Quality of life in Sydney and Melbourne

A great question as I have thought of moving to OZ a couple of times. Consider this a bookmark for real responses.

It's still rather early in the morning in Oz right now, so you'll probably not get responses for a while . . . don't be discouraged, we won't actively ignore you unless we decide your an idiot or a facist . . . oops, that was redundant.

Welcome to the monkey house, Boss, keep your hands and arms inside the windows . . .

Yes welcome to A2K Mr Anderson. Cant answer your question, but standby for others to have a go.

Please note, nothing on this or any other thread should be taken as implying expertise on behalf of the poster.

Calls may be recorded for training purposes.

[if I had 600,000 Aus Dollars I would er well not sure, how much is that in real money?]

About a dollar-two-ninety-eight . . .

(Seriously, between $300,000 and $400,000 US.)

Welcome to A2K, Mr Anderson. I'm from Melbourne, so feel free to ask me about any particular queries about Melbourne & the state of Victoria. I'd be delighted to help, if I can.

First of all, $600k can buy you a respectable house in Melbourne. And it wouldn't be necessary to buy on the outskirts of the city, either. You could pick up quite a "desirable property" in a good location for that price. Sydney, I'm afraid, is entirely another matter! Far more expensive if location & proximity to the centre matter to you. Sorry about that!

Anyway, Mr Anderson here's what looks like a good starting point for you:

http://www.apm.com.au/osbuyers/buying.htm
(A "foreigner's guide to Oz real estate)

I'll see what else I can find, too ... Good luck!

`

600 large would get you a decent house in Sydney, but you would be at LEAST 15-20 minutes drive from the CBD and probably on the west side.

That's just generally speaking though. It really depends on what sort of house you want. Would a townhouse do? If so you could get quite a good one pretty close to the city.

G'Day mate (and all those those other stereotypical Australianisms)! :wink:

Firstly, $600,000 Australian dollars at current exchange rates is approx $417,121 USD or 230,123 British pounds. Which translates to 342,492 Euro, in case you're wondering. Um, that makes $659,794 New Zealand dollars.

Enough with the sums! For a house you're probably better off in Melb. Sydney is really very nice, but it's very crowded. If you move there expect very, very, very, very, very narrow streets (Sydney drivers are crazy!).

In Melbourne it is my personal opinion that the Eastern suburbs are nicer, you have your choice of bayside, general suburban, or mountains (note: in Australia mountains can mean something different than in other continents. Think very pretty but very worn down hills. It is probably the oldest country in the world after all!)

As for commute, I'm a public transport buff, so I can't tell you drive times. But stations here are comparitively safe, well equipped, and clean and very rarely have major problems (unlike Sydney lately). From city centre to the farthest reaches of the Dandenong mountain ranges is probably a couple of hours by train. Oh, and we have trams! You know, like San Francisco in the States!

All up, Sydney is probably a more fast paced sort of city. Melbourne is the older of the two and in my opinion has more personality, lovely Victorian architecture (the Queen, not the state). We love our cafes and restaurants (I'm a big fan of sushi myself) and were big on culture and art. If, however, you want night clubs and frequent influxes of hollywood movie stars, go to Sydney. They're both good choices!

What!?! Well I never new that. :wink:

Mr Anderson.

Go to Melbourne if you like English style weather.

You better inform you local historical societies, i suspect they don't know this, and have been getting it wrong since 1788 . . .

G'day fortune! And welcome to A2K. Hey, you're from Melbourne!

Just a comment on your post: The eastern suburbs are good if your prefered environment is an established, quieter one. Living near the sea is great, no question. (but often expensive.) Personally, I find the life of the inner suburbs more interesting & vibrant. Take your pick, Mr Anderson!

Oops! My bad! I guess I wasn't paying attention to what I was typing. I was actually referring to the feel not the dates. I do actually know that Port Phillip wasn't colonized 'till 1835. Sorry, bout that folks!

*how embarrassing*

Point about the weather! Very unpredictable. But the beauty is, if you planned a picnic for a day when it's raining, just wait five minutes! But don't expect it to snow. Ever.

Whats Adelaide like?

Wow
God all this traffic from one post... a lot more than i expected. Thanks guys, much appreciated. Mind you some were more relevant than others :wink: . To put it in to perspective I travel about 40 miles (60K ?) to get to work. I use the good old UK overground and London Underground trains and it takes me nearly 90 mins (each way). If you think I'm mad there's a guy on the next desk to me who travels well over two hours to get in. Why do I travel so far? I can't afford the type of house I like to live in any closer to London (3 bed semi-detached, front and back garden. The UK has the property market completely overpriced...

So you're gonna commute from Australia? Well yes it makes sense actually. Just go to the nearest beach, find a child, get the kid to dig a hole through the earth and drop down it every morning. Easy.

On reflection Mr Anderson, I have to admit my last post might not have been the most helpful in your quest to eliminate your commuter journey.

There are several solutions. You could shack up with another woman during the week. (A certain amount of discretion is required here). Or you could take out an enormous mortgage and move closer, you might not even live long enough to pay it off...
Er or spot an ideal location for your work near to where you live then burn down the London office...

All of which surely is less drastic than moving to Australia. I mean we used to send convicts there. Some of them still live there.

Mr Anderson


Here's a link to the Oz Bureau of Statistics. It's not about housing but might fill you in on any information you may want on population, work, etc.

http://www.abs.gov.au/

G'day Mr Anderson and welcome to A2K!

I bring you the voice of Oz-reason, and the Sydney perspective (supporting Adrian - that other discerning Sydney-ite!)

$AUS600K will buy you my place - a 2-bed/2 bath semi-detached house in a nice inner-western suburb, a 30- minute ferry (or bus) commute from the city.

You gets what you pays for. A house at the same price will be further out, and/or in a less desirable area.

You need to decide on what's important for you, the type of amenities you want, etc.

Ignore that Steve character - he's been a bit off since last weekend's football and rugby disasters.

If you want to know about Adelaide, we need to call up the bunny....not seen here yet, but about somewhere.

Feel free to ask any more specific questions.

ps...Mr Anderson is a tad formal for Oz.

Kissing your aunt, that's what Adelaide's like.