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Hi Jason
Yes, Peppermint Grove is the most exclusive area in Perth. For a spot of trivia, it is the only suburb where the garbage collectors come in to your yard and collect the trash, no putting it out on the kerb on trash day for you.
Areas to look at are Claremont and Cottesloe, still very expensive but very nice. Claremont would be my top choice. There is a train line running through these areas too, which would make for an easy trip into the city centre. I would avoid Scarborough, it looks nice on the map and it is coastal, however it attracts some of the wrong sort of people. If you take a map of perth and look at all the areas on the west side of the river as far north as City Beach and as far south as North Fremantle then it will be a decent area. Check out a website called realestate.com.au for a list of properties for sale or to rent. Prices are quoted weekly down here by the way. In those areas be prepared for around AUD800 per week rent, more if you want "luxury".
In terms of your salary, if it isn't more than 250k pre-tax including superannuation (money paid into a compulsory pension plan, currently 9.25% of salary) then you may really want to give this some serious thought. Dinner in a reasonable restaurant runs at AUD100 for a couple BEFORE buying wine which will cost you another $50 a bottle. Fortunately we don't tip here, we sometimes leave 5 or 10 if the waitstaff were nice but they are paid well and don't rely on tips. Drinking in bars is also expensive, a Corona runs anything from $7 to $10 for a 330ml bottle and be prepared for cocktails at $15 to $20 a piece.
On the plus side, the weather is fantastic and we have amazing beaches. I had a friend here visiting from Nice, France and he was photographing the beach at Cottesloe to send to his friends. HE certainly felt it was better than Côte d'Azure, I wouldn't go that far though. ;-) Also, we are rather close to Asia, so if you haven't traveled to the far east yet then you will have a chance living here.
As I said earlier, if you have any specific questions the fire away, more than happy to help.
Daniel
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