I picked my machine up while I was back in the UK a couple of years back for about $150. It was a lucky steal on gumtree, as I know if I sold it here in the right place I could get at least $700 for it.
Before I had that machine I had a commercial 2 group machine that I bought at an auction in Cairns from a cafe that had failed. If you have the space at the new place, that might well be the go. My Rancilio cost $250 or so, but you should also factor in a service on a 2nd hand machine at a cost of $100 or more unless you are like me and willing to tinker around. Most parts for 'proper' machines are easily buyable from an Aussie website called coffeeparts.com.au so you can get all you need to service it yourself, and save a lot of money.
If you do consider buying an ex-commercial machine I would recommend trying to get as simple a machine as possible. Once you start looking at automatic machines, if the brain goes, you are looking at hundreds, if not thousands to fix them.
Otherwise, if you are looking at a new machine, then you should be expecting to spend around $7-800 on a Rancilio Silvia or similar for whatever is flavour of the month these days.
You should also factor in a couple of hundred on a decent grinder - I got the Breville smartgrinder when it was 50% off at goodguys for $150 and so far that seems perfectly acceptable.
There are lot of variables you have to get right to make a perfect espresso:
- The bean must be roasted correctly
- The beans must be fresh enough*
- You must get the right grind size for the bean (this can change daily)
- You must tamp the ground coffee to the right pressure
- You must flush the group head to ensure that it is hot enough, and the water is slightly cooler than 100 degrees
Then there is the milk frothing. Getting microfoam at the right temperature is a skill in itself.
I don't mean to write all this to put you off, but to suggest it is a perfect hobby as there are so many things to get just right, and if you do, you can have a coffee like no other you have had with a thick, almost chewable texture, and fantastic flavours. I've had coffees that tasted of berries, apples, or cocoa.
If this isn't enough for you, then you can also get into roasting your own beans, and that can be as simple or as geeky as you like.
For simple, you need a popcorn maker with a baked bean can chimney. Chuck approximately 100g of coffee in the popcorn maker, and wait around 6-10 minutes until they are at the roast level you desire.
I used (and will again when I get off my arse to buy the rest of the equipment) a breadmaker and a heatgun. The breadmaker (on its dough setting) agitates the beans, while the heatgun does the roasting. This is more tunable than the popcorn machine method, and can roast you more beans. By moving the heatgun's head closer or further from the beans you can change how long it takes to roast the beans and bring more complexity to the coffee in your cup. Add a thermocouple to the mix, and you can start recording the temperature changes, and work out roast profiles which make coffee that you like.
Or you could spend hundreds to thousands on your own roaster.
Decent beans tend to cost around $13-15 and upwards per 200g bag. Green beans tend to cost about the same per kilo, so in the long run you will save a fair bit of cash.
You probably don't need another forum to hang around on, but take a look at
coffeesnobs, it has a great forum, an area where you can buy or sell equipment, and they also sell green, or roasted coffee.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away.
* There is a general rule of 3's here. Green, unroasted beans can last up to 3 years before they start to go off, roasted beans can last 3-4 weeks before they are past their best, and ground coffee will last 3 minutes or so.
