Soon moving from Germany to Vancouver

Hi everyone,

I am the new one here on Internations! :)
My name is Meike, 36yrs old and because of my husband`s job we are going to move to VAncouver during the next year.

We are a family of five (three kids aged Protected content I can`t count how many questions are there in my mind.

-what is a good and family friendly area to live in/around Vancouver?
-what amount (aprox.) do we have to spend for a 4-5bdr house monthly?
-> we already saw some on craiglist and we are wondering how such a process works; I mean what checks will usually be done by the landlord? Is it easy to find a house with three kids, coming from abroad? .....
-should the kids go to an international or local school (so far I think I would prefer a local one - since we are planning to stay longer than only a few years Protected content there any school fees for local schools?
-do we both need a car ? How is the public transport system working?
.what are the most important things we should know for the first weeks/months? (health insurance, driving license, credit cards,......?)

I would be very happy to hear from everyone who has an idea that may help :)

Thanks a lot!