Maybe moving to Melbourne? Advice please!

[MaybeMelbourne]

My DH has the possibility of moving to a job in Melbourne. We are currently in the UK. We have only ever been to Oz on holiday many years ago to Perth, which we loved but is obviously not Melbourne!

The salary is around $220 and apparently I could also work on the type of Visa available. However, my job is extremely niche and I’m not sure how easy it would be to find a job, although I may be able to do some freelancing. I have no idea if this would be enough to have a decent standard of living in Melbourne. We have two primary aged DC.

I’ve had a look at property online and it seems to be very expensive. DH wouldn’t need to be in the office too often, only once or twice a week so we wouldn’t need to be super close to the city centre. Are there any nice places that are a bit further out? I’d want to be near schools and walking distance to amenities, and obviously somewhere safe etc.

I feel like it would be crazy to move so far away to somewhere we’ve never even visited - and we wouldn’t have an opportunity to do this. Another part of me thinks it might be a great opportunity though.. so I’d be interested to know of any thoughts on the quality of life we might be able to have. How hard/ easy might it be to make friends? We know literally no one there so would also be worried about being really isolated.

Thanks in advance!

I'm in Melbourne, but retired and no mortgage, so not across the pay in relation to house prices. My general advice would be if you can't be near the sea, be near trains/trams. Rentals are bonkers here, though there's always more available at the top end.
Primary schools are much like the UK, pretty good government schools. It's when you get to secondary you need to look about you as nearly all state school are zoned. There's lot invested in sending kids to private schools here. Utterly bizarre and a waste of money - get into a decent state secondary then call in the tutors at Year 10 if needed.

Depends on your lifestyle, but 220 would be tight-ish as a family income in my suburb, because of the cost of housing. I presume your children are entitled to free schooling here? For reference my family income is about 200, and we live in a good-but-not-great rented place, and we're saving some, but not much, BUT, and this is a big one, we pay less tax than your family would as our income is split across two of us. We are in a more expensive suburb though. I recommend the inner north for an area with cheaper housing and good schools--Brunswick or maybe even Coburg

@CallItLoneliness thanks that’s kind of what I had been thinking, that it probably isn’t enough because of the cost of housing. We would have to sell our house so would have the equity from that but would have to rent for a while. I will have a look at the areas you suggest though, thanks. Not sure about whether the kids would be entitled to free schooling, would that depend on the type of visa?

Take a look at the bayside suburbs south of Parkdale up to Mornington. Further out from Melbourne is more affordable. Commute is fine a couple of days a week. Wonderful lifestyle for kids. We have been here 10+ years. Similar financial position. Lots of expats around here.

Victoria, unlike NSW, doesn't have a fee for temporary visa children who go to public schools.
Look at the airline prices during school holidays. It has become so expensive, and it wasn't cheap before.
Agree on the funny obsession for private schools.