I stayed in a hotel for the first two weeks while looking for a place to rent. I got a little luckily though and managed to secure something in the first week. I also rented a car for my first week and made it a priority to drive away with my own car by then end of the first week.

I budget $100k or around RM300k to last me a year without a job ($42k for the first month and $48k for the remaining 11 months), but I had more than that after selling my assets in Malaysia.

I was lucky to start working around 2 months after I arrived (could’ve started in 1.5 months but had a better last minute offer).

Varies wildly. Some of the best high schools in established areas next to the CBD can easily go for 2m+. My area is just slightly over 1m on average. This price range is quite similar for all smaller cities for properties within good high school zones (top 3 public high schools in the state).

Can’t speak for Sydney/Melbourne though as they’re all outside my affordability.