So i need help about homes in australia?

Question

My family is considereing moving from the u.s to australia.And we are not to familiar with the country. hers what we want

We would like a decently populated area. around queensland. Not a small town but not a huge town.

We would like to be 30-45 minutes away from the beach or less. clean beaches.Preferably.

Good area. Good schools. Lots of things to do.

Fair weather. No storms or extreme heat.

Any suggestions? like what cities? and all that fun stuff

Answer 1

Take a look at http://qldbeaches.com - I think Noosa or Caloundra would suit you.

The further up North (in Qld) you go, the hotter it is.

Also a great website is http://www.where2live.info and

http://www.homesite.com.au/new-homes-and...

Answer 2

Queensland does get storms and extreme heat so you would want Southern Queensland. The further North you go then you will be in the tropics of 2 seasons wet and the dry . we don't get as severe a storm as part of America and our summers can get very hot but most of us have air conditioning. Would it not depend on the job situation where you live . The closer to Brisbane the more jobs. Perhaps you would look at The sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast. Fabulous beaches here. http://www.verygc.com/ http://www.tourismsunshinecoast.com.au/ So you wouldn't have to live in the heart of these places there are plenty of suburbs out a bit.

Our winters are perfect weather. also you may be interested in Northern New South Wales .Port Mcquarrie is very nice.

Answer 3

hey gorgeous, your family is making a choice. u should consider moving to the gold coast or the sunshine coast. i live on the gold coast and was bought up there, i love the place. i used to visit my mates on the sunshine coast. i think there the two most popular places in the world and the beaches have white sand and they are clean and blue waves.

Answer 4

if you don't want heat give Queensland a miss then,

everywhere has storms at some time and Queensland can have cyclones

don't forget you need to qualify to immigrate to Australia

http://www.immi.gov.au/index.htm

Answer 5

I live in Canberra but am a former Queenslander.

Housing

Most Australian housing vaguely resembles the California bungalow or the “ranch house”.  There is usually only one floor and no basement.  Typically houses built before about 1970 have 3 bedrooms, one bathroom.  After that many houses were built with an "ensuite" which is a shower booth and water closet attached to the master bedroom with a full bathroom elsewhere.  Kitchens generally are smallish but well appointed.  Most houses do not have pantries or "dens".  

  

Recently though land prices have risen while the cost of building has fallen so newer houses are larger and better appointed.  I have just paid yearly land tax of $758 on an “unimproved land value” of $269,666.  This tax would be the same whether the house was big, small or non-existent.  This tax does not include water supply or sewerage charges.  

Major cites and most medium to small towns have sewer systems and safe water supplies.  Cable TV and mobile (cellular) phones in larger towns.  There are up to 5 free-to air TV networks available, multiple AM and FM radio stations.  The landline phones work.  

As in the USA real estate values vary with locality.  I've seen houses sell here recently for a million but they are at the top end of the local market.  I live 20 minutes walk from a major employment centre and a large shopping mall.  There is an elementary school five minutes walk away (set to close unfortunately) with a convenience store, small children's play area, sports ground, park, restaurant, local general practice medico nearby.  There are Catholic and government high schools within twenty or thirty minutes walk.

A natural gas pipeline and a coaxial cable for phone, I'net and cable TV run past the door.  Power supply is 240V 50Hz and reliable.  It went off the other day as some work was being done - must have been off 8 minutes.  That's the only power cut for months and the previous one lasted about as long.  For more details on Australian power see the following site and follow the link for type “I”, from the “Comment” column.

http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

This city's population is about 310,000.  The house is an older one with three bedrooms and one bathroom, separate garage, brick construction, tile roof, central heating on a gas furnace.

In Queensland houses do not have central heating or in many cases, provision for heating of any kind unless you live in a few places that are more elevated.  These will be well over 2 hours from any beach.    

There are a few towns along the Queensland coast that might suit you.  Bundaberg, Maryborough, Gladstone, Rockhampton  and  Mackay have populations in the 30,000- 60,000 range and all have clean water, sewerage, reliable power and so forth.  

However in all parts of Queensland except the southern highlands the climate is like that of Florida, gulf coast Texas  or warmer.  The further north you go the hotter it gets, about 1880  Rockhampton was described as the city of "sin, sweat and sorrow".  Apart from that there are possible cyclones (hurricanes) which may rarely get south as far as Rockhampton.  

We do not have things like tornadoes, they are pretty well confined to north America.   There are storms as anywhere but they generally last 20 minutes with lightning and strong winds and then things settle down to rain for another hour.    Sometimes big hail, but that might only happen every 5 to 10 years.  

Mackay recently had severe flooding but nothing like Katrina in New Orleans . The Mackay flood was water rising then going down.   That sort of thing happens once every 20 - 40 years in these places.  Rain in these areas can be torrential, I have seen 3 inches in 30 minutes in Bundaberg, with another 3 in the following 90 minutes so there can be a problem with local flooding.  If you are buying house or land, make sure it is moderately elevated and don't trust the real estate people (realtors) about this.  Before buying, go to municipal offices, (shire, town or city hall) and ask for a flood map.  Anywhere there is a collection of better looking or larger houses though will probably be on higher land.   The eastern side of a hill is always a good buy.  

Incidentally, Texas would fit into Queensland about 3 times, it is about 1600km (1000 miles) from Brisbane to Cairns and there is still hundreds of km to the furthest north..

There are several real estate dealers who operate nearly Australia-wide, look for websites for "The Professionals" and "LJ Hooker" among other reputable companies.  In country towns you can get good houses for around AU$200,000 or less.  It all depends on whether the population is growing and how much work there is.  Where there is no work any more,  I've heard of one whole village being sold for a few thousand, which was a local joke here a few years ago.

Work

Australia needs doctors and dentists for country towns.  There is plenty of work in construction and mining.  There are  low-rise buildings going up or recently completed not far from the shopping mall I just mentioned.  Same thing is going on in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and even in some of the larger country towns.

Income tax is "high" compared to the USA but lower than in many other countries.  This is levied by the Federal Government.  On a fairly typical salary of $65,000 you can expect to pay about $17,000 tax.  This is taken from your pay every week or two weeks in small amounts.  At the end of the tax year, you prepare a tax return setting out allowable expenses.  If these are over certain amounts for certain things  there will be a moderate refund.  Mortgages cannot be claimed.

Another federal tax is the Goods and Services Tax.  This is levied at 10% on all goods except fresh uncooked food.  There are no other sales taxes on ordinary goods and this 10% is the same in all states.  

A third federal tax which many people never have to pay is capital gains tax.  This is levied on investments once disposed of, if the value has risen.  If the investment is held for more than about five years (don’t quote me) then the tax is not payable.  Capital gains tax is not paid on a family home, but it is if you own another house for rental.  

You will not usually pay any direct taxes to the State governments unless you buy and sell land, apartments or a car.  State governments also tax cars every year with registration fees, these are a few hundred dollars.  I have a V8 coupe and recently paid $740.  This included third party injury insurance, but it does not include third party property insurance.  A car insurance policy that covers your personal damage and third party property insurance is called a "comprehensive policy" .  There are available from many sources, shop around a bit.  be warned, the cheapest and most heavily advertised companies have a poor reputation at paying up.  Surprised?  

Motoring associations like the RACQ - Royal Automobile Club of Queensland and the NRMA - National Road and Motorist Association offer breakdown insurance and will insure your car, house and personal possessions.

Answer 6

I say Tweed Heads,NSW QLD boarder. Best of every thing. Not far from beach to the big fun parks to everything up and down the coast there. If you want more info contact me and i will send wed sites to view.

Answer 7

Bribie Island.

It isn't like really far out from the actual country. There is a short bridge that goes out to it.

It isn't huge but it definitly isn't small.

Lots of things to do + great, clean beaches.

I have only visited there but i would love to move there i don't even live near the coast.