Moving to Brno in 2009

Discussion in 'Expat Life' started by sharkwild, Feb 27, 2009.

  1. sharkwild

    sharkwild Member

    Hi Guys

    This is the first time I am using this message board but hope to meet lots of new people here.

    I am getting a job in Brno and I have list of questions before I accept the offer. I hope you guys will be able to help me.

    1. The salary offered is CK 70-75000 per month gross. I am not sure if this is enough to survive, especially with renting of apt (2 bedroom) costing 15000 ck per month. I will be moving there with my family so need to have at least this size of apartment.

    2. Are there any English speaking estate agents that i can work with before moving there?

    3. Can I afford a car in the above salary and still be able to save a sober amount (at least equivalent of 1000 euro)?

    4. I have an Irish driving license. will that work in Czech or I need to apply for a Czech license?

    5. Any tips on buying and running a car in Brno? i.e., road tax, any other regulations, cost, fuel etc?

    6. Are there any English speaking pre-schools and also English speaking Doctors in Brno?

    Any help on thse questions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
     
  2. taja

    taja Member

    I can help with few questions :)

    Salary is one of the biggest i heard... me and my colleagues from work have 20 000 - 40 000 gross ;) so i suppose that amount of money should be more than enough ;)

    Have no idea bout anything related to cars, cause im not using it :D i think you can find some good flat for rent, for some 15 000 CZK, even less, it depends on part of Brno... I think you can use irish driving licence without any problem... cause ppl in my company are mostly foreigners, and all of them are using driving licences from their countries...

    im not sure about english pre-schools, but english speaking doctors are available.
     
  3. sharkwild

    sharkwild Member

    Hi Taja
    Thank you very much for the information. I believe I will be able to survive with the salary.

    Are there any websites where I can find the apartments in Brno (2 bedroom?) What sre the good residential areas? i.e., with all amenities nearby and known for family residence? My employer is located in the city center so possibly around 30 minutes radius by local transport. Any suggestions?

    Roughly how much would be general monthly expense for a small family (3 people in total). I tried the information on this website but it is bit outdated (3-4 year old).

    Thanks again for all the help.
     
  4. jpkrohling

    jpkrohling Member

    This is a good salary, and should provide a good living here. Be aware, though, that it translates to around 50k net. I'm pretty sure you can find big 2kk apartments here for less than 15k, but I would suggest to spend whatever is necessary to provide comfort in this item, specially if your wife won't work.

    Look for Hana, at Bravis: http://www.bravis.cz . I rented my apartment with her, and she speaks good english. But from my experience, you don't need to worry. Almost all agencies have at least one English-speaking person.

    Let's see: 50k net - 24k (1k euro) - 15k (apartment) = 11k. I spend around 8k/month in supermarket. Considering you will spend something like that also, you have 3k/month for the car (gas/instalments/maintenance/...) So, saving 24k/month *and* have a car doesn't sounds realistic to me. YMMV :)

    I don't know about pre-schools, but don't worry about doctors. You can always find an English-speaking one. At least, whenever I needed, I could find one :)
     
  5. sharkwild

    sharkwild Member

    jpkrohling,

    Thanks a lot for excellent information and all the advice. The website you provided is also very useful. I will contact Hana as you suggested.

    Just one follow up question - I will probably be buying car with downpayment so no installments. What will be other cost involved for running the car (i.e., petrol, road tax, maintenance, any other cost)? I might have to use the car in long term although initially I will be mostly using public transport.

    Thanks again for all the help.
     
  6. jpkrohling

    jpkrohling Member

    I don't really know about it. Maybe someone with a car can talk about it :) But you can start looking for cars here:

    http://www.aaaauto.cz (with english version available)
    http://www.eurocar.cz
     
  7. sharkwild

    sharkwild Member

    Thanks for the websites. That's good enough for me to start the research. Thanks again for all the help
     
  8. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    For start, you need damage liability insurance (basic version is mandatory by law), Czech term for it is "povinné ručení" - exact sum is hard to tell, because it depends on insurance company/car/residence/age etc... but let's say it's 4000-8000 Kč per year (if you drive without accidents you then will get bonus, which could be up to 50%.

    If you want to drive on highways, you need highway sticker (dálniční známka) - 1000 Kč per year.

    I don't know where are you from, if you are from USA, then price of gas will be nasty shock for you :)

    Now it's about 25Kč/liter but last year it was almost 40Kč/liter at one moment. (1 us gallon = 3.7 liters)
     
  9. eso

    eso Well-Known Member

    Now I see you used the word "petrol", so I guess you are Briton :)
    Then I think price of gas will be little smaller, then you are used to.

    UPDATE
    Uh-oh! Now i see you are Irishman, sorry :)
     
  10. sharkwild

    sharkwild Member

    Thanks Eso. Yes i am from Ireland :)
     
  11. Ctyri koruny

    Ctyri koruny Well-Known Member

    I'm from Ireland too!!!!!

    I live just 2 hours from Brno.

    after tax and rent I have 10,000 crowns a month. that's like 400 quid. But a weeks shopping is only 40 quid and the money is fine here. I just can't bring it home with me! I can afford to send a small amount of money to my parents, now that they've moved to Turkey the money will go a bit further.

    I don't think čr is the best place in the world for saving money, unless you plan to stay here for life.

    I wish I could answer more of your questions, but we've very different situations!

    Still you me and Padraig that's 3 Irish people on the forums now :)
     

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