Tellyaddict

There is a possibility that my OH may have sponsorship in Darra, Queensland.

I am looking for a family friendly suburb with a good primary and high school within a 30 min drive from Darra.

We have $400,000 to spend on a house although we will be renting at first but it is important that we rent where we will eventually buy as I don't want to be chopping and changing schools. Would also prefer a house with a decent sized garden so possibly an older house rather than on a new estate. We need a minimum of 3 beds with the opportunity to extend when we have been there long enough to sponsor my parents.

Don't know how feasible this is but any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Nikky

Brisben

OK Darra is a very industrial area, I work here myself.

It is NOT a place to live, it is very close to some not so nice suburbs like Inala etc.

If I were you I would look at newish suburbs rather than the old ones around here.

Suggestion is forest lake. Probably find something quite nice for just over the 400k mark.

If you go out further west there are some nice areas towards Ipswich !

Not trying to scare you but in my experience I have found the industrial areas of Brisbane to probably be the worst areas to live.

Work there but don't want to live there.

TrickyTree

A lot of the western corridor area (around Darra) are new estates like Forest Lake, Seventeen Mile Rocks and Springfield Lake. For older properties I would look at Oxley and maybe suburbs closer to the city like Moorooka and Corinda but the 400k wont go as far.

simsy

i agree with brisben, i work in inala which merges into darra and its the scariest place i think i have been to.

i asked one of the aussie girls in work what forest lakes was like and she said it was ok, the only problem with it was that it was next door to inala and therefore suffers a lot of burglaries.

we are about 15 minute drive from those areas in sinnamon park and it seems like a whole different world. when we first got here were were asking our rental real estate lady about schools in the area and she told us to avoid sending the kids to oxley primary.

we spent last weekend looking at springfield lakes as the houses seem much more affordable there and i really liked the look of it, we might end up there.

showdan

Ditto most of the comments, I live in Forest Lake and love it but don't expect a big garden for around the $400K mark, as said it does merge with Inala, but Forest Lake is quite a big place so you can get quite a bit of distance from Inala.

Just to note Darra has a train station, so traveling to work by train may be an option, this would give you even more suburbs to choose from.

showdan

Tellyaddict

Thanks for the info about the train station, that would save us having to have 2 cars which would be a big help as this seems to eat up a lot of our money in the UK.

I've been looking at Bellbird Park and Camira are these any good and what are the schools like?

Thanks
Nikky

Tellyaddict

Sorry forgot to mention Collingwood Park - area and schools?

showdan

Hi

I'm not an expert on areas (only been here 10 months), but from what I can gather Collingwood Park, Bellbird Park and Camira are all reasonable areas, Bellbird probably not quite as good as the other two, but certainly doesn't have the same rep. as Inala. Although every town/city in the UK has its problem areas and I doubt Inala is as bad as them.

Just note that some areas in Collingwood has had some sinking problems, with the mines collapsing.

As for schools there's a link on here somewhere with all the schools performances (worth a search), but Kenmore (within 30mins of Darra) got very good results, but houses would be expensive there (nice area though).

As for trains, check out the train route for the Ipswich Line, this is the one Darra is on.

Sorry I couldn't be more help, would have dug out some of the links but got to dash off, going to Camira funnily enough to pick my son up from football (still refuse to call it soccer) training.

showdan

Stitch

Not sure about the whole of Collingwood Park but there were recent news reports about the area around Duncan street (If I have recalled correctly) that were showing very big signs of subsidence from the old mines!

Cheers

Ginny

themerlin

Although it might not be a station you want to be at late at night.

themerlin

Inala lakes

You might find something a little older the ??? lakes, you would get much more for your cash.

spartacus

Have a look at www.whereis.com to work out whether its a feasible walk from the station to place of work. As others have said, its very industrial around there, and some parts are difficult to access even in a car, let alone on foot.

Pollyana

And while a half hour or so walk to/from a station might be OK back home, remember you may be doing this in 30+ degrees.

Tellyaddict

Thank you for all of the advise especially for the heads up on Collingwood Park.

It has certianly given us a lot to think about.