Suburbs - Your recommendations

[GideonVD]

Hi there,

We're busy house hunting in the Melbourne area and need some advise from people living there.

We are looking for suburbs that are:

• Close enough to public transport and will not take more than an hour to get into and out of town
• Has enough newish buildings that doesn't look like a throughback from the 1950's or 1960's
• Has a few South Africans already living there
• Where prices and rent doesn't cost the earth and moon
• Anything else we might have forgotten

Thanks in anticipation

Gideon

[GideonVD]

Anybody?

[team44]

Hi GideonVD

We are in Cape Town and planning a move to Melbourne. Send me your email address and I'll send you a doc I have on all the suburbs.

[GideonVD]

Got it, thanks

[GideonVD]

Would still like some feedback from Melbourners

[GideonVD]

From the document received and matching to the public transport grids, I've made a possible short-list:

• Brighton
• Caulfield
• Glenhuntley
• Ormund

Any comments?

[herby]

Hi Gideon

We're in Heidelberg - it's not near the beach, but it is very central with respect to transport - busses, trains and motorway. We have the Austin state hospital here and some good schools. 30 - 45 min to the airport depending on traffic.

My commute to CBD is 25 min by train. 5 min to the train station by bus or 15 min walk if I'm feeling energetic. I have the choice of 4 bus routes to use, to get to 3 nearby train stations on 2 different lines and I now use the car on weekends only.

Lots of parks, some old houses, lots of new houses - it's not a rich area - average rent is around $450 per week.

We know a few saffers who live in the immediate area, however most of our saffer friends are actually scattered all around Melbourne and we've made friends with our aussie neighbors right next door.

We have Bundoora park 10 minutes away and Yarra Bend 10 min in the other direction.

La Trobe uni, NMIT and RMIT all within 10 minutes.

[Sunnyskies]

Heidelberg and Ivanhoe are great. 10 minutes away from us. Not many Saffas.

On the suburbs you have mentioned:

- Brighton - by the bay (not beach) nice but pricey for a good house. Maybe look further along the Nepean towards Black Rock or Hampton. I think there are Saffers in Mentone. All on a train line, but a friend warned that trains can be erratic.

- Caulfield - large Saffa community, mainly Jewish. Nice and central, good schools.

- Glen Huntley - don't know much about it.

- Ormond - one suburb in from Brighton, nice area but very flat and lots of 1950s houses - I also suspect a fair number of Saffas due to proximity to Caulfield.

Decide if being close to the bay is important. If not you can shift your gaze to Mount Waverly, Blackburn. If you want to be close to hills and trees think about Templestowe or Eltham - downside is public transport.

[GideonVD]

Thanks, will take all your comments and recommendations to heart

[Mara]

Check out Sunbury, north west of Melbourne, lovely village lifestyle.

[Search]

Or Point Cook and Sanctuary Lakes... Approx 22km from the city, SW - takes approx 1 hours door to door which includes driving to the station taking a train into the city and tramming or walking to your workplace.

Lovely new homes and very well priced compared to the east. We still very much like Sanctuary Lakes even though we moved to Perth. There are a few saffas there however x2 of those couples also moved interstate recently.

Good luck!

[Sibella]

Or the Outern Eastern suburbs - Wonga Park (where we live), Warranwood, Warrandyte (rural next to the Yarra River!), Croydon Hills / North, North Ringwood. Nice leafy, hilly suburbs with larger properties than those closer to the city - many with swimming pools.

40 mins by train to the city from Croydon Station, mixture of modern and older properties many still very affordable, lots of good schools around including state, private, Christian and Catholic.

Near the Yarra Valley wineries and my favourite place at the moment - the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie, Yarra River and Dandenong Ranges. Eastlink makes getting to the city (30 mins not in peak time) as well as the coast easy.

[GideonVD]

Thanks, will consider them as well.

[elleneo]

I lived in point cook (sanctuary lakes) for 3 years before moving to Sydney recently :

Great new cheap homes (but zero garden, often fake lawn)

Commute is fine if you plan properly.

Lots of good shopping (even a newly-fitted south african section in the local coles, small but handy)

The major problem is schools..very few to choose from and the government ones arnt the best available...Point Cook in my opinion is a great 'springboard" to start off in Australia, but if you have school going children...not ideal suburb..if you have babies you will have problems getting a spot at daycare and will have to drive to neighbouring suburbs for kinder as its full full full...so for childless couples or really small kids that wont need daycare..I say go for it!

[TeeTMI]

If you are commuting to the CBD the Brighton train (<20 mins into town by train - longer by car in peak times) is more likely to have seats at peak times as it starts at Sandringham and will not be packed by then. In the other suburbs you mention often the trains have come from a distance and will be packed at peak times.

I understand that there are going to be major works at Ormond train station crossing soon - not sure what they entail of if it will affect the trains?

But Brighton is pretty expensive to live rental wise and the South East is generally more expensive rental wise than the West.

I know some Saffas in Brighton & Caulfield. There are a couple of South African shops in that area and Coles has Mrs Balls, Pro, and a variety of other South Africa products in stock.

Mix of old and new houses - some older ones being knocked down and 2 new squeezed on the block of land.

[herby]

Very good point by TeeTMI

A long commute on a cold, rainy day in a standing-only train is not a great way to get to work.

I particularly aim for specific train times on my line because I know some are standing room only in peak hour. Luckily I have one which starts mid-line, at my station, at 8:23 - perfect timing to get to work at 9.

[ParkerInc]

Hi GideonVD

We are in Cape Town and planning a move to Melbourne. Send me your email address and I'll send you a doc I have on all the suburbs.

Hi team44, we are leaving for Melbourne in a couple of weeks, would you mind sending me the doc as well, have sent you my email

[NikkiH]

Hi Gideon,

As you will work in IT you will most likely work in the CBD.

Being near a train line and in zone one of that train line will save you time and money on transport. In zone one you would also avoid most of the 1960's style houses as they would be more 1940's and older closer to the city.

map: http://www.metrotrains.com.au/pdfs/Train%20Network%20Map%20A4.pdf

and

http://www.metrotrains.com.au/maps

Other considerations are your budget.

A few other nice areas: Glen Iris, Camberwell, Malvern and surrounding areas. These areas are however also expensive, but a townhouse or apartment would be more affordable.

[GideonVD]

Thanks peeps... will be adding this to our "list"

[Mara]

Once again, (I sound like an old broken record) I always suggest that you rent in an area that you can afford to buy. If you disregard this, then you will have to literally start all over again, when you eventually decide to buy a house in the area that you can afford. Melbourne is a huge city, this can almost be like moving from one town to another.

Just a thought!

[GideonVD]

Thanks Mara,

Yeah, that's the plan, but we will have to see if we can get a good starting point to look for the best place to rent/buy.

[TeeTMI]

Mara is spot on.

The area you have chosen is one of the more expensive areas (there are cheaper areasw within them - but they might be the older properties that you said you were not keen on).

You might look at realestate.com.au and domain.com.au - and check out the cost to rent and buy. Compare Brighton etc with Point Cook/Sunbury for starters. I expect that a the costs to buy / rent a 2 bed flat in the first would get you the equivalent of a 3 bed house minimum in the other two suburbs.

But it really does what you are looking for and the benefits to you personally of one area over another.

Tee

[Nev]

Moved to Heidelberg a month ago and really happy so far, quick trip into town on the train, close to a couple of major centers

[elleneo]

Personally I dont see how you can decide where you want to buy (and thus rent there first) before you know Melbourne and where you will be working,what schools you want your kids in etc...you may rent in an affordable area and later find an area that is just as affordable but miles away from where you started off, but closer to work....

Rent where it is convenient and affordable, give yourself 2 years to get to know the suburbs...by then you should be getting to a point where you looking to buy and will know your budget...a LOT can happen in 2 years, you might end up in a different state earning the big bucks! you might end up commuting with the V-line to enjoy a tree or sea-change...you might be downsizing to buy in a nicer suburb..you mught need to stay in a cheaper suburb because you had twins and need a bigger home....whoc knows...

[Nev]

Yep, I agree with elleneo, we are staying in a little 3 bedroom house in Heidelberg, the rent is within our means but there is no ways that i would be able to buy the place, who knows in a few years when we start looking to buy though, for now i get to stay in a really nice place.