RDD Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Hi All.Narrowed the suburbs we are going to look at to the following 10:East:CoogeeBronteBondiLower North Shore:KirribilliNeutral BayMosmanMcMahons PointNorth Shore:ManlyBalgowlahWest:BalmainWe are in Sydney for 8 days so whould have enough time to get a feel of each area.Any advice would be greatly appreciated.Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elleneo Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 What about Pymble,turramurra,Wahroonga,st Ives...a nice middle-ground, these suburbs are known for their excellent schools (if that's a priority?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rozellem Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 All lovely areas. Please note, the only ONE I would have a chance in hell to come close to afford a property for me and my family, would be Balgawlah. Do a bit of price checking for rentals and sale prices in these areas. You dont want to fall in love with an area and then be forced to move when you want to buy. Just saying. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monsta Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) Realestate.com.au does suburb profiles:https://www.realestate.com.au/neighbourhoodsYou are looking at extremely expensive suburbs.Also, grab a Hayes salary survey to see what you will earn. You need to apply online for the appropriate one. They will email it to you for free.Then visit www.peoplelikeu.com.au and fill in your details as if you live in a suburb of your choosing. If the average joe on your suburb is earning way more than the salary survey says you will, then you can give that suburb a miss.. Edited August 4, 2015 by monsta 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFreshStart Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 RDD,8 days is more than enough, I think 2-days would be sufficient. 1 day to the North Shore and Northern Suburbs, 1 day to do the Inner West. Yesterday I took someone out on their LSD of Sydney. Met him in the City in the morning, walked from Darling Harbour where he had an interview, up George St to Circular Quay, showed him the Harbour Bridge, Opera House ad walked through the Botanical Garden and Hyde Park before busing it to our apartment in Waterloo and then drove him about the Inner West: Glebe, Camperdown, Leichardt, Rozelle & Balmain. I fetched my son from School and then did the Eastern Suburbs via Inner Sydney: Redfern, Surry Hills, Waterloo and made out way through Double Bay, Rose Bay over to Vaucluse. He was able in a day to decide where he'd move his family, incidentally it was a toss up between Leichardt & Surry Hills. He fell in love with Vaucluse, but soon realized that he wasn't flush for cash and couldn't afford the $6.5 million he needed to buy a 4-bedroom home he looked at and renting out there is near impossible, people buy to be owner occupiers.Which leads me to my next thought that Rozellem bought up, don't rent where you can't buy. We made this mistake, we lived in Surry Hills when we arrived, loved it, would buy a home there in a heartbeat, but we couldn't afford it, not even an apartment, we looked for a month or 2 and everything was out of our price range and we extended the search all the way down to Beconsfield and ended up buying an apartment in Waterloo, 2 suburbs over in Green Sqaure, which is growing daily and by 2030 will be one of Sydney's economic hubs.We've been here 3-4 months and I miss our friends over in Surry Hills, but our son's is still in school there so I'm there every day anyway, but yes, another word of caution on that.Then once you've earmarked a few areas and done a drive through look at schools, public facilities and transport etc.I love the suburbs Elleneo mentioned, I could happily retire up there, Pymble & Turramurra remind me of little English villages, but we choose to be in the city for business and it makes sense for us to be close to work as time is more valuable than money.Monsta's given you great advice, take a look at what you might earn, do some comparisons, we know nothing of your background, but having kids, especially in pre-school can set you back as much as $25,000 - $35,000 a year in full-time day care, so be aware you'll need to budget for all of these things on top of rent or mortgage repayments if you decide to buy.CheersMatt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDD Posted August 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Thanks All for the advice.We are two CA's working at big 4 banks with 5+ years experience.We are 29/30 years of age and only want kids in 3-5 years.So we are looking for suburbs closish to the CBD, not more than 30 min bus/ferry/train to CBD, and close to the beach.Any suggestions other than those listed above?Or are the above listed suburbs the closest we'll get for what we want?Also bearing in mind that we'll stay there for about 2 years until we start having kids and will then reassess once we have a better idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFreshStart Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 RDD,Funnily the gentleman I showed around yesterday is also with one of the big 4 banks, here on his LSD of Melbourne & Sydney. Small world.My wife is a CA with one of the big 4 firms in financial services and has been with them for 10 years and who we transferred over with. We manage to get by on her salary with me doing a bit of freelance work, and have 2 kids, one in pre-school, all this to say you and your wife, at this point in your lives, will have the pick of any of those suburbs granted you both find employment in similar positions.The Manly trip via ferry to Circular Quay is 35-45 mins, though there is a high speed ferry (expensive) that does it in 17-20 mins and there are Water Taxis (most expensive option). Something to consider with Manly is that if you are working late and miss the last ferry your only option is a taxi from the City to Manly... expensive. Balmain is closer and easily accessible via Ferry (25mins to City) or Bus (15 mins to Town Hall).To cut your commute down to 30mins you'll want to be in the Inner West, if ocean views are important then your best bet is Balmain, but if the view is not the main thing and you want quaint homes, terraces, open spaces/parks and great coffee & cafe culture then look into Leichhardt, Rozelle & Balmain.I think Bondi is overrated, there are much nicer beaches, favourites include Redleaf, Nielsen Park (Shark Beach), Paisley Bay etc all along the Eastern Suburbs.Bondi has horrendous parking issues and in season is $7 an hour to park, most of the parking is metered and you have to park far from the beach to come close to FREE parking, same with permitted parking (if you live in an area without parking, very common in Sydney, you need an annual parking permit that allows you to park in certain zones.)Coogee has more parking options and is a little cheaper rent/buy wise and you can catch the 373/374 bus into the city in 35-40mins.If money was no object, given the suburbs listed above I'd go with Balmain, but you'll need to see them for yourself.Hope that helpsCheersMatt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDD Posted August 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Thanks MattWe will have a look at all of the Suburbs you suggested.We have enough time, so we might as well look at a few more.A nice swimming beach close by is our main concern as that is what I want to do every morning.Having played waterpolo my whole life, that is where I will feel most at home.Any suggestions on the better swimming beaches max 45 min from the CBD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFreshStart Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 (edited) RDD,The beaches I listed above are dual purpose swimming/recreational beaches, in addition there are also salt and freshwater pools. Bondi has Icebergs, the inner west/city have a couple, the oldest being Balmain's Dawn Fraser Baths, then there is the ever popular Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool. Prices range around $4-$5 for these, the beaches of course are free.There are also heated indoor and outdoor pools, great for winter swimming/training, our local in Prince Alfred Pool, it has lanes and a free play zone with bar. You can buy a 20 ticket "360 Go" pass which is what we do, works out at $5 per entry and great for winter.Here are a few pics I've taken of a couple of the beaches we frequent across the Eastern Suburbs.Bondi BeachBondi Icebergs (Outdoor Pool)Redleaf Pool (our favourite, netted, great for swimming and laps and FREE parking on site)Parsley BayWatson's BayRE other suburbs, look into Paddington, Rushcutters Bay, Edgecliff, Double Bay & Rose Bay they are great because they sit in the middle, close to the City and the Beaches, so you have the best of both worlds. Rose Bay has a Ferry that goes into the CBD at Circular Quay.Hope that helps!CheersMatt Edited August 4, 2015 by AFreshStart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFreshStart Posted August 5, 2015 Report Share Posted August 5, 2015 A nice round up cover a couple of the ones I listed above can be found here: http://concreteplayground.com/sydney/travel-leisure/leisure/the-ten-best-outdoor-pools-in-sydney/CheersMatt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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