ozziepom Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Having recently got my visa I've been approached about a job in the Syndey CBD, the salary looks to be about 130-140k + super & binus, and I had initially thought that sounded pretty good. Now that I start looking at accommodation costs I'm not so sure, I knew Sydney was expensive but :eek: If I where to look to rent for around $600 per week (which would be about 33% of my take home pay), all I can find is small apartments near the city, in areas like Balmain (which itself looks really nice). Thing is my wife & I are no longer in the first flush of youth and would prefer to live in a house, with a garden, this seems possible in other Australian cities but in Sydney I'd need to spend more than half what I earn on rent to get this, or commute for 3 hours a day. Have I got this wrong? The wage seems good but are there any decent areas we live in with a bit of space and commute no more than an hour each way? I'm not after beach side mansions by the way! Thanks All! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNMACMD Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Hi there, We are in a similar situation to yourselves, we are going to Sydney on similar package and are looking at suburbs around Chatswood, Pymble, St Ives, Turramurra etc on the Northern Train Line. Turramurra to North Sydney is 38 minutes on train and easier than driving apparently! The rents vary depending on size of house etc but you can get houses for $600+ in these areas. Happy to talk offline if you fancy a chat etc. Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNMACMD Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Where are you based currently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozziepom Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 Where are you based currently? I'm in the UK, we've sold our house for more than we expected and could put the equity into a mortgage, if we bought at the same price we sold for I think we could acheive an OK house, but want to rent for the moment. I'll look at the areas you suggest and may drop you a PM, thanks for such a fast response! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pommekate Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 My other half commutes from the central coast, to sydney, we moved from maroubra, eastern suburbs of sydney, to the central coast because of the house prices. Beach suburbs on the central coast are places like Avoca and terrigal, copocabana. If you don't mind being about 20 minute drive from the beaches but closer to the freeway places like lisarow, narara, kariong seems popular with commuters, but I would not live there as it gets a bit too close to bush fires in the summer. We did look south of sydney like cronulla, but that too is getting quite expensive. Depends if you mind travelling. If you are looking to rent up here on the coast you are probably looking at $350-$500 for a 4 bedroom house, the beach suburbs being the more costly. In saying that you do have fuel and road tolls to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pommekate Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 sorry it is Kariong that is closer to bush fire zones not lisarow and narara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozziepom Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 My other half commutes from the central coast, to sydney, we moved from maroubra, eastern suburbs of sydney, to the central coast because of the house prices. Beach suburbs on the central coast are places like Avoca and terrigal, copocabana. If you don't mind being about 20 minute drive from the beaches but closer to the freeway places like lisarow, narara, kariong seems popular with commuters, but I would not live there as it gets a bit too close to bush fires in the summer.We did look south of sydney like cronulla, but that too is getting quite expensive. Depends if you mind travelling. If you are looking to rent up here on the coast you are probably looking at $350-$500 for a 4 bedroom house, the beach suburbs being the more costly. In saying that you do have fuel and road tolls to pay. Thanks, it does look lovely up there but how long is the drive, or does he drive to a train station? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabo Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Having recently got my visa I've been approached about a job in the Syndey CBD, the salary looks to be about 130-140k + super & binus, and I had initially thought that sounded pretty good. Now that I start looking at accommodation costs I'm not so sure, I knew Sydney was expensive but :eek: If I where to look to rent for around $600 per week (which would be about 33% of my take home pay), all I can find is small apartments near the city, in areas like Balmain (which itself looks really nice). Thing is my wife & I are no longer in the first flush of youth and would prefer to live in a house, with a garden, this seems possible in other Australian cities but in Sydney I'd need to spend more than half what I earn on rent to get this, or commute for 3 hours a day. Have I got this wrong? The wage seems good but are there any decent areas we live in with a bit of space and commute no more than an hour each way? I'm not after beach side mansions by the way! Thanks All! Yes, we are in a similar situation. OH comes from the North Shore so that is likely to be where we settle. In addition to those suburbs that have been mentioned, we have also looked at Epping and along the Nothern line. Others have also said good things about south of the CBD, places like Sutherland. I think (hope!) that $600/pw should get you somewhere around a 1 hr commute. It depends what you have to do once you get to the CBD. (I have a 15 minute bus ride from Central). Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pommekate Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 My other half starts work at 0600, so at that time only takes him an hour to get to the CBD, but taking traffic into account, North Sydney being the worst takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. He leaves work at 1800 and takes him an hour just to get through the city and north sydney then only 20 minutes on the freeway. So friends of his that work in North sydney nearly takes them as long to get home. There are regular trains from the central coast every 15 minutes at peak times which take just over an hour. For us it was a great move, childcare is half the price than sydney, things like groceries are cheaper up here. The down side, I have always been a city girl, the nightlife is not as exciting. I love how multicultural sydney is, where up the coast is predominantly aussies with quite a few poms. And commuting can get quite tiresome. But is worth it for a nicer house, affordable private schools etc. I am glad that when I first moved here that I lived in sydney to experience city life. It was lovely to be able to go and have a meal overlooking the harbour bridge and opera house, to have breakfast at a cafe at bondi beach, to take a ferry to darling harbour. Go to the sydney cricket ground and watch England beat australia in the cricket. (lol) However 3 children later our priorities change, my other half was born in sydney, grew up and went to school in the eastern subburbs, but he doesn't miss it one bit. We have made more friends in our 4 years here than I did 4 years I lived in sydney. Every now and then I do a girls night out in sydney for old times sake. I reckon rent in sydney first even if it costs an arm and a leg, so you get to experience sydney for yourself, and if financially it is too much you know there are other affordable beautifull places Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pommekate Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 ps rush hour traffic here is nothing compared to rush hour traffic in the UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spottydog Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Balmain is probably the most expensive of the inner west suburbs (we pay just over $700 a week for a 2 bed house but it is probably top of the range for rental standards). Try Glebe, Newtown, Camperdown for cheaper rentals yet still fairly central. You shouldn't have any problem finding a 2 bed house within a short distance of the CBD for $600k a week. If you want a bigger place then you will probably need to head out a bit further and commute. $130k base is a good salary for Sydney where the average is more like half that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jooby Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Just an "out there" thought. We live in country NSW - my husband earns a similar salary to the one you will be on. He flies into Sydney on a monday ($120 ish dollars) and comes back on a Thursday...we bought a huge house on lots of land out here for the price of a two bedroom box in a mediocre sydney suburb an hour plus commute from the CBD. Not for everyone sure! But we get a lovely lifestyle, green fields, good schools and a lovely community and although days are spent apart as he "lives" in sydney during the week if we all lived there it would mean at least 12 hours a day away for him anyway with the commute, so we actually get more down time together - and no rush hour and pollution and road rage for me lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozziepom Posted March 10, 2010 Author Share Posted March 10, 2010 Just an "out there" thought. We live in country NSW - my husband earns a similar salary to the one you will be on. He flies into Sydney on a monday ($120 ish dollars) and comes back on a Thursday...we bought a huge house on lots of land out here for the price of a two bedroom box in a mediocre sydney suburb an hour plus commute from the CBD. Not for everyone sure! But we get a lovely lifestyle, green fields, good schools and a lovely community and although days are spent apart as he "lives" in sydney during the week if we all lived there it would mean at least 12 hours a day away for him anyway with the commute, so we actually get more down time together - and no rush hour and pollution and road rage for me lol That sounds great but I guess on top of the flights he has to pay for 3 nights hotels per week and transport while he’s in Sydney? Just out of interest which airport does he fly in from? Thanks again for all the replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jooby Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 Flies from Orange (airport ten minutes from home). Work pays for it all which is lucky... but then he does alot of travelling around the state as well. living here has allowed him to trade a big salary increase for getting travel/accommodation/car etc paid for with a better lifestyle than an extra $100,000 in salary would bring. Amazing really, but that's how expense Sydney is getting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iselinger Posted March 11, 2010 Share Posted March 11, 2010 I live on the lower north shore and it takes just 18 minutes to drive to the Bridge or 23 minutes on the bus. However it is expensive. House is on the market see other thread. I think the Orange suggestion is a good one. We love Orange and much prefer it to the other local wine growing area the Hunter Valley. If you can negotiate one or more days working at home even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Liam Posted March 12, 2010 Share Posted March 12, 2010 Think about Bus Commutting instead of the train line and this will open up Rouse Hill, Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, Bella Vista etc within a 1 hour to 1.20 commute to the city by Express Buses. An example of costs. 4 Bedroomed brand new home, alfresco dinign, garden etc sells for $540K in Rouse Hill and rented for $540 per month. Rouse Hill has a massive new Shoping Centre done on a Town layout. Liam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozziepom Posted March 16, 2010 Author Share Posted March 16, 2010 Think about Bus Commutting instead of the train line and this will open up Rouse Hill, Castle Hill, Baulkham Hills, Bella Vista etc within a 1 hour to 1.20 commute to the city by Express Buses. An example of costs. 4 Bedroomed brand new home, alfresco dinign, garden etc sells for $540K in Rouse Hill and rented for $540 per month. Rouse Hill has a massive new Shoping Centre done on a Town layout. Liam Thanks, I hadn't seen that area and it looks like a good option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nm123 Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Will you be on a 457 visa? If so you might be able to get LAFHA (living away from home allowance) which makes your rent tax deductible. I earn $94k + super and pay $600pw on rent (take home salary is about $7k per month so $2.5-3k per mont on rent seems ok to me)... You should be able to find a decent 2 bed terrace in Balmain, Paddington, Coogee etc, Manly, Mosman for that. Check out www.cityhobo.com for info on suburbs and distances from the CBD. I live in Glebe and walk to work in the CBD. Also remember that travel is less expensive than London generally too.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Skerly Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Hello Ozziepom I too am new to Sydney, having spent the past 4 years living with my Aussie husband in Melbourne. We just started renting a house slap-bang in the middle of Balmain, which we're thrilled with as it's got everything on our doorstep and we both love the area (I think a lot of Brits and Irish do as it's a more similar village-like feel to what you'd find in the UK or Ireland etc., also there are some great bars which are more like traditional Irish/English pubs). However I was blown away at how expensive it was to find a decent, well presented house in Balmain. It tends to go in rent brackets of $550-$650, for which you'll get a very small cottage generally a bit 'studenty' in appearance - aka older dated kitchen and bathroom and smaller rooms. Anything which is renovated - even a smaller cottage will be more. It then jumps to $850 - $1000 etc... We ended up paying nearly $300 more per week for our place and had to offer a few months rent up front. One applicant out of the 10 the real estate agent had for this property, offered the entire year's rent up front...!?, but luckily for us - the landlord (oddly) wasn't interested.. Also in this area if you look, prepare to have a lot of people at viewings - we had about 50 at ours... Will be the same in a lot of the areas in the inner west. For the $600 price-range, have you looked at places like; Rozelle (probably more-so to west of Victoria road), Lilyfield, Annandale, Glebe, Camperdown, Haberfield, Leichhardt? All inner-west and would have you in the CBD in 30 mins. For $600/650 p.w. in all those areas you might find a place, it won't be massive, but it'll probably have a small backgarden/courtyard, 2 bed etc.. Annandale is a nice area which too has a village-feel and a decent amount of shops on the main strip - Booth Street, there's a pub, veggie/foodieshops, small supermarket etc. and decent transport. Haberfield is similar and in certain parts of it you may find something for around $650, it does have larger properties and is a quieter suburb (it's also a dry one, so no pubs), but there are great Italian restaurants as it's right next to leichhardt. Also maybe try Summer Hill. There's a good train service there and good village with good shops, restaurants and pub etc... One thing too - avoid anything on Military road in the north up near Mosman, the traffic on that strip is utterly chronic. Best of luck in finding a place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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