[Sarah Jane]

Hi all
I would really appreciate anyone giving any information about living in Auckland. We've had a certain amount of info from my hubs future employers but it's still confusing. School situation is baffling....this decile info stuff.... what is that equvelent to in Uk?
Also we would like a small secondary school for the kids (no more than 600 kids preferably) but all the schools in Auckland seem to have more than 2000 kids.....thats scary.....
Also worried about housing.....how far is our 120k going in Auckland?

All help very much appreciated......

[Lil]

You should try to get hold of the book "Where to Live in Auckland", it has really good info on areas to live, demographics and schools / zoning. As for decile ratings I believe 10 is the highest, poorer socio-economic areas have lower decile ratings. Perhaps if you have some ideas of areas you are interested in I can post what the book has to say about that area.

Would that be £120k = $300 - won't buy you a mansion but have a look at some real estate sites to see what you can expect to get within your budget.

[xanctus]

Lil, would you be so kind to provide the ISBN number? so that I can check that book in amazon.com or something. thank's so much

[kiwidebs]

I second Lil's post - great book. We bought it at the recent NZ Expo at Earl's Court. ISBN 0-476-00031-9.

Debs

[kiwidebs]

Have just realised this book is not widely available in UK bookstores - I guess not alot of Brits have any reason to try and figure out where to live in Auckland!! :laugh Have found that Kiwifruits (in Picadilly) stock it - they do postal orders/internet orders :nice1 . Not sure if there are any other Kiwi type shops in the UK that may stock it. Otherwise you can order it from NZ but I guess with postage etc it ends up being really expensive - and takes a while to get to you.

Debs

[xanctus]

I second Lil's post - great book. We bought it at the recent NZ Expo at Earl's Court. ISBN 0-476-00031-9.

Debs

Thank's so much Debs for the ISBN number... :nice1

[leslie]

we picked it up in arcade behind embassy in piccadilly. also bought street maps etc. worth a visit...

[karltsmith]

On Schools....smaller schools do exist especially on The North Shore if this is an option...depends on your location and needs.

On Housing...depends where hubbies work is and how big a house you need/want and what level of mortgage you can afford/require or are comfortable with.

£120K (NZ$300 appx at the time of posting) will buy a 3 bed town house / unit on a small section in an OK suburb but again you need to think about the lifestyle yoou want to have and build this into the equation.

Visit some of the real estate websites to get price info and pm me for the low down on those of interest or post for more general feedback!

:nice1