surhythms Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 Oh ok, that's really helpful. I think we have made a decision to come earlier and not worry too much about the school issues - i was getting myself into a bit of a tiz and losing site of the adventure of it all :-), also think we may look at Belconnen area as well as seems to be a bit more reasonably priced. We have just booked medicals, once they are done we can book flights - whoo hoo!! Lisa Hi Lisa I think the worrying is a normal thing - I was really worried about what school, single sex, co-ed, private V's public so I know where you are coming from! The first thing we planning on doing is going to visit the schools and see what they are really like. Mind you Sarah (my daughter) wants to be able to walk to school. I dont know if she will get her wish mind you but it will all fall into place. If she doesnt like the school and its not working out sure we can always change her. We too had a look at Belconnen and it is more reasonable than some other areas. A nice garden and heating is my main priority so I guess we had to bear in mind those 2 things - alot of the older builds dont have insulation as far as I know. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for house style wise. We came to the conclusion not to rule anything out yet we are staying in Calwell, Tuggeranong when we arrive but I honestly dont think we will settle there because it is a bit of a trek to the city (where I will be working) and buses arent great in ACT. In my head I have ruled out gungahlin because it is also far out and when I have been looking at houses and the street view most places look like building sites because they are newly built - I dont want that either - how fussy am I !:biglaugh: I do remember Quoll saying recently that places are cheaper for a reason so just to watch that. From doing my own research it looks like places between about 500 AUD upwards tend to have heating and the houses seem to be in good shape (from the pictures but sure you can never really tell until you see them in reality). Suzanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Hi Lisa I think the worrying is a normal thing - I was really worried about what school, single sex, co-ed, private V's public so I know where you are coming from! The first thing we planning on doing is going to visit the schools and see what they are really like. Mind you Sarah (my daughter) wants to be able to walk to school. I dont know if she will get her wish mind you but it will all fall into place. If she doesnt like the school and its not working out sure we can always change her. We too had a look at Belconnen and it is more reasonable than some other areas. A nice garden and heating is my main priority so I guess we had to bear in mind those 2 things - alot of the older builds dont have insulation as far as I know. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for house style wise. We came to the conclusion not to rule anything out yet we are staying in Calwell, Tuggeranong when we arrive but I honestly dont think we will settle there because it is a bit of a trek to the city (where I will be working) and buses arent great in ACT. In my head I have ruled out gungahlin because it is also far out and when I have been looking at houses and the street view most places look like building sites because they are newly built - I dont want that either - how fussy am I !:biglaugh: I do remember Quoll saying recently that places are cheaper for a reason so just to watch that. From doing my own research it looks like places between about 500 AUD upwards tend to have heating and the houses seem to be in good shape (from the pictures but sure you can never really tell until you see them in reality). Suzanne You might want to watch out for the heating - yes, the houses have it but how expensive is it going to be to run? It is very easy to rack up a quarterly heating bill of $1k if it is an all electric house with reverse cycle (the bills will be high in the summer if the aircon is on too!). I dont know how expensive gas is but you should ask what the average power bill is for any house you visit. It isnt so much the heating as the insulation which is an issue and many of the newer houses are so flimsy that they can be very chilly! Insulation doesnt rate highly on many rental properties! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted May 28, 2011 Share Posted May 28, 2011 Hi all Just seen this post ... it's so exciting hearing from everyone going to Canberra. So this is our plan - however it is all depending on whether I am given redundancy from work: Shipping - end of July Fly to Singapore - around 10 August Holiday in Singapore - 7-10 days Arrive in Canberra - end of August Stay in short term accomm for 6 weeks Find longer term rental - in North - preferably Inner North, Belconnen or Gungahlin - we.'re looking at Gungahlin simply because the homes are more modern and I was assuming they would be better insulated / heated (although not sure now based on Quolls last post!!) Looking at jobs now but will step up the game next month! Confused about schools still but will be public - doubt we'll be able to afford private or even catholic ... Had 4 weeks in Canberra last year on our validation trip - loved it!! Think that's us for now !! Can't wait to meet you all ... (and meet you again Angela)! Cal, OH & little one (8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMoo Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Oh my - reading this thread has me even more excited! We fly on 1st June arriving in Sydney on the 3rd, picking up a rental car and driving straight down to Canberra. We are staying at the Medina James Court for 4 weeks and have a house lined up in Nicholls. I too have school appointments lined up for the boys the following week at St Edmunds, Daramalan and St Francis Xavier. All of our worldly goods and possessions have gone and we're staying with friends for the final few days; truly in limbo land and can't wait to be there. Hoping for a meet-up and a sanity check? I'm certainly going to be more than a sporadic visitor to this site in the coming days and weeks I suspect! Best wishes to all of us en route Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richste Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Oh my - reading this thread has me even more excited! We fly on 1st June arriving in Sydney on the 3rd, picking up a rental car and driving straight down to Canberra. We are staying at the Medina James Court for 4 weeks and have a house lined up in Nicholls. I too have school appointments lined up for the boys the following week at St Edmunds, Daramalan and St Francis Xavier. All of our worldly goods and possessions have gone and we're staying with friends for the final few days; truly in limbo land and can't wait to be there. Hoping for a meet-up and a sanity check? I'm certainly going to be more than a sporadic visitor to this site in the coming days and weeks I suspect! Best wishes to all of us en route Just to wish you all the best for your journey to Canberra, looking forward to your thoughts and reports , and would be good to meet up when we get over in July Enjoy Rich & Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 We are staying at the Medina James Court for 4 weeks and have a house lined up in Nicholls. We're a little behind you but still very excited! Two questions thou!!! 1. Where did you find your short term accommodation 2. How did you get a house lined up before leaving here??? Thanks SAFE and HAPPY JOURNEY - Look forward to hearing more .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMoo Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 We are staying at the Medina James Court for 4 weeks and have a house lined up in Nicholls. We're a little behind you but still very excited! Two questions thou!!! 1. Where did you find your short term accommodation 2. How did you get a house lined up before leaving here??? Thanks SAFE and HAPPY JOURNEY - Look forward to hearing more .... Hi We are quite lucky in that we're arriving on a 457 visa; my husband's company is transferring us out to Oz (although we do hope to eventually stay). They have arranged a relocation agent for us and we flew out to Canberra in March on a preview trip which gave us a great idea of suburbs etc. We spotted a house just last week which looked amazing and were able to have the agent go and view it on our behalf; bizarrely we'd met the realtor, who's letting it, on our earlier trip. So we're essentially renting it unseen! We researched the serviced apartments ourselves, although they were eventually booked by the company, you can easily to this on line with Google using 'serviced apartments Canberra'. I can't wait to be there and I can't wait to meet up you all so that we can compare notes. If I can help out anyone at all, with advice, logistics, or pretty much anything once I'm there please ask - I'd love to help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest destinationoz Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 What a wonderful story - fancy meeting the realtor - how strange! I've seen the serviced apts but I'm afraid they are way out of our budget but I look forward to meeting you later in the year in sunny Canberra!! I will be back in touch with questions I'm sure! Good luck with your journey and new start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surhythms Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share Posted May 30, 2011 Oh my - reading this thread has me even more excited! We fly on 1st June arriving in Sydney on the 3rd, picking up a rental car and driving straight down to Canberra. We are staying at the Medina James Court for 4 weeks and have a house lined up in Nicholls. I too have school appointments lined up for the boys the following week at St Edmunds, Daramalan and St Francis Xavier. All of our worldly goods and possessions have gone and we're staying with friends for the final few days; truly in limbo land and can't wait to be there. Hoping for a meet-up and a sanity check? I'm certainly going to be more than a sporadic visitor to this site in the coming days and weeks I suspect! Best wishes to all of us en route Hi Mrs Moo! (love the username) I think we will be arriving the same time as yourselves! We get into Canberra on Sunday - we are staying in Sydney for a few days to catch our breath! Safe journey and hope to catch up with you when we get there. Suzanne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Oh my - reading this thread has me even more excited! We fly on 1st June arriving in Sydney on the 3rd, picking up a rental car and driving straight down to Canberra. We are staying at the Medina James Court for 4 weeks and have a house lined up in Nicholls. I too have school appointments lined up for the boys the following week at St Edmunds, Daramalan and St Francis Xavier. All of our worldly goods and possessions have gone and we're staying with friends for the final few days; truly in limbo land and can't wait to be there. Hoping for a meet-up and a sanity check? I'm certainly going to be more than a sporadic visitor to this site in the coming days and weeks I suspect! Best wishes to all of us en route I can vouch for the Medina, I stayed their for the past month. Excellent location for the city. :biggrin: Loving Canberra, although childcare is proving to be a challenge. We are waitlisted with three centres (each with a $50 waiting fee!).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SandP Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Just to let you know we moved here in April and now rent a 4 bed house in Amaroo up near Gungahlin Town Centre and the house is cold at night despite having reverse cycle heating. As Quoll mentioned the houses are a bit flimsy on the insulation fromt and we haven't yet had a bill so can't tell you how much it costs but will put it up here as soon as I know. Also if you are thinking of coming up this far don't get a vodafone mobile as I have one and reception is awful. Telstra is better but I don't know how much they cost my OH has a work one. That said it is very much family central here - I spoke to a hairdresser who said she moved as she felt like the only one in the street with no kids. We stayed in Ainslie when we first arrived and that was a great location for the City and we know people who live in Belconnen and would never move from there so it is all a matter of personal preference I quess. We let our daughters choice of school govern our move along with the houses available for rent. We looked in Curtin but the catholic school was too small for our liking and the houses were very dated. Best of luck with your move and I hope to meet you at some point. :spinny: Hi allJust seen this post ... it's so exciting hearing from everyone going to Canberra. So this is our plan - however it is all depending on whether I am given redundancy from work: Shipping - end of July Fly to Singapore - around 10 August Holiday in Singapore - 7-10 days Arrive in Canberra - end of August Stay in short term accomm for 6 weeks Find longer term rental - in North - preferably Inner North, Belconnen or Gungahlin - we.'re looking at Gungahlin simply because the homes are more modern and I was assuming they would be better insulated / heated (although not sure now based on Quolls last post!!) Looking at jobs now but will step up the game next month! Confused about schools still but will be public - doubt we'll be able to afford private or even catholic ... Had 4 weeks in Canberra last year on our validation trip - loved it!! Think that's us for now !! Can't wait to meet you all ... (and meet you again Angela)! Cal, OH & little one (8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matjones Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Just to let you know we moved here in April and now rent a 4 bed house in Amaroo up near Gungahlin Town Centre and the house is cold at night despite having reverse cycle heating. As Quoll mentioned the houses are a bit flimsy on the insulation fromt and we haven't yet had a bill so can't tell you how much it costs but will put it up here as soon as I know. Also if you are thinking of coming up this far don't get a vodafone mobile as I have one and reception is awful. Telstra is better but I don't know how much they cost my OH has a work one. I agree with you completely on the houses being flimsy. I think the Energy Efficiency Ratings are a complete lie. We are in a new house in Forde, and during end of summer it was great. The house kept cool during day. But now its winter the house gets freezing at night, and when we turn the heater off the heat escapes really quickly. Our electric is running at about $120/month. We have a 4 bed house, but there are only 2 of us living here, and we are pretty efficient with our usage. I'd hate to know how much a big family would run up in bills. And I would also recommend Telstra for mobile, especially if living in Gunghalin, or plan to do any travelling outside of canberra. They have much better coverage than other companies in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMoo Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Thanks all - very useful advice, especially on the mobile phones! The house we're moving to is a little older but we have plenty of warm clothes with us just in case ;-) I was wondering if anyone has advice regarding broadband/DSL and also cable/ satellite TV up in the Nicholls area? I've been trying to find information about coverage etc but it's all a bit confusing. Well....we'll be on the plane in 6 hours, so see you soon Canberra!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Watsons Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hi SandP, Thanks for the mobile info. We arrive in 2 and a half weeks. PM me what schools your daughters decided on as we have 2 girls and will be looking at this on our arrival. Cheers:biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Watsons Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Thanks all - very useful advice, especially on the mobile phones! The house we're moving to is a little older but we have plenty of warm clothes with us just in case ;-) I was wondering if anyone has advice regarding broadband/DSL and also cable/ satellite TV up in the Nicholls area? I've been trying to find information about coverage etc but it's all a bit confusing. Well....we'll be on the plane in 6 hours, so see you soon Canberra!! Hi Mrs Moo, You and he family have a good flight and hope to catch up when we get there. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matjones Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Thanks all - very useful advice, especially on the mobile phones! The house we're moving to is a little older but we have plenty of warm clothes with us just in case ;-) I was wondering if anyone has advice regarding broadband/DSL and also cable/ satellite TV up in the Nicholls area? I've been trying to find information about coverage etc but it's all a bit confusing. Well....we'll be on the plane in 6 hours, so see you soon Canberra!! You have to be REALLY careful when selecting a rental property with regards to internet access. There are quite a few suburbs, especially in gungahlin, where you will be lucky to get anything faster than dial up internet. You should ALWAYS call Transact, or whatever internet provider you go with, and ask them about what speed are available at the address of the rental property BEFORE you sign a contract. Do NOT trust your prospective landlord if they tell you that the speeds are good. Everyone has different definitions. For me, I work from home, and required a super fast connection, which is why we ended up in Forde, because it has Fiber Optic internet. On a couple of occasions we almost signed contracts on properties where only dialup was available because the properties were too far from the exchange to deliver ADSL speeds or higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claireg Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Hi all. We will be arriving in Canberra on 6th October. mid August - shippers in so going to live with parents for a month! 24 September - leaving Isle of Man and getting the ferry to Liverpool, picking up a hire car and driving to Portsmouth to see my sister and family. 5 days there then driving up to Wiltshire to see Pete's dad, brother & family. 4 Oct - leave Heathrow via Singapore to Sydney, arrive 6 Oct 6 Oct - hire car & driving to Canberra. We have 4 weeks in short term rental in a farm stay in NSW about 20 mins drive into centre of Canberra. Not sold our house here, had 3 viewings and one couple came back for a 2nd viewing but they have not sold their house yet. Don't have to worry about schools as our daughters are not yet of school age. Looking forward to meeting up with everyone once we arrive. Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest toops Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Hi there - hope you don't mind me muscling in!! our lines have crossed for some of us on this thread and we are finally on our way on the 21st July, wee stopover in Thailand and then getting to Canberra 1st/2nd Aug. We're staying with Australian friends short term in Hackett to begin with and then looking for a rental. We would love to do some meet ups once we get there See you soon. :-)))) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuching Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Hi All, we will be reaching Canberra on 27 Sep. We are just a couple with no kid, so no worry on school. We will be staying in furnished apartment in Reid for 4 weeks, and during the 4 weeks will try to settle for a long term rental. My husband a picture framer and myself graphic designer. Will look for job after touching down Canberra. We have a framing business here in Penang that is published for sale now. A few interested buyer came for discussion but not yet firm. We hope to meet up too once we get there.. See you soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Watsons Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Hi Kuching, we are also stying in a furnished apartment in Reid when we arrive. Which one is it you are going to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest devlin1972 Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Hi guys i have missed out on this forum wish i had registered long before, i am leaving for Canberra 26th July arriving 28th July, my 2 pooches travel 20th July arriving 22nd July and i am so scared is anyon else feeling the same? Well i thought i was organised but after reading your comments i have a lot of catching up to do. I have booked forrest Apartment $2336 for 2 week and hoping to have my rental booked within this time. Furniture arrives 3rd July and will be in storage until 12th August. Any advice is appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Hi guys i have missed out on this forum wish i had registered long before, i am leaving for Canberra 26th July arriving 28th July, my 2 pooches travel 20th July arriving 22nd July and i am so scared is anyon else feeling the same? Well i thought i was organised but after reading your comments i have a lot of catching up to do. I have booked forrest Apartment $2336 for 2 week and hoping to have my rental booked within this time. Furniture arrives 3rd July and will be in storage until 12th August. Any advice is appreciated All depending on what you will be trying to rent and whereabouts, you might want to be a bit flexible about your arrival accommodation. However, July is one of the better months to be trying to get rental accommodation. Come well prepared with a pack of information including references from previous landlords/mortgage holders, evidence of ongoing employment etc and that will make it easier for you. Turn up well dressed, keep the kids in order, introduce yourself to the EA etc etc. You are going to find it harder to get a rental with dogs and you might want to do the advanced search on http://www.allhomes.com.au and put in "pet friendly" into the search parameters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matjones Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Hi guys i have missed out on this forum wish i had registered long before, i am leaving for Canberra 26th July arriving 28th July, my 2 pooches travel 20th July arriving 22nd July and i am so scared is anyon else feeling the same? Well i thought i was organised but after reading your comments i have a lot of catching up to do. I have booked forrest Apartment $2336 for 2 week and hoping to have my rental booked within this time. Furniture arrives 3rd July and will be in storage until 12th August. Any advice is appreciated Hi & Welcome to the forum. If you get started right away with the house hunting, you should hopefully be able to find something within 2 weeks, although, if going through an estate agent it can take up to a week before they even get back to you once you submit an application. Things can be pretty slow here. Best thing is, as quoll says, to get your rental package' prepared before you even get here. We moved here in february and have 2 dogs that we brought with us also. You will find that a lot of properties do not allow dogs, and I think your best bet is to look for rentals on allhomes.com.au that are listed by private renters, and not estate agents. This gives you the opportunity to talk directly with the landlord. They seems to be more open to allowing pets. What kind of property are you looking for? do you know what neighborhood? do you have kids? Also, as I previously posted, if you require a high speed connection, you have to confirm availability at potential rental addresses before you sign a lease, some areas have really slow connections. We live up in Forde, which is a very dog friendly neighborhood. We have a fully enclosed dog park, and virtually every other house in the neighborhood has a dog. Are the dogs going to be in quarantine at Melbourne or Sydney? If Sydney I would highly recommend visiting them whilst they are in there. We visited 4 times a week when we first arrived (we spent our first month in sydney to allow us to do this), and it was kind of sad to see so many dogs in there with no visitors at all, some of them did look quite depressed and stressed. are they going to be in there for 30 days? or longer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest devlin1972 Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 If you get started right away with the house hunting, you should hopefully be able to find something within 2 weeks, although, if going through an estate agent it can take up to a week before they even get back to you once you submit an application. Things can be pretty slow here. Best thing is, as quoll says, to get your rental package' prepared before you even get here. We moved here in february and have 2 dogs that we brought with us also. You will find that a lot of properties do not allow dogs, and I think your best bet is to look for rentals on allhomes.com.au that are listed by private renters, and not estate agents. This gives you the opportunity to talk directly with the landlord. They seems to be more open to allowing pets. What kind of property are you looking for? do you know what neighborhood? do you have kids? Also, as I previously posted, if you require a high speed connection, you have to confirm availability at potential rental addresses before you sign a lease, some areas have really slow connections. We live up in Forde, which is a very dog friendly neighborhood. We have a fully enclosed dog park, and virtually every other house in the neighborhood has a dog. Are the dogs going to be in quarantine at Melbourne or Sydney? If Sydney I would highly recommend visiting them whilst they are in there. We visited 4 times a week when we first arrived (we spent our first month in sydney to allow us to do this), and it was kind of sad to see so many dogs in there with no visitors at all, some of them did look quite depressed and stressed. are they going to be in there for 30 days? or longer? Hi thanks for the reply, that is so weird we were looking at a place in Forde and was told it is too far from the City and not much there? We have a daughter at 18 and my two dogs will be in Sydney quarantine for 30 days and thought it would be best not to visit as i will get really upset but now that you have said the dogs were depressed then i think i must go and see them, do you get to be with them or is it just through the glass? We want somewhere with a bit of life and people who are friendly as we want to meet lots of people and have a very interesting and active life haha We have a friend of a friend arranging property for us to view for when we arrive, so hopefully we will get a long term rental within the 2 week of us being in a hotel. Thanks for any help or feedback you can give us as i am sure you will agree it is very nerve racking. :spinny: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamples Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I arrived in Canberra for the first time on Sat 4th June 11 (less than 2 days ago) for an initial short stay (unless I get that dream job and just start working) but the plan is I'm going to be job hunting over the next 2.5 weeks and network as much as possible before returning to the UK and hubby - for a few weeks at least, hopefully this will be a productive visit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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