# Affordable north shore for families?



## Globalcitizen18

Hi, 

I'm looking for advice on which north shore suburbs are good for families and affordable. I know those two things don't necessarily go together but I can hope! My husband is a kiwi (but has been in the UK for nearly 20 years) so we are fortunate in that we don't need to worry about visas. Nonetheless, the whole move process is very expensive as everyone knows, and I am worried we will overstretch ourselves when we get there. We have two small children, 2 & 4 years, and ideally I don't want to move them about too much after making the move to NZ, so we need to pick somewhere that has good schools that is within our budget. Rent wise we can stretch to $900pw, and whilst we wouldn't be in a position to buy for a couple of years (and who knows what will happen to the market) our budget is around $1.6. Writing that down seems like a huge amount but having read so much, I fear it wont be enough and the last thing I want to happen is to settle the kids whilst renting to only find we cannot actually afford to live in an area and moving. We loved Takapuna where we stayed on holiday but we didn't really venture further than Devonport. Any tips/suggestions on where might be a good place to start?


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## escapedtonz

I'm glad you mentioned good suburbs and affordability don't necessarily go together. That is one thing for sure here in NZ and especially in Auckland. Best places that I know of North Shore are Takapuna and Devonport. Also nice up the coast so the Bays to the East of Albany. These areas have everything you need but as you'd expect they are pricey but damn you have a healthy rental budget.....That's up to $3600 you'll be handing to the government as your bond to look after whilst renting and another $47k a year you'll be paying towards somebody else's mortgage - you deserve a medal ;-)

I wouldn't rule out living further North. It is pretty nice out on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula / Orewa etc and a bit more affordable but it's striking the fine balance between what you are paying out and the distance/time required to get in to the CBD (if work is in the CBD). The traffic is getting quite busy up that way nowadays. We have friends live right on the border with Gulf Harbour and it is beautiful out there but only one way in and one way out so the drive all the way to the end and back would have driven me crazy by now. We only visit a few times a year and the increase in traffic is very noticeable each time we go.
Very glad and lucky that we haven't needed to live in Auckland. Don't mind visiting every now and then but always glad to escape as it reminds me too much of the crazy traffic of the UK.

If you are turning up with just luggage and with your shipping container taking a couple months to arrive, could you not say try a month or so in each (maybe a bach, furnished holiday home or motel) to see how you feel about the areas before you commit to something more long term ?
You don't have to have either of the kids in school so you could treat that first couple of months as a holiday for the kids so there is no settling in issues.
Always better to have real life experience of a place before diving in to something more long term. Yes it is usually higher costs to do it that way but better that committing to a rental contract for 6 months / a year sight unseen and then hating it and wanting to leave.


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## inhamilton

Most of the North Shore is pretty good, to be fair, including schooling. Its a very popular area for expats. Your budget for housing should get you something decent. People survive there on much less. Average rentals are probably about $600 pw.


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