comet555

Depends on what kind of shopper you are. I always find everyting I need at either BigW, Kmart or Target. I have not once needed to go to Carindale to go to some of the swankier shops.

That's just me though, everyone has different tastes!

You're right about the areas. Capalaba and Alex Hills are generally seen as the less desireable suburbs, but thereare good and bad to all suburbs. I've seen some really nice areas in both of those suburbs where I'd be more than happy to live. If you've got a budget of $450,000 though you would be hard pressed to find a decent 4x2 with pool in Thornlands or any of the suburbs right next to the water.

spadgersdad

Hi all,
We are based at Thornlands the older part, we have been here for nearly three years and love the Bayside, it offers everything we need as a family. There are plenty of areas to visit to be near the waters edge all over the Bayside, some areas for you to consider:-
Thorneside
Birkdale
Cleveland Point - Access to ferrys for Stradbroke Island etc
Wellington Point - Great for small children
Victoria Point - Ferry to Coochi Island
Redland Bay - New up and coming area, house prices still reasonable, although a little out of the way for some people
As people said previous, depends what you are looking for in an area, for us the local shopping centres provide all we need on a day to day basis. If we need something special for presents,Christmas etc then we go to Carindale or Garden City which are larger centres.
We love the option of a 5 minutes drive to go and have a coffee at Raby Bay Marina, and other restaurants allocated on the waters edge, dont think we will ever get tired of the lovely views that the Bayside has to offer.
Good luck with your search

Boomie

we has our house built in thornlands..... here is my old thread

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=340762

boomie
x

comet555

I see your thread, I haven't found the price of the house yet. I assume you've posted it because of my comment about hard to find a good house for $450k.

I will point out that your thread is almost 3 years old now and that your house price has probably gone up since then. When I looked last year the only places I could find a decent 4x2 with pool were in Capalaba and Alex Hills. There was one in Birkdale but it wasn't as nice. Believe me... I looked all over Bayside.

Although, I've looked lately and found a lot more in the $400-450k range. Mostly though it's in Capalaba or Alex Hills. But there does seem to be more on the market though at the moment.

LouiseR

Many Thanks for all the input. Bayside/Redlands is very much our starting point for when we arrive and we shall hop in a car and drive round EVERYWHERE!

Will pay attention to all areas mentioned and hopefully we can find something that we like for our budget, we could poss go up to $500k but for that I'd want to move in and not have to do anything to the place.

Thanks again everybody. you've been really helpful! xx

spadgersdad

Good luck, hope all goes well with your search

Rudi

I agree about Target etc but Thornlands has virtually no shops at all!!

In the older part of Thornlands there are houses to be had for around the 450k mark with a pool. We have seen a number - one on Moselle Drive - 5 bedrooms, office, living room, kitchen / diner, 2 baths, pool - was on at 440k but is now sold. Here's another - http://www.domain.com.au/Public/Prop...did=2007364384 ....and another.....http://www.domain.com.au/Public/Prop...did=2007317292 decent property, but only lock up double carport, no proper garage, which was passed in at auction for 375k and is now on the market for 430k. We also had an offer accepted (460k) on one in Hermitage Crec, really nice property - 3 bedrooms plus sun room which could be used as a bedroom, with the most amazing view over the bay and islands, 2 baths, also with a pool. We pulled out of that sale though.

When you get here you really need to take a drive around and see where feels right for you. Definitely get off the main road though - if you only see the houses either side of the main road you will not get a real feel for the suburb.

Rudi

wardy2

Bayside is a great are of Brisbane, but if i'm honest the reason we had to look elsewhere is because most of it was getting to be out of our price range and we had to look for alternatives.

If we had pulled our finger out and applied when we originaly planned on I suspect that is where we would be settled now, but we missed the boat i'm afraid.

still a great area though

x

comet555

I could not agree more about that. You'll need to check out the older and newer sections of each, particularly Capalaba because it makes a difference. I would also suggest when you go to buy a house to look at everything that fits your generals critera and roughly within your price range. At least at first. After a few houses a realizes the high sets weren't for me (two storeys with kitchen upstairs). So after that we cut those off the list.

Anyway... there are some better priced houses out there at the moment so you might be able to buy in any area of Bayside, but you will see a difference in the houses (neighbourhood too).

Part of the reason I like Capalaba is because my area is very quiet, but also because I'm about 5 minutes to the shops. If I'm going to go to the parks along the water it's probably only going to be once a week. But I do run to the shops all the time, so I like to be close. Just me though.

Brisben

I recently moved to Alexandra hills.

I looked at every bayside suburb and found them all over priced, however there are a few which are cheaper than most, still over priced but that is what the market dictates.

I love where I live, it is quiet, good access to major roads.

Old cleveland road is probably the best road in the whole of the eastern brisbane suburbs, takes you right to the city through the major shopping center of Carindale and then the city.

You are close to Wellington point and Cleveland which is a very nice modern type suburb.

You sometimes have to compromise between affordability and desireability.

Alex hills was a good choice for us as it allowed us a nice big 5 bedroom, swimming pool, 760 fully fenced block for under 500k.Something difficult to find in other bayside suburbs. In manly west, wynnum west you would pay 500k for a 2 bed workers cottage or a 3 bed lowset on 450 block.

More desireable areas but priced accordingly.


Keep looking though, best to rent first, get a feel and then buy.

To be honest I am yet to find a bayside suburb that is remotely bad in comparision to a lot of british towns.

Am sure wherever you find you will like the area. it is something different and that coupled with close proximity to water makes things seem better than what we certainly had before in the UK.


Good luck.

Boomie

Yeah thats around the right time frame. I was posting the thread to view another option ie building. We got more for our money rooms wise which is what we needed having 5 children.

I have found an old private message to karmagirls i sent yonks ago..... i gives a few prices we paid way back then. the house as it stands today is 560K

...................................


Default Re: House Information
This is what we did..... we bought the land..... then chose a builder that would best suit our needs..... we found javica (unfortunately they dont have a web page but their email address is [email protected] if you wish to make contact). A guy called chris anderson came to pay us a visit..... we told him what we wanted and he went away and got one of his designers to come up with a design for us.... which is the one that you see on draft.... we just altered the kitchen a touch to best suit us.

Javica do an all in house package.... which means the lot! the house itself, all the paint work, lighting, bathroom, kitchen, electrics, tiles, carpet, security doors/screens, blinds/drapes, wahsing line, mail box, fences, driveway, undercover eating alfresco, all the paved areas, Landscaping......If there is anything ive missed its in there - Its a turn key package everything is done! There are upgrades like fans/ air con which can be included in ure package.... ( we had included fans but we have had to pay for the fully ducted aircon as a cash extra as we didnt request it at the start.... got round andy following a stickie xmas!)

Also as an extra at a later date we opted for an extra plug socket in each bedroom by the wardrobes..... so the kids can use their hair appliances.... infront of the mirror door

Also as an extra we had tv points in all the kids bedrooms - you get 3 as standard.

We also got extra all the wiring for foxtel....to prevent holes been made in the walls later....

So all the extras we have paid cash for..... which i spose with better planning could ov been included....

Everything included in ure home you choose yourself....syles of doors, window colours, roof colour, kitchen styles and colours, floor, wall tiles and carpet are all your choice. You decide with the painter all colour options.

At present we are waiting for the the guys doing the drive to get in touch.... I dont really know how that works...... i think you have to mark it out with coloured sand to give them an indication how you would like it..... and its the same with the landscaping etc.

With regards to the land we were really lucky..... it was on the market for just ova $230...... and we were able to secure it for $179K when the new phase came out....

for the house it came to with the extras excluding air con $186K

For the aircon its just over $8K

the solicitors costs will be $500 for buying only.....

There are site fees but ure 1st time buyers grant covers all the necessary.......

if there is anything else i can tell you please get in touch.....


We think its just great value for a 6 bedroomed house with a rumpus room.

Javica have our thumbs up!

regards



boomie

spadgersdad

I agree with Brisben, all the suburbs on the Bayside are not remotely like any not so nice areas in the UK, we rented in Alex Hills for 8 months and enjoyed the area. The people were very friendly and our daughter had a ball with all the other children playing in the culdasacs, where parents were always watching over them.
There are still some good houses for the right price in Alex Hills and Capalaba with still good size plots, which is becoming difficult to find.

datamile

Yup, when they say that alex hills is the rough part of redlands, it's a long way up from the UK. NO vandels, or burnt out cars etc, and redlands gives you a huge choice of where to live etc. We used to live in wellington point, now thornlands, kids go to school in alex hills, we shop in vicky point and capalaba, eat out in cleveland....etc

Boomie

Nice to see someone else moved locally. We are in the rushwood estate ... anywhere near you guys


x boomie x

spadgersdad

Hi Boomie,
We are just down the road from you on South Street, where the birds dwell!!
Swallow etc and loving it!