hibee

Hi Guys,
Looking for advice about Brisbane , good areas to stay ,
weather .?????????????

Anybody who has moved there recently.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ihave been in Geelong about an hour from Melbourne
for about 4 months . House Prices etc have rocketed around here.
Finding it hard to get work (Telecomms Engineer)
Bit dissapointed with the weird weather in Victoria. 37c this morning then to change about 3 p.m. then a cold front to come in and about 19c tommorow. Bloody cold at nightime.

So thinking about moving somewhere with a bit more consistency as far as the climate goes.
Someone my wife met while doing part time work is moving soon and she said the houses are still much cheaper than here and the weather is prettty steady.

Any serious opinions would be gratefully recieved.

Regards
Jamie.

pommiesheila

Hi Jamie,

Well, you'll certainly get consistency of climate up here! The weather is one of the best things about Brisbane, (IMHO). A lot of people reckon its too humid, but where we live (Bayside - around 20kms from the CBD near Moreton Bay), we've yet to notice it. Yes, it's pretty hot, but not unbearable - for us anyway.

Work - now that's a good question. Haven't a clue about work in your field, but you could try jobsearch.gov.au and click on Brisbane areas to see what's going on. Also, try Seek.com.au.

We like the area we're in, (as opposed to being in the centre of Brisbane) because:

a) close to the bay - get breezes (warm ones)
b) low crime rates
c) possible to buy acreage without being a millionnaire (average 1.5 acre on good estate close to schools, shops etc. is around $450,000-$650,000) - other houses on smaller plots say, for a 4 bed with 1/3rd acre with pool and not in dire need of restoration would probably set you back around $300-$400,000 - have a look at realestate.com.au and click on various suburbs - also propertyguide.com.au which deals with the Bayside area if you're interested.
d) Reasonable shops (not a patch on those in UK though!)
e) Schools OK (I'm a bit fussy on this one, and although our children are in the best state school in the area, I've been very, very disappointed with their academic progress since we came over in May - although the behavioural standards are very good) Some very good private ones, if you've got the money too.
look on edu.qld.gov.au (I think) and also isd.com.au for private ones.

I personally don't like the attitude of a lot of Brisbanites/Queenslanders - they're so laid back they'd fall over if they weren't leaning against a wall and the general attitude of tradesmen etc. is "couldn't give a XXXX" - I don't think you'd find this attitude "down south" in Melbourne - seems to be a far more "happening" place.

also, people up here seem very superficial - maybe I just haven't met the right ones yet...

House prices are going up here quite sharply at the moment - we bought in June for $399,000 and have recently had house valued at $470,000.

Not too many places to avoid in Brisbane, but obviously some of the inner-city suburbs can be a bit grotty.

Brisbane itself is clean, well laid out, and a good place to spend a sunday - Southbank Parklands and all that.

I'm not a great fan of Australia - as you may have read in some of my earlier postings - but you could do far worse than live in Brisbane Bayside.

stodge

19c!!! Here in Alberta we set high temperature records when it reaches 19c during Winter! :P


Edit: Sorry that was completely off topic, but I couldn't resist it!

Ceri

Hibee, not my field of work, but I knew a few telecomme engineers in Newcastle, friends of mine... seemed quite a few of them around there (very good pay that way) especially the on site/travelling pay .. I don't know anyone personally in Brisbane in this line of work, so you may want to check the Newcastle region out for openings in this type of work.

Don't know what you consider cheap in the housing market, but prices are rocketing here too like most states of Aus. Browse the real estate sites to get an idea of prices here, to get a grip of the job situation here in Brisbane, go to the Couurier mail (the local paper here)... it is online.

Also regarding Engineering, consider that in Brisbane (QLD) the rates of pay are less than than NSW. We're in the Mechanical Engineering sector... the rate for QLD (unless working on site) is less than the rate for NSW.

cheers

Stan J

Brisbane is called the River City, consequently Riverside suburbs are often some of the more favoured areas.

There is a City Cat (a river based Catamarran service) which is a nice way to travel to and from the City ... therefore consider this in choosing where to live.

Some Bayside areas can take as far away as the Gold Coast based on train travel times (almost).

In the western suburbs Brisbane can become very hilly and trap the humidity, much more pleasant with a coastal breeze.

Brisbane mid-winters are generally Blue skies 22 degree days, 5 or 6 degree dawns, mid summers 33 degrees 100% humidity days and mid twenty sweaty nights.

Problem with the job section of newspaper websites is that they are generally predominatly agency ads and do not reflect the classified job ads in the paper itself.

magnetman

I had heard the property prices might have leveled off, could have been wishful thinking. Have also heard that short term lets are difficult to come by. Anyone had any experience of this? Seems to me a short term furnished let or serviced apartment would be the best bet while waiting for the container to arrive. I would also be reluctant to unpack furniture to an unfurnished rental for a few weeks or months then have to pay for another removal when you buy a house. What has anyone else done??

mashiraz

Furnished rentals are few and far between apparently, however there are companies that rent out furniture (nice stuff too). We are thinking of going into holiday accommodation (ie self catering) till the furniture arrives. When you consider the whole expenditure these costs pale into insignificance and I'd rather be comfortable on arrival to have the best chance of settling in and starting on the right foot.

Mash..

Ceri

Short term no probs... Usually rental contracts are 6 and 12 months. You can get three months but this tends to be when the property is up for sale.. so you've got to put up with people walking around your house nearly every day, phone calls from real estate agents asking if they can bring someone around...it 's a pain in the butt... no privacy! I've had this.. and it's not worth it!

Getting a furnished place may be hard, most rentals here are not furnished.

What we did when we first arrived, we went to the first second hand place we could find.. bought the basics, a table etc, cheap sh*t... knowing we would be chucking it when our other stuff arrived... a fridge we borrowed of a workmate. A bed... we had to buy anyway as we didn't pack this into the container.

I went out to the supermarket and bought paper plates etc .. Basically before our stuff arrived it was "make do" .. a bit like camping, and we ate most of our meals out, breakfast included in the nearby cafe.


cheers

P.S regading property prices in Brisbane... it's still rising. My land which I bought before the Boom has doubled in price, and it's still rising. My mate who has bought and completed his house is always getting valuations for his property... it goes up every month (valuation done by westpac).

PPS also regarding unpacking , and re-packing to a rental house... you ought to see my spare room ... packed boxes piled up to the roof! For the past 6 years in Aus I've never 100% fully unpacked. I've been in my current address for over a year and still not unpacked everything! Because we are moving on again (building). Before that my last house was 4 years... and still did not fully unpack, all the knick and knacks and keech and cach if you know what I mean... the ornaments and things you can survive without etc. No worries , you get used to it... I can pack a house in one day now

Anyway, Once here if you move again... just hire a big van/little lorry and move the stuff yourself to your next address.