Dubai to Singapore with kids, dog, cat, elderly helper HELP

[Dubaiexpat]

We are required to move to Singapore from Dubai. Singapore seems wildly expensive for accommodation compared to Dubai and we are used to living in a house with a big garden/pool in Dubai

We will probably send the kids to the Australian International School. We have a medium sized dog and a wandering cat and I will most likely need to be able to get into the city for work whilst husband works miles away up past Changi airport. We will have one car.

Any suggestions for places to live? 10k rent budget max.

Can dogs and cats live in conservation houses? ( we haven't seen much else on the internet we liked the look of in our budget).

Has anyone heard about exemptions for helpers who are over 50 and don't have a high school certificate, we want to bring our best filipina nanny in the world but she's 51 and never finished high school.

We have many problems I fear....

[PNGMK]

Try to a "black and white" or cluster house. You probably just have the budget for the latter. Sometimes the black and whites need to be fixed up.

[Dubaiexpat]

To clarify I am looking for suggestions on areas not specific houses. We will not move until years end. We thought the East coast looked OK but have no idea of travel times and how that works with our various commutes (Australian School / City /past Changi etc). Do landlords ordinarily accept dogs/cats? Is it a dog friendly place?

[Akimbo]

If you only want to know what area to live at, East Coast is quite nice. A few landed houses (single/double-storey) that are quite big. One of my friends managed to find one with 4 bedrooms, a gigantic yard for his dog to play and cost him around 3500 dolars a month for rent or something...

The area that is close to AIS with a lot of housing is either Bishan area or Serangoon. Both are good, but quite crowded in some cases. I don't think both are quite friendly (and by friendly, I mean ample of space and convenience) for pets in the way you're trying to look for.

If I may refer to SMS (sundaymorningstaple) he's been living around the neighborhood (Serangoon) for longer than me, so he can probably give you some pointers.

Anyway, there are threads in this forum that help expats on relocating to Singapore, as your questions are more or less has been asked plenty of times before. So use the search button on the top right, and you should be able to find it

[PNGMK]

Do landlords ordinarily accept dogs/cats? Is it a dog friendly place?

Cats must be kept indoors ( I think ) and must be sterilised.Some landlords don't have a problem with pets.

Cats are free to roam in private properties usually. Dogs are ok - Hanniroo has experience with large dogs. Try PM'ing her.

To be honest you just have too many questions in one post for anyone to take on. Try breaking them down. Also we assume you will have access to a professional expat relocation service who will be much more help.

[Dubaiexpat]

Do landlords ordinarily accept dogs/cats? Is it a dog friendly place?

Cats must be kept indoors ( I think ) and must be sterilised.Some landlords don't have a problem with pets.

Cats are free to roam in private properties usually. Dogs are ok - Hanniroo has experience with large dogs. Try PM'ing her.

To be honest you just have too many questions in one post for anyone to take on. Try breaking them down. Also we assume you will have access to a professional expat relocation service who will be much more help.

There are 2 unanswered questions, one pertains to areas to live bearing in mind commute times/family circumstances/housing preferences expressed. The information provided is background to that question. If anyone has personal experience of similar commutes and /or comments on nice areas to live bearing in mind our housing requirements and budget, and wants to make suggestions, that would be helpful.

The second question relates to our nanny's visa issues; it has been separately posted a few days ago on the jobs forum.

We will not be engaging relocation agents.

[Dubaiexpat]

If you only want to know what area to live at, East Coast is quite nice. A few landed houses (single/double-storey) that are quite big. One of my friends managed to find one with 4 bedrooms, a gigantic yard for his dog to play and cost him around 3500 dolars a month for rent or something...

The area that is close to AIS with a lot of housing is either Bishan area or Serangoon. Both are good, but quite crowded in some cases. I don't think both are quite friendly (and by friendly, I mean ample of space and convenience) for pets in the way you're trying to look for.

If I may refer to SMS (sundaymorningstaple) he's been living around the neighborhood (Serangoon) for longer than me, so he can probably give you some pointers.

Anyway, there are threads in this forum that help expats on relocating to Singapore, as your questions are more or less has been asked plenty of times before. So use the search button on the top right, and you should be able to find it

Many thanks Akimbo, thats helpful.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I have to pipe in here if only to say I'm not much help as I was/am an old farmboy who has ALWAYS had to travel great distances to get to anywhere, so when I came here it really didn't matter much where I lived, but I wanted to be as far away from downtown as I could possibly get. My kids commuted from Seletar Camp to Toa Payoh (daughter @ CHIJ) but my son schooled out here in Serangoon North at a neighbourhood schools (different schools but both neighbourhood schools). Back then this side of the island was really ulu so you had to travel more than a Km just to get to Jln Kayu to have Roti at Thasavi's. Those were the days before the schools had gone Single Session. So they got up at ridiculous hours and traveled around an hour on the bus. But guess what! They survived it with no problems.

I loved living in Seletar Camp in the big old Black & Whites. I had a huge compound and lots of fruit trees and other plants. I also had a big black Heinz 57 who loved the kids and all kids loved her. (Actually a collie/GS mix)

The further away from town you go, the better chance of finding something within your budget but you will have to sacrifice the nearness of Major shopping belts, although major shopping centres are springing up all over the island. Even today, I commute 21 Km to work each way from Serangoon North to the Devil's triangle between Bkt Batok/Clementi/Jurong East. Commute is anywhere from 25 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic, school holidays or what time you leave the office / house. I generally don't drive except on Saturdays, preferring to use mass transit as it's a good time to read the papers, catch up on email, etc. Sometimes the car sits in the parking lots for 6 days straight without being started.

[Dubaiexpat]

I have to pipe in here if only to say I'm not much help as I was/am an old farmboy who has ALWAYS had to travel great distances to get to anywhere, so when I came here it really didn't matter much where I lived, but I wanted to be as far away from downtown as I could possibly get. My kids commuted from Seletar Camp to Toa Payoh (daughter @ CHIJ) but my son schooled out here in Serangoon North at a neighbourhood schools (different schools but both neighbourhood schools). Back then this side of the island was really ulu so you had to travel more than a Km just to get to Jln Kayu to have Roti at Thasavi's. Those were the days before the schools had gone Single Session. So they got up at ridiculous hours and traveled around an hour on the bus. But guess what! They survived it with no problems.

I loved living in Seletar Camp in the big old Black & Whites. I had a huge compound and lots of fruit trees and other plants. I also had a big black Heinz 57 who loved the kids and all kids loved her. (Actually a collie/GS mix)

The further away from town you go, the better chance of finding something within your budget but you will have to sacrifice the nearness of Major shopping belts, although major shopping centres are springing up all over the island. Even today, I commute 21 Km to work each way from Serangoon North to the Devil's triangle between Bkt Batok/Clementi/Jurong East. Commute is anywhere from 25 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic, school holidays or what time you leave the office / house. I generally don't drive except on Saturdays, preferring to use mass transit as it's a good time to read the papers, catch up on email, etc. Sometimes the car sits in the parking lots for 6 days straight without being started.

Interesting post. We saw a great government owned black and white for rent in Sembawang but kids would need to get to school/probably AISS, and commuting to town looked like a mission

The other place we loved was Changi village and around there near the sailing club; not real convenient either sadly.

Then we looked at a nice albeit expensive bungalow in Thiem Siew/East Coast, but the used condoms on the foot path outside were a turn off!

Having had one failed visit to locate a decent place to live within our budget and not miles away, we are still no closer to sorting something out.

[PNGMK]

You won't find the equivalent of Dubai (or AD or Oman) housing here unless you have a top level housing budget. It exist but there isn't enough of it.

I was up on Woodlands this morning (Woodgrove Road or Lane) and there are some nice houses up there for the expat community. Is that too far away>

[Dubaiexpat]

You won't find the equivalent of Dubai (or AD or Oman) housing here unless you have a top level housing budget. It exist but there isn't enough of it.

I was up on Woodlands this morning (Woodgrove Road or Lane) and there are some nice houses up there for the expat community. Is that too far away>

I will have a look but yep, I'm starting to rethink the whole deal. Husband might have to commute ! Any way you look paying $100k rent a year to live in a dump is not going to improve our quality of life much.

[Dubaiexpat]

You won't find the equivalent of Dubai (or AD or Oman) housing here unless you have a top level housing budget. It exist but there isn't enough of it.

I was up on Woodlands this morning (Woodgrove Road or Lane) and there are some nice houses up there for the expat community. Is that too far away>

I will have a look but yep, I'm starting to rethink the whole deal. Husband might have to commute ! Any way you look paying $100k rent a year to live in a dump is not going to improve our quality of life much.