RedDragon2008

Notice the top 5 are all within walking distance of my house













I live on a raft on the yarra

troioitroi

Thank you so much for all your kind replies. I have learned quite a lot thanks to your kindness.

papilon

In all fairness I think Sunshine would be pretty low on the list of desirable places to live for most migrants from the UK especially when you take into account what most Brits expectations of what life in Australia should look like. are there some nice streets in Sunshine most likely yes. But in general the area has a downtrodden feel and I certainly vwould not move there. Sunshine shopping strip is about as depressing as it gets.outer western Melbourne is in my opinion just very very dull.

ozzieeagle

Granted.... I certainly take that onboard, no way would the average UK migrant aspire to make that 12,500 mile move to end up in Sunshine. I do think the average first home Melbourne buyer would/should certainly consider it, especially as it will definitely return a rock solid 100 pct guaranteed financial bonus pro rata to most other Melbourne burbs, as Sunshine will definitely move up that desirablity ladder to around the half way mark I reckon. So great for investors and Melbourne born and breds. Unless that Migrant is willing to go for those few streets that are desirable and sit it out whilst the rest of Sunshine catches up... in 10-15 years.

OzTennis

Fair comment and that's what OP, myself and others appreciate - not deliberately trying to provoke people with crap comments which are made and then not defended or explained, purely done to .... who knows, derive whatever pleasure some get from this?

It's interesting this idea of 'most Brits expectations of what life in Australia should look like' though and worth a thread in its own right. What do people expect, what are they looking for? I'd reckon a lot have unrealistic expectations about what they can achieve and afford but that's all part of the dream. It's why I think areas like Sunshine might need to be on some people's radar. As it is, a lot seem to end up in outer suburbs more than an hour from the centre as it is. Preference or necessity?

papilon

Regarding preference or necessity it seems in Melbournes case for many Brits a bit of both. Those lovely bayside suburbs for most are out of reach but many are also attracted to the outer south eastern side especially the Mornington Peninsular as it offers more of the classic aussie lifestyle that many brits are looking for. If you are moving from anywhere outside of London and some of its surroundings melbourne will seem very expensive.

chris955

I realise many have to live on the west side for purely financial reasons and that is a shame but as you say many of the desirable areas are very expensive and out of reach.

BadgeIsBack

It's been said before that pockets of cafe culture strips can have their own issues but I'd take any part of Toorak Road over any part of the suburban West any day.

I've had local people criticise the new suburbs as being the Australian version of 'Mondeo man' - in their words a sort of 'sales rep' surbubia.

Indeed.. Frankston and surrounds is quite big!

Some of the newer estates are nothing like Sunshine, to be fair.
It's just that they are sterile.

Almo

I think this is a reasonable assessment although my one quibble would be 'outer western Melbourne' - Sunshine is zone one and there is a lot less of zone one out west than there is out east.

It's hard not to sound defensive when talking about a suburb I lived in (Sunshine/Albion share a postcode after all) so in the interests of full disclosure I'd 'fess up that Albion wouldn't be my first choice with an unlimited budget, no way. Mind you, none of the eastern or northern suburbs would be either, I'd go CBD or North or West Melbourne: I like city living! But it's true that Sunshine/Albion has a long way to go to be somewhere people can live the dream, Id never deny that (there are worse places even in the west though, in my view).

That said, it has supermarkets, a sports centre (pretty good by all accounts), a cinema, butcher, baker, fishmonger, several fruit and veg shops, medical centre, hospital etc. It has a train line, several bus routes and as said is zone one. It has Bunnings etc. It doesn't have café/bar/shopping life style type places, there's no doubt about that. Footscray is starting to get those things, slowly, and in fact there are some attempts at those things as far out as Barkly Street, so it will come in time, just a long time!

I think what always riles me up is that people talk about the west like it's an area of Kabul or somewhere. It drives me nuts. Parts of the west are very desirable, parts are certainly not, but it's all relative - there are many worse places to live in the world (and in the UK!).

We made a six figure profit in three years by ignoring all the naysayers - and there were a lot. We copped a lot of flack from friends, to the point that it became quite tedious. Several of those friends now live out west, of course! I realise that the money we made is pocket money to some people on this forum, and that's fair enough, there are some enormously successful people who post here and I can understand why the west isn't even on their radar. We bought when I was (only just) still 23, and when you look at our return as a % of investment (we didn't pay much at all for the house), I think we did a bloody good job. On the other thread running on here about property, people have commented about/bemoaned Gen Y wanting to live in a nice suburb/house straight off. You can see from some of the over the top posts on this thread though, that buying in those less desirable areas just means you cop a different type of flack. Can't win!

/rant over. And to anyone reading this who doesn't earn enough to live in the 'nice' suburbs, look out west, honestly. If you can still afford to buy into Footscray - do it.

hawk2005

Is Mornington really Melbourne or country Victoria - its a lovely place but at around 75km from the cbd isnt it a bit like people in Reading saying they live in London. The lifestyle is great but the bright lights are a long way away and if you want a big night out in the city someone will have to drive or the taxi fare will make your eyes water
Even the supposedly grotty bits of Melbourne look a whole lot more pleasant than the worst bits of the UK.
Something to be aware of is the quality of education available, particularly if you don’t want to go private. Some of the suburbs in the latest urban sprawl wave or "up and coming" areas in the west have government schools you wouldn't send your dog to.
Another thing is the quality of public transport. Bus services in some areas of Melbourne are patchy, infrequent and finish early. If you don’t want to be a taxi service for your kids then maybe think about moving to somewhere where the last bus isnt at 6.30pm

BadgeIsBack

There are some very wise people who can advise migrants. The reality is that Melbourne is so pricey it's a hard one. But among the entire demographic of Expats who assume that a new build in an outer suburban estate equates to paradise is a lot of people who discovered they could not have been more wrong. And they have reported back time and time and time again. I think Ozzie's advice is top notch - Australian city living is highly regarded by locals for a reason. It's also a mistake to assume that people lived out with no choice - some want to - either because they want acreage or because they want to be close to family.

Great post - I would have lived in Footscray over the new estates if I wanted close to the city and couldn't afford inner city East. Honest John. I know people who bought there in 2005 knowing the area would come good.

I think some of these places will be along time in coming but Footscray will get there before Sunshine.

There are social problems starting to appear in Melbourne's SE due to the increasing outer suburban style living, with the double whammy of isolation: parents need to consider their children's future. I predicted it 10 years ago - it's starting to happen now.

OzTennis

[QUOTE=BadgeIsBack;10859228]
I think some of these places will be along time in coming but Footscray will get there before Sunshine.
/QUOTE]

That's already happened largely of course; median prices in Footscray have gone from about half the all Melbourne figure to above it in a short space of time. I've seen over a long period (more than 20 years) a 'ripple effect'. A lot of people bought up in Williamstown - old houses to do up or knock down and the new houses which were built on the Range estate. As prices rose too much and available stock reduced, attention turned to Newport, to Spotswood, to Seddon, to Footscray, to West Footscray, to Maidstone ..... in time to Sunshine.

To me this is a completely separate development and a different type of buyer to what's happening further out in the City of Wyndham (fastest growing municipality in Australia) - Point Cook, Hoppers Crossing, Wyndham, Tarneit etc. The western suburbs aren't all the same just as the east, north and south east aren't.

BadgeIsBack

Indeed. Spot on. And of course F'Cray has largely got there - I know a guy who bought in Seddon in 1998. Must have made a fortune. I do know there are a swag of people who lost out over that rail link though and were acquired by the State govt.

Point Cook (estates) tend to be lower middle/ middle class suburbanites wanting to be closer to the city. F'Cray tend to be more professional class who simply want more character and will do anything, actually, to avoid an estate.

OzTennis

Point Cook - I don't think access to city is over-riding factor behind choice. Just look at the properties on offer, what they offer and how much they are. 3, 4, 5 B/R, newly built, well under Melbourne median price. 1st home buyers, young families, recent migrants, those on lower incomes, looking for new schools and shopping centres, access to the surf coast, employment opportunities and many other factors inc nearer to city than maybe S.E. but try getting onto the WGB in the morning from there to see if it's 'close'. Williamstown up to Footscray etc you can avoid the WGB if heading to centre.

Yes, what's happening to Footscray and Seddon happened to Carlton/Fitzroy/Collingwood decades ago.