Attn Melburnians
 

Hi,
we will be flying out to Melbourne on the 14th of January so we want to start researching where we want to live. We will be looking for rental accomodation for at least six months.
My wife has got a job at the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton. As such we would like somewhere within about a half an hour commute by car.
We would like somewhere south east of the City, maybe as far as Frankston South and don't mind going a bit inland to get better value for money. We have two young girls (6 & 4) so we would like somewhere with good schools.
I have to say we have seen a beautiful rental in Frankston (see link below) on Realeastate.com.au which I really like the look of but will no doubt be snapped up.
Anyways, your thoughts would be most welcome. Cheers, Loz :beer:

http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin...rce=emailalert

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

Frankston to Clayton will take no time at all when they finish the East Link road.....but that could be forever :rolleyes: At the moment it will be longer than half an hour. We're in Elsternwick and it takes half an hour just to get to Mordialloc. My wife Casg has worked at the Monash Medical centre so feel free to get in touch with her about that. As for areas to live.....Elsternwick, Oakleigh, Bentleigh, Carnegie, Cheltenham, Mordialloc....to name a few :)

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

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Thanks Shakmaty,
my wife will be working shifts so will (hopefully) not be travelling in peak times. How much of a difference would that make?
I took a look at the areas you suggested on realestates.com and they look real nice. But I think we would like to be a little further out from the City.

Thanks again, Loz

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

Hi

I looked that rental up, its just off Skye rd not the best and not the worst part of Frankston. Very near Centenary Park golf club, bloody long course with some tough par 4s, sorry I digress :D

Even now it is not the hardest commute from Frankston to Clayton. I do a lot of work there and it takes me about 45 minutes from Mount Martha and Frankston is about 15 minutes closer. I do do these off peak so I wouldn't know about rush hour. I can't wait for the new freeway to open it will be brilliant.

John

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

Wow that is some property. Really nice.

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

Sorry cant give you any advice but wow what a fantastic house!

All the best.

Joex

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

Hi Jond
I've read mixed reports about Frankston. Some say don't go anywhere near it others say it isn't too bad :confused: . I suppose it's much the same as where I live. Some say it's a bit rough and ready but we love it. I suppose it's all down to personal tastes.
I don't suppose we will know for sure where we want to live until we actually get there. But we want to get into a rental property ASAP.

It's a beaut ain't it. Can't see that it'd stay that tidy once my two little darlings got there hands on it :D :D

Cheers, Loz.

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

My husband works in Clayton. We're near Mornington and it takes him approx 40mins.

Frankston North and The Pines are meant to be 'the rough' parts of Frankston. Most of the community housing is based there. I've gone swimming at Jubilee Park pool and was advised by the lady on reception to look out for my bag as thieves had previously broken into lockers and snatched bags to get car keys and steal vehicles. Also driving around that way I noticed the houses weren't that well maintained, scrap cars in the gardens etc. I read the local papers and a fair bit of the undesirable stuff (gangs, drugs etc.) does tend to happen in Frankston, Carrum Downs, Seaford. BUT again there are good and bad area's within those districts. If you shop in Karingal shopping centre and Frankston you'll notice a fair few Wayne and Waynetta looking families (Sorry I know it sounds snobby but that's my observation) as well as average people. The nightlife is lively in Frankston and like most places with pubs etc. you'll get drunken fights at certain venues. You would just have to look out for yourself as you'ld do normally. I wouldn't walk around Frankston at night on my own but would happily go shopping on my own during the day etc.

Re: the rental house. Looks nice but I reckon you would be better off to rent in the Frankston South area which borders Mt.Eliza. Looking at the Melway (Page 102) I would suggest the area to the left of the Moorooduc (11) around Overport Road, Baden Powell Drive and Humphries Rd. The kinders and primary schools are meant to be good and it's a pretty place to live. There's Derinya and Overport Rd primary schools.

There's a BIG4 holiday park in S.Frankston which is fine to stay at until you sort out a rental plus Andy Thomas on Britvics http://s7.invisionfree.com/BritVics/index.php? knows someone who has a holiday cottage for rent (reasonable price) in The Mt.Eliza/Mornington area.

HTH's
Caroline

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

Thanks for that Caroline, that's most helpful. We did think about Frankston South and Mt Eliza and thought it may be too far to commute but 40 mins doesn't sound too bad.
We have tried Andy Thomas but he couldn't give us the dates we wanted. We will take a look at BIG4.
Would you recommend getting a Melway? They seem to be expensive, are they worth the $$$.

Thanks again, Loz

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

You probably don't need a Melways (local terminology even though it's spelt Melway) before you arrive, you should be okay with an online map like these
http://www.multimap.com.au/
http://www.street-directory.com.au/sd_new/mapsearch.cgi
http://www.nowwhereroute.com/travelm...est&SessionId=

Get a Melways or UBD when you get here, they are definitely worth it. The cheapest place to get them is somewhere like BigW or Kmart.

The expected completion date for the new Toll road is 2008. They seem to be cracking on with it so I don't see any reason why they won't meet that date. Hopefully that'll knock 10 mins off your journey.

:)

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

I would say a Melways should be your first buy when you arrive, I don't think they are that expensive, around $30 I think.

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

If you become a BIG4 member you get a cheaper rate and joining basically pays for itself with the discount.

We were able to use the BIG4 computer for internet access and their address to apply for our tax file numbers. When we left to move into our rental they were brilliant at forwarding our post too.

Another tip re: travel to Clayton. If you do live in Frankston South when travelling to Clayton take the Westall Extension (49) when turning off the Springvale Rd (40) as this will speed up your journey.

Caroline

Re: Attn Melburnians
 

Thanks Caroline,
I have mailed BIG4 to see if they have an availability for the dates we want.

Cheers, Loz