Benoslav

I NEED ADVICE!!!!!
I am new to the forums so excuse any mistakes I make from hear on in!!!
My wife to be and I are to move to Sydney shortly after we marry at the end of July. I have all but organised a job and a 457 visa to boot yet there is one major floor in our proposal and that is where in sydney we want to live.
I will no doubt be working in the CBD and am not too bothered about living there yet don't want to be a substantial commute away as my better half will no doubt have my guts for garters!!
In short, both my fiancee and I LOVE the beach and would dearly love to wake up every morning with crystal blue waters shining back at us. Yet more important than that is a secure neighbourhood, one with good transport links and accessible amenities and restaurants. We have an approximate budget of $550 a week.
We are coming to Australia and more specifically Sydney to have a better quality of life to that the UK offers. I know it has been voted one of the best cities in the world to live and that is why we want to.
Any advice on where to live in this gorgeous metropolis would be much appreciated......and be kind, I'm new!!!

Adriane

Mosman is great. It's an excellent inner city neighborhood which seems to fit all your requirements. Also check out Cremorne and Neutral Bay. They aren't cheap but you can definitely find something for $550 and it's close to beach, restaurants etc. You can take a bus easily to the CBD in under 30 minutes.

GreenMan72

Or you may want to try either Double Bay or Rose Bay - both are south of the harbour and a quick ferry ride into Circular Quay in the CBD.

Double Bay has some quirky shops and bars, is close to the beach (check out Redleaf Pool if you can). Rose Bay is a bit further out but has more shops, a beach and a good vibe.

We rented in Double Bay for around $500-$550 per week last year.

A couple of good sites to check for rental are:

1) www.domain.com.au
2) www.realestate.com.au

TrentEnd

Acacia Gardens!!!

Apart from the links to the city........

NickyC

Go to Bondi.

All the others - Rose Bay, Double Bay, Mosman et al are all lovely suburbs but none of them are proper beachy places. If you want a real beach within easy commute of the city then there's only one place for you.

Bondi's got a bit of a vibe, plenty of eating and drinking spots plus the surf. It's easy to get to the city and you could get a good 2 bed apartment within your budget. You've got fantastic shopping five minutes up the road at Bondi Junction plus a train station. What more could anyone need?

You'd be nuts to go anywhere else .

paddyo

Manly, hands down, both harbour and ocean beaches, good for shopping and easy commute to city via bus or ferry. But then again I am completely and unashamedly biased!!

Sydney is good, but some processes here are outdated and you WILL miss some of the things in UK that you take for granted!!! Ignore the politics, policing and infrastructure and you'll be fine!!

P.S. ask your 457 sponsor about LAFHA, its worth a couple of grand in your pocket every month!

Benoslav

Manly is a potential favourite for me yet I was wondering if it maybe a little far away from the CBD - although I am judging that purely by map distance and not possible transport links

paddyo

Huge amount of CBD travellers here. I work in Woolloomooloo, catch ferry or fast ferry (30 mins and 18 mins respectively) to Circular Quay then either walk or get a bus to my office. My whole journey is 1 hour door to door or less.
Travelling by car is ok but can sometimes be tiresome if the traffic on the Spit Rd clogs up, which is prone to at commute times.
But Manly - CBD really is easy for public transport, even if Ferries don't run (only happended once in 2 years I have been here - the Red Dust storm) they put on extra buses anyway. The buses have their own lanes and run Express into Wynyard but in truth during the summer it can be a hot and sweaty journey if an older bus.

bananalana

I wish I could find a beachfront property in Sydney for $550

NickyC

We have an apartment facing the beach at Coogee that we rent out.
Two beds, new kitchen and nice and big.

Rent up till this week was $520. New tenant moving in on Monday is paying $575.

So it is possible..

bananalana

possible if you dont want a yard lol

We lived on the beach (well, there was the house, then a road and then the beach - no house opposite us though) in NZ and paid $210 a week - that was 3 years ago though lol. Our mates had a massive modern 3 bed + study where their backyard basically merged into the sand for $500 (diff town to our house and wayyy better beach).

I reckon the beach houses in sydney are just ridiculous price wise.....but then I stopped looking after the first few $8-900 houses lol

Anyway GL OP - hope you find something you really like for the price you want,.

paddyo

Supply and demand forces the price up, as a renter I wish it was lower, but as a landlord (back in UK) I am happy with rental prices rising!!!

bananalana

oh totally

and demand for rentals is definately high here

Benoslav

I hope it doesn't go up too much over the next few months. I originally was thinking $300 a week then realised i would be lucky to get a kennel for that much. And what with the LAFHA, it's all within reach.
We're not bothered about having a yard, in truth, a nice apartment would be better, above ground floor as it would make my fiancee feel more secure and private!!!

Red_V_Roger

The Shire - God's Country and get the train.