betsyboob

Hi all, got flights booked and need to arrange accom, loads available.

We are a bit confused. We are a family of 4 , 2 adults and 2 boys 1&4yrs. Looking for somewhere near the beach, good primary schools and enough amenities on our doorsteps, also a 3bd for around $400k.

We plan to go to gold coast for a week or so to get a feel of the south and then plan to head up to the sunshine coast as we really like the sound of Buderim/Caloundra and possibly further north to Noosa....but, this is all dependant on jobs of course, OH is a plumber and i will be a part timer.

I don't know whether to base ourselves on the sunshine coast for a month, but then if we really don't like it we will be stuck there......

Would it be a good idea to base ourselves closer to Brisbane? Looked at Redcliffe, believe this is only half an hour away from Caloundra anyway.

Any info or experiences shared would be really useful, any ideas on areas on sunshine coast or surrounding brisbane would be good.

oli6969uk

hi we came out here about ten weeks ago and its so good, we've had a pretty rough time with my wife being in and out of hospital with kidney stones but still love ot so much

we live in redcliffe and it is amazing. loads of schools for the kids, close enough to town that its easy to drive or get the train from deagon( just over the bridge). if your hubby is a plumber he shouldn't have any trouble getting a job over here the amount of building work going on is phenomenal. i'm a brickie and i have the pick of jobs, every week ther is about 20 adds in the paper begging for brickies

we got here and had 2 weeks sorting stuff out before i went to work, haven't yet been to gold or sunshine coast but we figure we're here for the rest of our lives so didn't want to waste valuable house money on travelling around for a couple of months, and can go travelling later once we have our new dream set up

so far that dream is going pretty well, just had an offer accepted on a house. 4 bed 2 baths big yard rumpus and best of all a pool, the real ozzy dream, and it was in the mid 300's. also houses over here go through alot quicker than back home, we've signed a 30 day contract which litterally means we will be in within 30 days of the offer being accepted

the housing market over here is starting to go a little like the uk but not as bad, definately a buyers market and if you get a mortgage sorted out 1st then u have such a strong position

but yeah redcliffe is so nice, especially for kids, beach is nice and quiet, sheltered so no rough sea and surf, close to town but not yet getting the massive price hike for being near a city like other areas, loads of playgroups for the youngsters and day care centres. i would happily recomend redcliffe to any young family coming over to oz.

we haven't yet been to the gold coast but the feeling amongst most people round here is that its a bit trashy and probably not to great for families, nice to visit but also nice to come back to quiet redcliffe

if u want to be near the beach with a good family life then you can't go far wrong with redcliffe, i know i keep going on but we love it already

good luck, and don't hesitate to get back to me if u want any more info

dave7370

We came here to Redland Bay having never even heard of the place, and we haven't been disappointed.

Everything you need, a great area to live and brilliant for kids.

Plenty of rentals around, $400/wk will get you a newish 4 bed but they're going up round here so you'd have to be quick. Older houses are available and weekly rent can be as cheap as $335/wk from what we've seen the last few weeks.

I'll probably be shot by friends of ours for promoting this area, it's that good (and Oz's best kept secret).

katie fagan

Hi, just read your thread and we are really excited now. Heading out to Redcliffe 25th Aug. OH also a brickie, any hints and tips for him would be great. We also have a young family so great to hear about the area and the house prices. Hope to hear from you soon.

4500 Times

Hi

We lived in Redland Bay when we first arrived, just like you never heard of the place. We rented a new 4 bed for $300 pw but that was nearly 3 yrs ago so i would imagine they're a fair bit more than $400 pw now.

We do like the area but felt it was far to expensive to buy and it was too far out of the way for us.

After a fair bit of driving around we decided to move a bit further inland, and get more for our money.

Looking at property prices now, its unbelieveable what people will pay just to live near water !!!!!

4500 Times

Sorry..forgot to add, Redcliffe is very nice......would be my preference over the Redlands

dave7370

Aye, if we want to buy here then we're going to need a lot of good luck or some seriously hard savings time to afford it.

But as a place to live even if it is renting it's spot on.

svinnes

Hiya,

We are in Wellington point but maybe looking to move up the coast, Like Caloundra and buderim, but still looking at options...Only been to Redcliffe a couple of times so cant comment on it, but the lagoon area for kids was great..

Suzanne

collybabe24

Hi we are currently in buderim, we started off in dicky beach caloundra but wasnt too keen, hubby works in maroochydore so we are a lot closer now, we rent a 3 bed 2 bath dlug for $370 a week on a brand new estate and love it here there is so much to do, my children are 2 and 4 and everyday there is something to do, just 10-15 mins to the beach, 5 mins to school and shops and the views from here are amazing we had never been to oz before but heard people on about buderim and they are right it certainly lives up to its name, the sunshine coast is an amazing place its so beautiful we also like eumundi, peregian springs and coolum but where we are now we are close to work and everything we need and wouldnt change it, all the best with everything.

minibelle

We have been looking at Mountain creek and sippy downs, i keep changing my mind, i am looking at Noosaville at the mo, but you dont get much land, i dont think we will know for sure till we have arrived.

minibelle

michelle doran

hi,
We moved from Brisbane suburbs to Victoria Point 10 mths ago. Living near the City has its great points......southbank is a childs paradise, the low points are the high rental/purchase costs. These costs are being pushed out to the surrounding areas, and redlands is starting to feel it (Cleveland already peaked!!)

V.point is in Redlands (south brisbane), and takes me between 40-50 mins to get to work in south Brisbane in rush hr (25-30 when good). It is a great resedential place to live, and feels very homely/local. We can walk down the road to new restaurants/bars set around a lake, and have everything we need within 10 mins walk...shops/library/cinema/buses.
The nurseries are very good, and has state schools with the option of private schools in nearby Ormiston/thornlands with very good reputations.
The average purchase cost is around 400k for 3 bed, and $380-$450 pr wk to rent. There is a huge variation of old/new/renovation properties here, with the original/older properties being closer to the water.
You can catch a ferry to the secluded coochiemudlo island from the point, and have 10 min drive to Cleveland where they have great individual shops (rather than malls), restaurants/bars on the harbour, and ferry to North stradbroke island.....beautiful!
We can be in Surfers paradise within 40 mins.

You can choose to live near the sea, and we do have a bay where the kids love to chase the crabs in the shallow water, but to be honest when you live any where for a while the novelty factor of any beach wears thin, and you will spend many weekends exploring new places in the sunshine coast/gold coast etc etc.

I think it was a wise choice to live between sunshine & goldcoast, as its a great situation to explore the lot.......i agree the goldcoast is not the best resedential place (unless you have lots of $$$), but its very hard to match the beaches along that stretch,(the kind of beaches you imagine) although v. wavy.
The Sunshine coast is preferred by the aussies, as its not as crowded and can offer more variation in coastlines i.e sandy/rocky/wavy/still etc.

I suppose we like it all....city/beach/harbour etc, and this is a great place to start!
GOOD LUCK

oli6969uk

loads of jobs out here for good brickie just need to get a blue card when u get here, its like a health and safety thing they have here. plenty of places to get that sorted out though. i did mine on line but big mistake took nearly 2 months to get it so couldn't go on site until i got it. my freind has just arrived in town and did his on a 4 hr coarse, cost him a bit more , $90, but he got his at the end of the coarse. so drfinatley recomend that. just get the courier mail on a wed or a sat and look in the front of the job sectionor go to an information centre and ask in there. apart from that get out here and get working.

good luck guys, maybe we'll even bump into you at the lagoon

take care and ahve a safe journey

sutty77

Hi
My other half is a brickie too and we looking at redcliffe area. Can i ask what the wages are out there for a good brickie???
Would be really useful to know.
Thanks, Mandy

Demented Ferret

The beauty of having children under 6 is you have a few years to test the water in a few areas before settling them into school and then frightend to disrupt them again. I'm also a plumber and would sugest nearer the city to begin with more work and better pay that the sunny coast. Although i can understand the attraction of the beautiful beaches. We are 10 mins from Redcliff, the whole peninsula is growing fast and in my eyes a great place to invest.

Good Luk Dale

Demented Ferret

Worked at Sippy Downs,big problems with new builds, a big part of it was built on Marsh land (Not Good). You need a snorkle when it rains,