside as it was on the out... I suppose where it gets difficultis when your in the short term/fully furnished property which aint cheap and your trying to match property with $$ + location to good state schools. We have put our boys into private as A. due to my visa I'm on a 457 it would of cost me $9000 per child compared to private which was cheaper lol B. it gave us more freedom when picking our house/its location and not to be restricted to encatchment areas.... which in this market and getting all of the above right probably near on impossible.. All that said we are very happy , have a rental we are very happy with and love Canberra !!! Hope this helps if you need any more info let me know ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AoifesMum Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 We have been here since June 2011. I can't tell you how much we love it. I know everyone is different and I can't guarantee you'll feel as we do, but we have settled so easily. We have a 4 bed house in Forde. It's $600 per week. We drove around all possible areas for a few weeks before deciding on Forde, but we have not been let down. It's a wonderful suberb, if you like new builds with convenience. Unlike some of the surrounding areas of Gungahlin, it's so well planned - green, well laid out, facilities on your doorstep, Gungahlin town a 20 minute walk away. Great for families. It has a swim school 5 mins walk away, a good Anglican school and a nature reserve surrounding it. We love it! I suppose it's an Australian thing, but some of the areas that supposedly had more character just did not really do it for me. We lived in Griffith/Kingston for a while. Whilst the shops were nice enough (particularly Manuka) I wouldn't describe them as full of character in any way and the area was not really suited to children - but lovely for singles and young couples. Our daughter is 6 and goes to Amaroo School. We have found the teaching superb. It is a huge school though and I had big reservations initially, but the class sizes are actually smaller than the UK and she loves it. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest smurf74 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Sorry to hijack your post, but we have been searching for printer jobs in Canberra. Reading your post is a positive as we have found 2 jobs over all of Australia. As we are going for the same visa as you , can you give me any details of companies / contacts. Or it is easier to find jobs in Canberra once you are there. It would be great to hear from you Many Thanks Steven & Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Sorry to hijack your post, but we have been searching for printer jobs in Canberra. Reading your post is a positive as we have found 2 jobs over all of Australia. As we are going for the same visa as you , can you give me any details of companies / contacts. Or it is easier to find jobs in Canberra once you are there. It would be great to hear from youMany Thanks Steven & Andrea You might want to watch out for printing positions. All the ones on here that have been reported have absolutely laughable wages - definitely not enough to live on (one family went back within weeks because of that). Bear in mind that the average Canberra salary is around the $80k mark as a guide to whatever you might be offered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest journeydownunder Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 You might want to watch out for printing positions. All the ones on here that have been reported have absolutely laughable wages - definitely not enough to live on (one family went back within weeks because of that). Bear in mind that the average Canberra salary is around the $80k mark as a guide to whatever you might be offered. I don't think it's fair to compare the salary of a printer to the "average" salary in Canberra given that 50% of people are employed in the public sector and therefore benefit from very generous salaries bringing that average up quite considerably. There will be plenty of people on less money than that and enjoying a decent quality of life. Obviously it will depend on if you're a two income family, if you have children etc. Our own personal experience is that we set out to earn $2 to the £1 that we were earning back home and that has allowed us to maintain in fact slightly improve our quality of life. The Hoff has posted many times about $2 per £1 and our experience so far is that's about right. You can't work it on the currency exchange rate of about $1.50 to the £ or else you will struggle but earn $2 to the £ and you'll be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 5, 2011 Share Posted September 5, 2011 I don't think it's fair to compare the salary of a printer to the "average" salary in Canberra given that 50% of people are employed in the public sector and therefore benefit from very generous salaries bringing that average up quite considerably. There will be plenty of people on less money than that and enjoying a decent quality of life. Obviously it will depend on if you're a two income family, if you have children etc. Our own personal experience is that we set out to earn $2 to the £1 that we were earning back home and that has allowed us to maintain in fact slightly improve our quality of life. The Hoff has posted many times about $2 per £1 and our experience so far is that's about right. You can't work it on the currency exchange rate of about $1.50 to the £ or else you will struggle but earn $2 to the £ and you'll be fine. I dont know too many people who enjoy a decent quality of life on a single income of less than $60k really - most families are two income in Canberra and you would usually reckon the household income average to be at least $100k. The printers who have been on here have been offered around $50k and going home with around $700 pw in their hands - when you consider that they are going to have to fork out around $400 pw on rentals that doesnt leave you much wriggle room. There are benefits if you are a permanent resident but living on benefits is a bit precarious especially if the government decides to scrap the middle class welfare which is costing the country a lot of money at the moment. The problem with Canberra is that it is a high income place and the market reacts accordingly, hence the cost of accommodation for starters. I work in the charity sector at the moment and the pay is peanuts but we still get more than a family I know was offered for printing work - and we get a very generous salary sacrifice which makes it more palatable. Still, not too many single income families supporting themselves on what it pays - lots of young singles and second income earners or retirees who dont need to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest journeydownunder Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I dont know too many people who enjoy a decent quality of life on a single income of less than $60k really - most families are two income in Canberra and you would usually reckon the household income average to be at least $100k. The printers who have been on here have been offered around $50k and going home with around $700 pw in their hands - when you consider that they are going to have to fork out around $400 pw on rentals that doesnt leave you much wriggle room. There are benefits if you are a permanent resident but living on benefits is a bit precarious especially if the government decides to scrap the middle class welfare which is costing the country a lot of money at the moment. The problem with Canberra is that it is a high income place and the market reacts accordingly, hence the cost of accommodation for starters. I work in the charity sector at the moment and the pay is peanuts but we still get more than a family I know was offered for printing work - and we get a very generous salary sacrifice which makes it more palatable. Still, not too many single income families supporting themselves on what it pays - lots of young singles and second income earners or retirees who dont need to work. I agree if you are a single income family in Canberra you might struggle, I obviously missed the bit where they said they were single income. I still think it's not relevant to compare the job of a printer to an average salary and expect that to be the basis of whether or not to to accept a job and move to Canberra as on that basis how would shop workers, receptionists etc afford to live here? It's all relevant to your lifestyle as well. My point is that on $2 to the pound you could expect to maintain a similar lifestyle to the UK (again depending on if you have school fees etc to pay.) i.e. if your family income in the UK was 80k you would want to be earning $160k here similarly if you survived on 50k in the UK you could probably live on $100k here. You have to do your numbers depending on your own situation that's all I'm saying. p.s. I love Canberra! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Evelin Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 Melba & Evatt are good suburbs, lived next door in Flynn for 20y many schools around, government primary & high, superschool in Holt catholic primary in Evatt & high & college in Florey, short drive to anglican Redford college & University of canberra, Institute of sport sits above Ginninderra Creek with long walking trail along with many playgrounds & swings & flying foxes, hill at back for a hike, we used to bike around Belconnen lake You can get a decent house there between $500-600K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dijaseed Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Hi Samfire, we moved on the 4th August and are now living in Evatt in Belconnen, really like it and our son has settled well into school, he is 9. Good Luck Diane:v_SPIN:[ QUOTE=Samfire;450071]Thanks Quoll Very informative and we are delighted to get some good suburb advice. Our budget would definitely be middle-of-the-road approx. 500k - 550k so this will surely dictate what we can afford. Hubby was wondering what Holt, Melba and Evatt in the north are like. I had also been wondering about Wanniassa, Monash, Calwell or Banks in the south, both in terms of neighbourhoods and schools. I suppose we'll find out when we get there - best to concentrate on a rental home first. I'm dreading the idea, as I have always owned my own home since I was 20, and have never rented before. Will it be difficult for people in our situation, who won't be able to provide references from previous landlords? Thanks again for all your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Hi Samfire, we moved on the 4th August and are now living in Evatt in Belconnen, really like it and our son has settled well into school, he is 9.Good Luck Diane:v_SPIN:[ QUOTE=Samfire;450071]Thanks Quoll Very informative and we are delighted to get some good suburb advice. Our budget would definitely be middle-of-the-road approx. 500k - 550k so this will surely dictate what we can afford. Hubby was wondering what Holt, Melba and Evatt in the north are like. I had also been wondering about Wanniassa, Monash, Calwell or Banks in the south, both in terms of neighbourhoods and schools. I suppose we'll find out when we get there - best to concentrate on a rental home first. I'm dreading the idea, as I have always owned my own home since I was 20, and have never rented before. Will it be difficult for people in our situation, who won't be able to provide references from previous landlords? Thanks again for all your help Hmm, not sure that any of the suburbs you have mentioned would really float my boat these days. Holt feeds into the new superschool which hasnt had the best of reports. Melba has had an up and down history. On balance, Evatt would probably be the best of the bunch but the Miles Franklin side for preference. Personally I wouldnt even look at Tuggeranong - the schools were all built in the days of open space learning but that has translated into 4 teacher pods with only 3 walls between the classes leaving the fourth wall open - ambient noise in those pods can be very distracting and when you try and fit older kids into the pods, the spaces arent quite large enough. However, lovely principal at Monash. I'd be looking at Watson, Downer, Hackett, Aranda, Cook (even though it doesnt have a PS these days), Hawker (might be a bit expensive), Latham, Chapman, Waramanga, Curtin, Weetangera for starters but no matter where you go, always look at the neighbours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela820 Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Can i ask about what issues we may have with neigh bours.... Asking as Im not sure how we would check them out and also what to avoid apart from the blaringly obvious!!! From looking at lots of threads it seems you turn up at an open house to view, everyone loves it despite it being a dump but there is nothing else left, and then there is a scrum to get the house with bid wars etc... thats before looking over the fence to meet potential neighbours. I would love someone to say its not like this but I cannot find a thread that tells me renting is touch and finding a decent one is vvv tough. Maybe Im just getting nervous about it as we arrive around 8th November and I know this is a rubbish time to be looking at rentals.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surhythms Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Can i ask about what issues we may have with neigh bours.... Asking as Im not sure how we would check them out and also what to avoid apart from the blaringly obvious!!! From looking at lots of threads it seems you turn up at an open house to view, everyone loves it despite it being a dump but there is nothing else left, and then there is a scrum to get the house with bid wars etc... thats before looking over the fence to meet potential neighbours. I would love someone to say its not like this but I cannot find a thread that tells me renting is touch and finding a decent one is vvv tough. Maybe Im just getting nervous about it as we arrive around 8th November and I know this is a rubbish time to be looking at rentals.. Hi Angela We have been in Canberra for 3 months now and we searched everywhere for rentals - Belconnen, Woden, Weston Creek, Inner North and Inner South. The only place we didnt look was Gunghalin. I guess checking out the neighbours for us was to look at the "state" of the outside of the house to see what condition it was in. If there were lots of broken down cars, trailers with "stuff" in them and it basically looking run down we didnt even bother to look at the house beside it. We put in applications for houses in Belconnen and Woden and the agents didnt even bother to get back to us. We have ended up in Tuggeranong in Calwell up on a hill. Personally I like Calwell and it is a lovely area. I know when we met Julianne from the ACT she told us to stick to the hills and stay away from the flat and thats what we did. Depending on where you are working will depend on how close things are for you. The OH works in Weston and it takes him 25 mins to get to work. If we were living anywhere else it would still take him that amount of time. I was working in Civic and travelled around Canberra when working so it made no odds to me at the time. I would say look everywhere and dont rule anything out until you get here. What might suit one definitely doesnt suit another. We also visited schools in every area and then opted for a Co-ed Catholic Private for our 13 year old. She is really enjoying it there. You need a car to go everywhere in Canberra pretty much so forget relying on Public transport unless you are living close to Civic - I believe public transport is ok then. Friends of ours are living in Inner South and are thinking of moving because the rent is so high. Personally I hate the thoughts of handing over all our money to a landlord to live near to Civic thats why we opted to live further out so we could spend our money on other things and its not such a huge chunk taken out of our income. Had we have done that I would not have been in a position to leave the job I took up (wasnt suitable for me) and I would have been stuck there. Just a thought if you are thinking of working aswell Suzanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela820 Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Thanks for this Suzanne! Why stay away from the flats? Sorry for the silly questions just want to know how things may be different and if you found that this rule works all over. My husband will be in Civic working so we want somewhere that is not miles away from there and near to a decent Primary school. We are looking for a 4 bed property and Im just really worried about finding one. we will have around 2.5 weeks to look at schools and rentals before my husband goes to work and I imagine going round with my 2 kids (3 and 4) in tow is not going to be easy .. but will have to do it I suppose. I suppose we just want it all, a nice big house, very nice area, excellent school and near shops and not miles away from Civic (30 mins by car max). As neither of us have been we have no idea what to expect and the rentals market there seems to be really touch. How do "viewings" work? Is is mostly that everyone just turns up on an open day and then you apply (then and there? or after the viewing).. I imagine there will lots of people looks for what we are looking for... We dont expect to pay $400 a week - our budget is around 6-700$ Any advice? We were even looking at using a relocation agent but this is expensive I think and we will be pretty skint after the actual move Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surhythms Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Hi Angela I think we were advised to stay away from the "flat" because thats where the cheaper houses are. However you will get lots of flat areas with really nice houses. I guess it depends where you decide to live. Calwell and Tuggeranong in general is hilly and if you live on a hill the houses are definitely better. Nowhere is miles away from Civic really unless you are going to live right down the end in Gordon - which is a bit of a trek. When I worked in Civic it took me 30 mins door to door to get to work even in rush hour traffic (some days it took me 35 mins). I cant really recommend primary schools because we dont have primary school going kids. It took us 3 weeks to find somewhere to live so you should be ok. Basically with the viewings you arrive at the designated time... usually they give you 15 mins and if you are interested you submit your application. We had a pack ready which included previous mortgage statements, referees, documentation of employment contracts, details of any savings we had. You can apply there and then although some get you to apply afterwards. If your budget is 6-700 you should be ok finding something nice - this was our original budget but we decided that we didnt need something big and we ended up paying private school fees and I couldnt justify paying 700 per week for someone elses mortgage (its the Irish in me ; being obsessed with owning our own property)! - you will notice that in the "better" areas and I put this in inverted commas because its all a matter of opinion sometimes the rents are high and the house are basically crap. You will pay more rental if you want to be close to the city but if you are ok with living a bit out you should be ok. Have you searched allhomes yet? As for the relocation agent Im not too sure but if it is something you can do yourself is it worth the money. It is very expensive to set yourself up here. We brought half a container with us which only arrived a few days ago, we bought all new beds, got 2 cars (not new ones) and everything does seem to add up. Suzanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toops Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Thanks for this Suzanne! Why stay away from the flats? Sorry for the silly questions just want to know how things may be different and if you found that this rule works all over. My husband will be in Civic working so we want somewhere that is not miles away from there and near to a decent Primary school. We are looking for a 4 bed property and Im just really worried about finding one. we will have around 2.5 weeks to look at schools and rentals before my husband goes to work and I imagine going round with my 2 kids (3 and 4) in tow is not going to be easy .. but will have to do it I suppose. I suppose we just want it all, a nice big house, very nice area, excellent school and near shops and not miles away from Civic (30 mins by car max). As neither of us have been we have no idea what to expect and the rentals market there seems to be really touch. How do "viewings" work? Is is mostly that everyone just turns up on an open day and then you apply (then and there? or after the viewing).. I imagine there will lots of people looks for what we are looking for... We dont expect to pay $400 a week - our budget is around 6-700$ Any advice? We were even looking at using a relocation agent but this is expensive I think and we will be pretty skint after the actual move Angela Hi Angela We haven't communicated before but wanted to drop in and say hi and that to reassure you about rentals. We arrived on 1st August with not much more than 2 brass pennies to rub together as at the last minute our house sale fell through, however we managed OK just tightened our belts a bit. We are living in Hackett, in a small place to get us started and paying $390 a week which is cheap for this area, you can pay up to $600 in Hackett for a flash pad - we just didn't want to pay tons until we were sure of areas that were good/bad which we can only judge once we arrive and then you compare to where you lived int he UK so it's all very subjective isn't it? Whoever you rent with check that you can break the lease easy enough, we are with Wright Dunn and they state we can break the lease early at a cost of 1 weeks rent, which will probably happen once we settle down a bit more and may well stay in this area - Watson is nice and a mix of properties and not too far out. We got jobs within 3 weeks (they wanted us to start the same day we got the jobs!) and now we are earning good Oz dollars it all balances out. We applied for 2 rentals and got offered them both - seemed to be all about how you present yourself - we had no jobs, no proof of income yet we still got offered the properties against maybe 10 other applicants, plus they never rang to confirm references. (Agents were Wright Dunn and LJ Hooker) If you pm I can send you some details of the pack I presented and covering letter. Yes it is daunting and all new, but it really is all achievable and you will be helped so much once you get here. We've made some good friends already and feel like Australia is our home. We love it here. Bets of luck, Toops :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Hi AngelA - AN UPDATE FROM ME (i pmED YOU TOO) - WE FOUND A FANTASTIC RENTAL IN 2 WEEKS - i HAD RESTRICTED OUR SEARCH AREA TO iNNER nORTH AND cIVIC SIDE OF bELCONNEN AS I had the "dream" before leaving the UK to either walk, cycle or bus to work - admittedly I set a difficult task and the first 2 weeks were hard as I started to think I had set too small an area but then we found just what we were looking for - its a modern - recently renovated 3 bed place in macquarie (next to Aranda) - its walking distance to lots of things, inc Belconnen centre, a good Primary school, a shopping centre with supermarkets, cycle path to civic out the back door, a water park etc etc - we pay $590 a week (our max budget was $600) but we now only need one car which is a bonus ... Aranda, Cook and Bruce and Weetanger are all suburbs close by and all look similar to here - all seem like really decent areas, lots of families, good houses, lots of trees, playareas, birds singing etc - occasionally you spot the home that Suzanne mentioned (lots of cars in the front and old "stuff" but such homes/families are intersperced in every neighbourhood (nearly) across canberra ... We are loving this area and our 8 year old is loving school - happy to give more info if you need it ... Ofcourse - thi is just where we are and there are loads of other ares that are the same as I describe - we went to Woden the other day and saw some fab areas and the same in the hills of Tuggernong - its all about personal preference really ... PS - Check out allhomes - Aranda - there was a fantastic 4 bed that we looked at for $750 but the landlord seemed like he would negotiate a little - great area, great house and school with an excellent reputation ... Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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