Moving to Brisbane..loadsa questions

[zzlondongirlzz]

Hi everyone. I'm scared, excited, happy and sad all at the same time to find out that we are leaving London and moving to Brisbane very soon. We will need to find a rental property and wondered if anyone could point me in the right direction about a few things....

are most houses rented out furnished or unfurnished? whats the norm?
what areas for renting would you suggest we look at - husband needs to get to central business district - preferably by public transport or bike, no longer than say 30 mins away

DD is 4 in August - when will she need to start school/pre-school? - what are the options re state/church/private? will I need to get on waitlists asap?

any useful websites etc all very welcome, Thank you!

[StillinMyPJs]

Hi. I moved to Brisbane 6 years a go and it's a great place to live. I moved again to Melbourne 10 months ago and I miss Brisbane more than I ever missed the UK!

Houses are generally rented out unfurnished and most leases are for 12 months, but 6 month leases are not unheard of.

The most popular website for property is www.realestate.com.au

Regarding areas to live, it depends on what you are looking to spend and what sort of suburb you are looking for. I have heard that following the floods, rentals close to the city centre are a bit hard to come by. I have mostly lived 40mins+ from the CBD, so I can't really recommend any suburbs.

If you do a search on this forum there are loads of threads about suburbs in Brisbane britishexpats

Have a look at www.translink.com.au there should be a transport map on there. I found the trains to be a good form of transport and there are a number of busways that are completely separate from the road system so they are quite good to use too.

I was a teacher, but I taught the older kids so I don't know when they start school. None of the schools that I worked at had waiting lists, so I hope that someone can come along and answer your question soon!

Good luck with the move!

[zzlondongirlzz]

thank you StillinmyPJ's that's a really useful starting point for me. I've found out since that my DD doesn't have to start formal school until 2013!! here she would have been starting this september (what a bonus to move away!).
If anyone else has info on good areas to live then please drop me a note!

[chloeb2002]

hi i live in bris as does eidsvold if she is around... hello eids... 30 mins will only give you city areas which are pricey. its not uncommon to have an hour commute to the cbd. dh travels an hour on the train to brunswick street and we live on the sunny coast near bribie island and we love it!

my daughter goes to a private lutheran school in caboolture. it costs us under 3000$ a year. which we feel is money well spent as we had problems with the state system. they start school in prep which is the year they turn 5. Most schoole dont have a wait list but its best to get names down asap if you know where they are going! Are other two kids names are down for school already. pre schools are paid for by yourself not government funded like the uk but are good...but unless you get into a c and k or similar we pay $72 a day for ds to go... ( only one day a week but will push it to two days!) You can get some back at tax time and in rebate as well as child care benefit if your eligable.

Where to live depends on what you want? We like the bes of both worlds so we live on acreage 10 mins to the beach... others like the city buzz and dont mind living in close proximity to neighbours!

Brisbane is a great place to be.. yes hot and humid for a few weeks in the summer and cold for a few in the winter but the majority of the time the climate is great! Loads to see and do and lots of free days out for kids.

Renting depends on what your long term plans are. is it a short term move or are you here for good? There are holiday rentals that are furnished and availiable over winter at good rates which can give you time to either buy or find where you want to be to rent long term.

[mamafox]

Hi zzlondon girl :) I spent 11yrs in the UK before moving back with dh and dd1 and dd2 4yrs ago (we've since had ds arrive 20mths ago :) ) If you want more options with your commuting, i.e. train or bus, I would suggest avoiding the really new suburbs/developments, as the infrastructure is playing catch up. You get more for your money but are limited as to how you get from A to B. We have considered moving out of Brisbane but dont' want the commute, if there's a problem on the M1 you're stuffed, there is no alternative. Having done 2yrs commuting from Farnham to London (50miles each way) we have happily avoided that this time :)
With schools, your dd starts Prep the year she turns 5 between 1/7 and 30/6, so that would be next year. State schools in your area you won't have a waiting list for, catholic primary schools have their own criteria (practising catholic, dd baptised etc), independent schools often have lenthy waiting lists - examples would be Moreton Bay College, Ormiston College, Redlands College in the eastern suburbs.
Longer term rentals are unfurnished, leases generally are 12mths but can usually be broked at 6mths if needed. //www.realestate.com.au is the best option for seeing what's available.
How's your planning going? Good luck :)

[zzlondongirlzz]

Thanks for your reply Mamafox - I have just returned from Brisbane having done a week's orientation/property search courtesy of DH's work. I loved it and think we will have a great life out there...and that is coming from someone who swore that she would never leave beloved London again!
We applied for two rental houses both in city areas - we decided that we weren't ready to move 'out' just yet and yes commuting was a big factor for us too - DH is leaving behind a 10 min bike ride to Baker Street so taking on trains/car for any length of time wasn't really an option (yet!). So thats the area and house sorted, my main issue now is Kindergarten/Schools. Am slightly devastated to find that DD was offered yesterday our first choice London primary school for reception this September, outstanding ofsted massively oversubscribed blah blah and now we have to turn it down!!!! More gutting is that everyone keeps telling me that our chances of her getting into a local C and K are practially zero (even for next year)...so am a little worried. Could someone tell me if they have any knowledge of someone getting into a private school in Brisbane early for prep year?? or am I banging my head on brick wall on that? I think this year would be fine for her to have some time off etc, but if she isn't in a decent Kindergarten next year then she and I are going to go crazy! Just wondered if I could get her into school perhaps given that she is already 'prepared' for entering reception here. Any advice would be welcome. I spoke to Queensland education people about starting prep early in the state system and got a flat no.

Right, back to 3 sides of A4 to do list pre move
Cheers

[chloeb2002]

there will be no way of getting dd into prep early private or public.. just as im guessing you cant start school early in the uk? Long day care centres also do kindy programs and pre school. Just like anywhere choose wisely. C and K are cheaper than long day care and yes will have a 2 year wait list. And you will also need to get her name down for school now too! You may get some of your childcare expenses fom long day care back at tax time in a lump sum from childcare rebate. Good luck planning.