What to do next after selling...

Hi all! My first post here. I'd really like some advice or input on what you would do if you were in my position.
My husband and I recently sold our first home to move back to Sydney, and now have been sitting on our savings as we rent.
We're at a disagreement as to what to do next. With a young family, we'd prefer to buy a house, however our budget is at around 500K as we don't want to borrow too much (preferably not more than 400k)
We have a son who is exceptionally gifted, and as such, we want to be able to give him the option to attend the best high school that can cater to him (this won't be until another 4 or 5 years)
What should we do? Invest and rent somewhere with good schools? Buy a unit somewhere close to good schools? Happy to consider other places than Sydney as my job is portable, however we moved back to Sydney as we're born and bred here.
Our budget towards rent or a mortgage is around $500/week, which is peanuts in the Sydney property market.
Thanks in advance!!

 

Hi @cluelesslucy

Welcome to PC.

I think for a $500k you may need to go further away from the city.

As you have already suggested yourself, an option may be to build wealth via real estate while you rent somewhere.

Would your budget for rent also be $500 per week?

Do you have a list of schools in Sydney that you think are suitable? I think narrow that down which may give you an idea on how much rent or mortgage you are looking at for the area.

But renting yourself, and investing is certainly a great option. We often hear people complain about property prices - I know Sydney is expensive, but best to start somewhere and hegde yourself against the market.

Good luck!

 

Rent my garage for $400 a week. Its 72sqm, plus use of my backyard for your son. Easy walking distance to Epping Boys High School or an easy and convenient bus ride to James Ruse.

Spoiler

I am kidding.... whilst I have the above, i'm not going to have it as a rental. But good luck on the search!

 

Haha! Thanks (and no thanks to the garage!)

 

Thanks for replying I haven't narrowed down schools yet.. rent budget would be $500 at this point in time. Could change over time

 

$500 goes a long way in Adelaide

 

@Gockie lol by the tim this kid is ready for high school in a few years Epping High wont have any places left. It is already busting at the seams with long waiting lists! Simply moving into a good public schools' catchment zone these days won't guarantee that your child aill be admitted to said school.

 

An exceptionally gifted child should easily qualify for a free scholarship to any private school.
Marg

 

If a child is inzone the school is required to take them (unless expelled elsewhere)

 

I'm not so sure about that. Eligible enrolments all from within the catchment area into year 7 can explode, therefore the catchment could shrink. It helps if you already have a sibling in the school. And for years outside of year 7, its likely you have to be put on a waiting list to get into popular schools - even if you are well inside the defined catchment.

 

I don't think Epping Boys is highly rated, but I could be wrong.

Arden, in Beecroft is pretty good.

@cluelesslucy -- $500/week is not a lot in the < 16 kms radius in Sydney. Renting gives you options in terms of flexibility of where to have your schooling. I remember once a colleague mentioned that they waited till their child was in high school before commiting to buying a property, so that they are in the catchment.

Hang around the forum, don't rush into buying, whether it's an IP or PPOR. Have a good read on strategies.

Good luck.

 

That's what I had thought too for a long time but another member on here said that they changed school principal....

Another interesting thing I heard was that one of the senior high school kids at James Ruse told me their maths teachers are actually quite bad. I found that's pretty shocking to hear. He said all the good teachers left. He said the humanities teachers were good. But that's not really were the general strength of the James Ruse cohort lies.

And another thing I heard this time in relation to the local primary schools, many of them get good results simply because the parents send their kids off to coaching. The actual teachers arent really that good. But I guess its a basis by case basis though.

But re: waiting to buy while in High school has already started.... I would say that's too late and it needs to be done year 5 or 6. Once high school starts, kids wont be able to get into a popular school unless they are extremely lucky with a vacancy for that grade.

 

Thanks for your inputs everyone, and I've been busy reading the forums to get a feel for what strategy might be the best next move.
To Marg4000, I think he's on track to hopefully be offered a scholarship one day to a private school, as I was given this opportunity myself and he's much much brighter than me. So really, I think we need to think ahead on where there is the biggest concentration of good highschools and work out a reasonable area to commute from and whether we buy something small as an investment in that area or rent in that area instead. We're not in a rush to put deposits down, but after a sour experience buying and selling our first home, we are being very cautious with our next move.

 

We had to move from a 4 bed house to a 2 bed apartment, so our child can go to a better school. The things we do for love is priceless.

 

Hi Gockie,

DEC policy is that there must always be room for in zone students, or room must be made through additional buildings etc. Unless of course its officially a Selective School like James Ruse, or as I said before the student poses a significant safety risk.

Some principals try it on by saying they're full, but policy states that public schools need to accept all inzone students. Some parents rent in the area of a desirable school for a bit then buy out of area (very naughty!!) but if their original address is in zone that's fine, you cant be kicked out of a school because you move house.

 

Interesting. But I wonder if the catchment can later shrink though? Even with additional buildings, some schools are well and truly fully packed (Eastwood public school comes to mind).

 

Occasionally school zone boundaries can change, but in reality the school should keep growing as long as there is demand from the catchment area..... or another school is built!

 

Maybe start looking at where you can rent a nice house or townhouse for $500 a week. As your son is gifted he would do well at any middle class school. My understanding is that the state schools around all the desirable locations in Sydney will be good but others will know more than I do (I work in education).

 

If they are exceptionally gifted, get them out of school before they end up in law or medicine.

Not a helpful 2c I know.

 

Always hard to know how any particular child will develop as they mature. His passion may lie outside of the academic in the long run.

Bran has a point. Gifted people may actually find their passion in unexpected fields. Could be difficult for a family to accept that child wants to be a mechanic or chef rather than an astrophysicist!

He's lucky that you want to keep all options open.