Any Ex-Pats on the Gold Coast?
Feb 29th 2004, 6:31 am
#16
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Location: Gold Coast, Australia
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Originally posted by Trevglas
Hi Gazza,
I am on the Gold Coast, in Helensvale (just up by Movieworld and Wet'n'Wild. Been up here in QLD for 6 months now (and in Oz for 2 yrs)
Bad areas? depends what you like, Surfers is Blackpool on speed AND steroids, not my cup of tea but obviously some people like it.
Helensvale, Oxenford, Coomera are all pretty reasonable, although maybe 30 min form the sea, but very convenient for the motorway up to Brisbane. The train service from the Gold Coast to brisbane is also pretty good.
Some very expensive suburbs (basically anything near water = expensive, and this includes the canals). If you want to go out a bit, Ormeau and Beenleigh are pretty cheap I believe (although I guess technically these places are just outside gold coast.
Nerang has some cheap houses, and is pretty close to surfers etc.
Tambourine is really nice, but you need a decent car to go up and down that hill on a daily basis, and I believe the houses up there are reasonably priced.
I couldnt help you on a cheap place to stay, since we stayed with rellies here, but again, get away from Surfers you can find plenty of cheap and cheerful motels (basic, but cheap). Surfers itself is absolutely full of hotels, best thing to do is check out places on the net. Try http://www.reflections.com.au/GoldCo...els/index.html for starters
As Mrs Dagboy said earlier, I have just moved house and am not on much at the moment, (just waiting for Telstra to pull their finger out and get my ADSL working agin). Drop us a line (PM) if you want any other info
Trev
Hi Gazza,
I am on the Gold Coast, in Helensvale (just up by Movieworld and Wet'n'Wild. Been up here in QLD for 6 months now (and in Oz for 2 yrs)
Bad areas? depends what you like, Surfers is Blackpool on speed AND steroids, not my cup of tea but obviously some people like it.
Helensvale, Oxenford, Coomera are all pretty reasonable, although maybe 30 min form the sea, but very convenient for the motorway up to Brisbane. The train service from the Gold Coast to brisbane is also pretty good.
Some very expensive suburbs (basically anything near water = expensive, and this includes the canals). If you want to go out a bit, Ormeau and Beenleigh are pretty cheap I believe (although I guess technically these places are just outside gold coast.
Nerang has some cheap houses, and is pretty close to surfers etc.
Tambourine is really nice, but you need a decent car to go up and down that hill on a daily basis, and I believe the houses up there are reasonably priced.
I couldnt help you on a cheap place to stay, since we stayed with rellies here, but again, get away from Surfers you can find plenty of cheap and cheerful motels (basic, but cheap). Surfers itself is absolutely full of hotels, best thing to do is check out places on the net. Try http://www.reflections.com.au/GoldCo...els/index.html for starters
As Mrs Dagboy said earlier, I have just moved house and am not on much at the moment, (just waiting for Telstra to pull their finger out and get my ADSL working agin). Drop us a line (PM) if you want any other info
Trev
It's great to actually hear from someone living on the Gold Coast, my only problem is i need to be near Southport so i am pretty limited with cheaper areas. Debsy I am studying a Tafe! my hubby is a joiner with enough points so once we get over on my student visa we will apply for PR we already have his trade recognised, fingers crossed everything goes to plan. It would be great to all meet up once we r out there, just have a really big BBQ, well lets see so far we have Debsy and her apartment business, Gazza and the mini bus business, plumber the plumber and my hubby the joiner, we could be starting our own gold coast yellow pages at this rate
Good luck to all of you
Lisa
Feb 29th 2004, 6:54 am
#17
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Looks like by September we should all be there so we can all meet up in October!!
Feb 29th 2004, 7:02 am
#18
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Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Posts: 630
Originally posted by debsy
Looks like by September we should all be there so we can all meet up in October!!
Looks like by September we should all be there so we can all meet up in October!!
That sounds great, will be nice to enjoy a few
with some expats.Lisa
Feb 29th 2004, 11:16 am
#19
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Arundel Hills, Gold Coast
Posts: 64
Well what can I say?
It looks as though we've started what could be an official Gold Coast ex-pats club - yippee!
I am sure as the thread goes on, other people may join in?
What are you studying Lisa? anything interesting?
Keep me posted on your accomodation, and I will do the same etc.
We are hiring our car from 'Costless' car hire on the coast, they are cheap compared to the rest and have come recommended from The Magic Mountain resort at Miami.
If its any help, I have a Gold Coast Yellow Pages here at home if you need any information.
We arrive in The Gold Coast on the 25th March.
See you over there maybe?
Gary
Feb 29th 2004, 2:27 pm
#20
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13
Hi all!!
My wife and i are living in Robina, been here 2 months now ( Oz one year). Its very quiet in this part but as was said before its cheaper to rent the further from the coast you get. Then saying that, nowhere seems far from the coast!!
Would be happy to give advice on suburbs or things to do down here. Look forward to a get together too!!
My wife and i are living in Robina, been here 2 months now ( Oz one year). Its very quiet in this part but as was said before its cheaper to rent the further from the coast you get. Then saying that, nowhere seems far from the coast!!
Would be happy to give advice on suburbs or things to do down here. Look forward to a get together too!!
Feb 29th 2004, 3:54 pm
#21
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Location: Arundel Hills, Gold Coast
Posts: 64
Welcome Lex
Well that now makes five of us in the Gold Coast ex-pats club. The barbie just gets bigger.
How did you find settling in on the Gold Coast when you arrived?
We want to buy a house for approx $475,000 in a reasonable area. The house must have a three to four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a reasonably sized study so we can use it as an office for our business. Which areas should we be considering?
If we could afford to get a house with a pool, would you advise us to or are they just to much hard work and expensive to run for what they are?
Thanks
Gary
Well that now makes five of us in the Gold Coast ex-pats club. The barbie just gets bigger.
How did you find settling in on the Gold Coast when you arrived?
We want to buy a house for approx $475,000 in a reasonable area. The house must have a three to four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a reasonably sized study so we can use it as an office for our business. Which areas should we be considering?
If we could afford to get a house with a pool, would you advise us to or are they just to much hard work and expensive to run for what they are?
Thanks
Gary
Feb 29th 2004, 4:04 pm
#22
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Arundel Hills, Gold Coast
Posts: 64
Originally posted by lesleys
Hi all,
We're heading for Mount Tamborine - the green behind the gold" - on retirement visas. We stayed near Nerang last year - very quiet but close enough to get at everything easily. We hope to make another visit soon before we make the big move in the summer. Ca't wait.
Lesley
Hi all,
We're heading for Mount Tamborine - the green behind the gold" - on retirement visas. We stayed near Nerang last year - very quiet but close enough to get at everything easily. We hope to make another visit soon before we make the big move in the summer. Ca't wait.
Lesley
Nice to hear from you.
What did you think of Nerang other than being quiet etc?
I get the impression it is one of the rougher areas on the coast, however I may be completely wrong. I understand it is one of the oldest areas.
Please keep in touch with us all with the progress of your retirement visa.
Cheers me dears
Gary
Feb 29th 2004, 5:16 pm
#23
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Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Gold Coast Hinterland
Posts: 2,359
Hi Gary,
Nerang itself seemed very ordinary and not very pretty. Very easy to get on Pacific Highway and close to Southport. Lovely countryside just to the south (where we stayed).
Will certainly keep everyone posted about our progress. Just as soon as we exchange contracts on our house.
Lesley
Nerang itself seemed very ordinary and not very pretty. Very easy to get on Pacific Highway and close to Southport. Lovely countryside just to the south (where we stayed).
Will certainly keep everyone posted about our progress. Just as soon as we exchange contracts on our house.
Lesley
Feb 29th 2004, 6:36 pm
#24
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Originally posted by gazza22222
Hi Lesley
Nice to hear from you.
What did you think of Nerang other than being quiet etc?
I get the impression it is one of the rougher areas on the coast, however I may be completely wrong. I understand it is one of the oldest areas.
Please keep in touch with us all with the progress of your retirement visa.
Cheers me dears
Gary
Hi Lesley
Nice to hear from you.
What did you think of Nerang other than being quiet etc?
I get the impression it is one of the rougher areas on the coast, however I may be completely wrong. I understand it is one of the oldest areas.
Please keep in touch with us all with the progress of your retirement visa.
Cheers me dears
Gary
Keep us informed when you get there. You never know we all might be in need of a minibus from the airport 
Feb 29th 2004, 10:07 pm
#25
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Arundel Hills, Gold Coast
Posts: 64
Gotcha Debs
You never Know?
Gazza:
You never Know?
Gazza:
Feb 29th 2004, 10:50 pm
#26
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Joined: Nov 2001
Location: Back in Aus
Posts: 721
Gazza
$475,000??? hey man, you can practically choose whatever suburb you like for that price!
depending on what you actually like, the newer suburbs with newer houses all seem to suffer from the same Gold Coast problem, the land blocks are almost smaller than the houses (I heard of one builder who stuffed up, and couldnt fit gutters to the house he built because the neighboring house got in the way).
If you go for an oler property (remember we are talking Australia here, any house older than 25-30 years is almost classified as an ancient monument), these tend to be on a decent block size.
One other thing that may be worth considering, is if you can strech to getting some acreage close to one of the outlying suburbs, then go for it.
A few years down the track, you can then look into selling off some of the land, and still have yourself a decent house. This is worth considering because of the pressure to get developable land here (councils tend to be very selective in where they allow residential developing: this also explains the small block sizes on the newbuild stuff, the developers cram as many houses as is possible onto a parcel of land)
$475,000??? hey man, you can practically choose whatever suburb you like for that price!
depending on what you actually like, the newer suburbs with newer houses all seem to suffer from the same Gold Coast problem, the land blocks are almost smaller than the houses (I heard of one builder who stuffed up, and couldnt fit gutters to the house he built because the neighboring house got in the way).
If you go for an oler property (remember we are talking Australia here, any house older than 25-30 years is almost classified as an ancient monument), these tend to be on a decent block size.
One other thing that may be worth considering, is if you can strech to getting some acreage close to one of the outlying suburbs, then go for it.
A few years down the track, you can then look into selling off some of the land, and still have yourself a decent house. This is worth considering because of the pressure to get developable land here (councils tend to be very selective in where they allow residential developing: this also explains the small block sizes on the newbuild stuff, the developers cram as many houses as is possible onto a parcel of land)
Mar 1st 2004, 6:53 am
#27
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Joined: May 2003
Location: GC
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Trev
How did the move go by the way? Are you all settled in now?
How did the move go by the way? Are you all settled in now?
Mar 1st 2004, 1:46 pm
#28
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Location: Gold Coast Hinterland
Posts: 715
We are looking to buy in either Currumbin or Tallebudgera Valley...we are moving out on 5th July (all being well)
Anyone live in this area ????
Anyone live in this area ????
Mar 1st 2004, 3:19 pm
#29
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 13
Gazza....you HAVE to get a pool!! ITs been v humid and hot the last few weeks and its a godsend. Aircon goes without saying but unless you live right on the beach, get a pool. As was said, for that kind of money you can buy almost anywhere and even brand new if you want.
Mar 1st 2004, 5:44 pm
#30
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Originally posted by Pasquill
We are looking to buy in either Currumbin or Tallebudgera Valley...we are moving out on 5th July (all being well)
Anyone live in this area ????
We are looking to buy in either Currumbin or Tallebudgera Valley...we are moving out on 5th July (all being well)
Anyone live in this area ????
Have you been there before? I have only been to the Sanctuary and Bee Centre at Currumbin. It looked a nice place though.