myrtle1

Hi folks ...
Having just recently landed, we have pinpointed a range of areas for possible long-term rentals around Brisbane. Yesterday we liked the look of Manly in particular but searches here haven't brought up a great deal of info. I have noticed that Wynnum gets mixed reviews with talk of some "less-nice" areas. I am especially interested in finding out about family-friendliness and quality of schooling for a 9 year old.

ABCDiamond

Manly and Wynnum are generally pretty good areas, and very popular.

Some parts of Wynnum, when compared to other parts, are not as good, but you need to see for yourself, to understand what that really means. eg: (to show an extreme example) I am sure that some parts of Kensington are not as good as other parts.

Having lived in Brisbane Bayside for 8 years now, I would consider Manly to be my 2nd choice in the area, (within my budget). My other choices need me to win the Premium Bonds first

Plenty of school options, my daughter (14) is friends with some in Wynnum, but I can't recall what schools they go to.

spalen

I think as you head from wynnum-manly towards Lota it gets a bit dodgy, some local mates here described that as a definite area of have + have nots. On that Lota border. Move from houses that are 1m+ to 300k+ with cars on bricks on the lawn.

You should be able to suss it out from looking at the houses and what the neighbourhood looks like. Its a lovely area though, great parks, access to water, good restaurants, near to carindale major shopping , close to the city.

I would imagine all of it is moving upwards because of the property prices on the water dragging everything else up further back as water front houses go through the roof.

There is another suburb just behind manly/wynnum on the land but still on the water called wEllington point, that has Wellington Point, Birkdale, around it - you should check that out too its quite similar but a little furhter back from City but should have more modern rental stock so you can live 'nearby' to wynnum

myrtle1

Thanks you two The first place we fell in love with was Cleveland (by the marina) and Raby Bay (I think it was..?) Needless to say, OH dragged me off to look at the areas we could actually afford to live in .... a girl can dream though can't she?? Manly and Wynnum still appeal to us, so think we will do a few open house visits this weekend to get a feel for it all.

ABCDiamond

Raby Bay is correct. You can't help but like those houses Just 10 minutes drive from me, but $3.5M difference

This one is $4m

myrtle1

Being a complete novice in Brisbane - only 3 days in..... - can I pick your brains further?? We had a look for rentals - in Manly & Wynnum - last night and very few had any mention of air-con and if they did, it was only available in one room. An Australian friend of my OH's said he wouldn't touch anywhere without air con and that it would have to be ducted even then! Can you advise on this? I just assumed most properties would have air-con.

bcworld

I'd describe that as nonsense! I used to live in Brisbane...A/C bedroom is probably all that is required & for summer only. Manly & Wynnum being by the water probably have even less need for A/C, let alone ducted!

spalen

thats exactly what we did - and lived there for 2 years :-) rental is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying!

ABCDiamond

When I lived in Sydney (Western Sydney) we used the air con just about every day, and I wouldn't have dreamt of living there without it.
But since moving here in in 2003, we actually very rarely use it, although we do have 3 reverse cycle units in the house. I had 2 of them put in before I realised we didn't really need them. Our 5 bed house only had one unit in one bedroom when we bought it.

Many people don't actually use them. Brisbane Bayside seems to be lucky ion that respect, with the bay breezes

But then, other people do need them, and would not dream of a house without it, same as me when we were in NSW.

spalen

Wynnum gets 'breezes' its 2 degrees or so cooler than city. In winter (now) its cold! You do need some form of heating and we've had air-con in all the houses we have lived in. We do have it on a lot in summer especially in evenings when its gets unbearable for about 1-2mths a year.

Once you get acclimatised you wont miss it and you'll use it less. But I would agree and not want to live somewhere without air-con int he summer. You "can" of course and lots do as judged by the lack of air-con in the houses you look at , but i'd be happier with it especially for first year :-)

ABCDiamond

Good point about that

myrtle1

Thank you all! The main reason I asked is that I'm not sure how much weight I hold upon the opinion of my OH's mate. He has already been negative about many of the areas we are looking to live in - instead persuading us to look at Clayfield, Rosalie etc. He is Australian born and bred and while we know few people here and are willing to bow to his greater knowledge, there is no denying the fact that he is 'loaded' and can afford to take his pick of areas and houses! We were surprised to see that so few available houses have air-con throughout and thought that people then obviously manage without it. We'll bear this in mind when we go for viewings. Thanks again

bcworld

If the house is built appropriately for the climate then I still think A/C is generally only needed in the bedroom. I suppose a lot of more modern homes aren't though and do rely more on A/C.

Never really seen the attraction in Clayfield...Rosalie is a nice spot though.

spalen

Clayfield is where we lived when we first moved here for a month. Its ok - inner city. So you get access to all that the city has to offer. It also has all that an inner city suburb has (!) ie mix of old poor and new monied houses - look around at those on stilts with cars under them and those with the new driveways and bmws hidden in the garage.

Living on bayside can irritate because the city is 45-55 mins away, but then you are near water every day and weekends etc ,its very relaxed and all the things you need are nearby. There are lots of cycleways, parks, recreational options, schools. But then it can be a bit sleepy like try to get noodles at 9pm and they're shut :-) If you need t ocommute to the city to work every day from cleveland it'd irritate you, much easier from wynnum even though its only 20mins closer.

Around cleveland - Ormiston is nice, established leafy, classic area, Thornlands just up the road is a big new estate with lots of rentals with aircon, and lots of houses for sale. Victoria point is like thornlands bit furhter up the road with a big shopping area and nice lakeside area. Anywhere around here you are within 5kms of water. These will all have houses in a huge range of prices. Redland bay is further out and even wider range of housing prices but all new stock.

ABCDiamond

Redland Bay is a lot further out than it used to be

I am used to the older part of Redland Bay, just 5 minutes away, but I had to go to one house in Redland Bay the other day, and it took me almost 20 minutes !!

That suburb has expanded rapidly, since 2002 !