JugheadJones

Does anyone live in Balmain or know it well? We're (myself, wife, twin boys aged 3) arriving in Sydney in January and friends in London who know Sydney have recommended Balmain as a good place to rent for the first 6-12 months while we find our feet.

I'll be working in CBD and love the idea of getting the ferry to work ( a novelty that will wear off quickly I'm sure but it sounds great when I'm dreaming of Sydney whilst on the tube with my face in someone's armpit!). For those living in Balmain - do you like it and do you think it's suitable with 2 young boys? Is it lively (without being raucous) and does it have pubs/restaurants/cafes?I've done a search but can't find much info.

Also how much rent would a reasonable 3 bed place cost? I've looked on Domain but can't seem to find much. Would $650 - $700 a week be OK (would much prefer $500 but don't think that's realistic)?

It would be great to get someone's opinion who is either living there or knows it well.

Cheers,

Jugs

spottydog

I don't know it really well but that it where we're headed to. We felt that to be able to use the ferry regularly and easily you really need to be in Balmain East, which is the most expensive part, as ferries only run more than once an hour and into the evenings from that stop (and the ferry stop is at the bottom of a steepish hill). People that I know that live there generally use the bus to get around by public transport.

Its definitely a lively area with lots of pubs and restaurants as well as shops during the day. The pubs are similar to British ones and most of them will serve the beer in pints if you order pints and when there are big sports events on you need to get there very early to stand any chance of getting a seat (or infact basically get into the bar). As with the UK children aren't allowed in pubs main bars (not sure about the beer gardens). A lot of the area is made up of old dockers housing which I personally like but it generally means the places are smaller (particularly the gardens) than other areas.

Price wise we are looking at spending $300 a week for a small one bed flat in the area so I think you may be unlikely to find somewhere in the 2041 postcode for $500. A quick look on Domain has brought up a 3 bed on Philip Street for $700 a week (one of the cheapest 3 beds the search found) which is a fairly central part of Balmain.

The one thing we noticed about the area is you need to watch out for aircraft noise as it appears to be on the Sydney flightpath. The closer you get to Drummoyne the worse it seems to get.

suzimc

I don't know it all that well, but my fiancé lived there when he was in Aus a few years back, and he has put it at the top of his list after Manly for where we should live this time. I went to take a look at it when we were over last christmas, and it had a great feeling. It's not at all far from the CBD on the ferry, but it has it's own seperate town feel, which is something that I would say personally really appeals. You could walk down to the highstreet and get everything you wanted from a loaf of bread to a haircut, but if you fancied something a bit more you could hop on the ferry into the City - that type of thing.

I definitely got the feel that it would be a good place for a family, and I would say the cafe culture is rife there too.

From what I've heard, rental properties there can be snapped up within hours of going on the market, so you might need your wits about you. but I really believe it would be worth it!

jakimber

We are moving to Balmain in June because my wife owns a house (she is Australian). We are on the Rozelle side of Balmain, but it is nice and centrally located. We are also moving with a three year old. One problem you may have is that the houses do not have big yards, not much room for kids to run around in.

I do know that we are renting our house (3 Bd) right now for about $500 (too low I have always said) a week, my wife's sister rents her 3 bedroom for about $530 a week. if you are prepared to be closer to Rozelle than the Ferry stop (still only a 20 minute walk or 3 minute drive) then you may get something more affordable.

hubbard

Looking for a good rental property in a saught after area in Sydney is not easy. Trust me, I am in the middle of doing it now and it is tough. We are looking in Balmain, Glebe, Coogee, Randwick, Rozelle, Cloverly, Waverly, and are now even adding Paddington to the list as the rental search gets a bit desperate. We are looking for a 2 bed terrace townhouse and have a budget of up to $600 and I am struggling to find anywhere. The papers come out on Wednesday and Saturday and list the rental open home times and dates, you then trundle round with a number of others prospective applicants and the landlord has the pick of who they want after you submit a mega long application which for a new migrant is pretty tough as you don't have the Aussie credit and rental history of your competitors. We are a married couple, early 30s, no kids, no pets, non smokers, husband working and I am still struggling.

I would advise you to widen your search. Balmain is mega popular and properties seem to go almost immediately. Sorry that this isn't what you want to hear but I am feeling a bit fed up with the whole process - mega stressful, particularly for me and husband is at work and I am doing it all on my 'jack jones'. Least I am getting to know Sydney.

Sydney is fab and apart from this we are having a ball.

philian4

Hiya,
know it reasonably well, as someone already said it's a lively cafe/restaurant area....bit hip and trendy (think Camden) Friends of ours lived round there for years and only moved to Leichhardt a few years ago. Yes it's on a flight path, very noisy if you're having a conversation outside, but not awful. Saturday morning market, lots of arty crafty stuff. Nice area, has a good feel to it. The ferry,much nicer that the tube everyday!!!!!
Phil x