skater

3rd time lucky, I think I'm in the right place now.

We are moving to Melbourne in August/ September

We are looking for a nice family area within 45mins of the CBD.
‘Nice family area’ =
1) low crime
2) area within walking distance of a local park (with kids playground.) or a non-touristy beach. (somewhere to walk/run/cycle.)
3) Accessible transport links- tram or main road but not overshadowed by motorway or motorway noise.
4) Walking distance to local shops- a small grocery type and newsagent (not necessarily a mall or large supermarket chain)
5) Near good catholic primary school

House type- 3 bed minimum with garage

Budget max $400 a week.

We basically need a starting point, a handfull of nice places to go and have a look at to get our own feel. At the moment all we have is Melbourne and as you say we could go pretty much anywhere. (I know Sydney but know nothing of Melbourne.) Someone has given me 4 suburbs to try any more??

flip

Try Park Orchards. Seems to fit with everything you're lookiing for. Not sure about prices or availability. Not a British suburb particularly and I'll probably be slaughtered for advertising it.

Pomster

I'm not even sure where Park Orchard is- certainly is not a beach suburb.

Sandringham
Elwood
Elsternwick
Mordiallic

are all easy commute to city and near the beach...as far as I am aware crime is not exceptional, so have a look at these for prices.

flip

You're 100% right. I read the list and he said near park or non-touristy beach.

Park Orchards is a peaceful village out in the North Eastern suburbs and (for direction only) is relatively near Ringwood.

I'm sure that beaches are wonderful but every time anyone asks about suburbs they're always mentioned so I thought it was time to suggest somewhere different.

It meets all his requirements and if he doesn't fancy it I'm sure he can ignore my suggestion.

wongstonn

Was just about to write Elwood like a prior respondant but checked on realestate.com.au. It looks touch and go on affordablity. So I reckon Mordialloc is a good start instead.

Neil

OzTennis

Mordialloc not a bad suggestion. $450 max on domain.com.au turns up 24 properties:

http://www.domain.com.au/Public/Sear...sort=price-asc

Ticks the boxes as far as I am aware.

OzTennis

skater

Thanks for the suggestion, lots of beach suburbs coming up but not a lot else so nice to get a different perspective.

Skater Sue

skater

Thanks
Mordiallic (how is that pronounced?) has been mentioned a few times and looks quite good within the budget for both renting and buying. Elwood is a bit beyond us I think not a lot of choice within budget.
Just got to check out schools now
Thanks again
Skater Sue

baglady

Hello everyone! We are in a similar position Skater, though we kind of need to be on the East side of the city as that's where hubby's new job is. We have been looking at Berwick, which seems to be very leafy and pleasant with a distinctly English feel, but for the beach we really fancy Mt Eliza and Mornington areas. They are a bit further out but I'm thinking it might be worth it for a really good location. Any comments anyone might have on these choices would be much appreciated!

playbunny75

We are living in Patterson Lakes which take my husband 50 mins (train) to get to work in the city on a weekend if we drive we can do it much quicker as there is not much traffic compared to weekdays. The location of Patterson Lakes is great as it is not too far from the city and 20 mins from Morington. We are also only a few minutes from Carrum beach which is beautiful and also there is the Patterson river which is great as it has a walking track either side ideal for cylcing/running/walking. There are plenty fo shops nearby Southland,Franskton and DFO only less than 15 mintues away. The area also has a good selection of schools and kinder. We pay $300 per week for our rental which is three bedrooms, 2 bath, air con,cubby house and a short walk to river and shops. There would be lots of choice in your buget. We are however moving to Mount Martha later this year but mainly because for our budget Patterson Lakes was a bit much for us too actually buy a property in terms of what you get for the money.

If you need anymore info your welcome to give me a pm

wongstonn

I think Playbunny75 made a point worth picking up on.

There is a big disparity between the rent required to live in an area, and the typical mortgage payments to live in a purchased house in the same area.

This can be problematic especially if one has children. It is remarkable how quickly many people put down roots here with children having friends in their area, and friendships being made. Having moved from the other side of the world and dealt with this fracture point in one's lives, it is not uncommon that people are loathe to move even one suburb away - they don't want the disruption again. This is a problem when you can't afford to buy where you are renting.

IMO it is worth doing some forward research and thinking. A few evenings on the web with realiestate.com.au etc.. could save a lot of heartache one year after arriving here.

Neil

baglady

Yes, we visited Patterson Lakes and saw that the houses were fab but indeed expensive. Perhaps because the commute is shorter and you can moor your boat right outside your house!!

Ideally we would intend to build after a couple of years (company giving us two years rental allowance!) Even more optomistically we'd like to stay close to the sea (I can walk to the sea from where I live now), so I assume we would need to move further along the peninsula anyway... hence I was thinking Mt Eliza - Mornington - Mt Martha etc, for rental. We think we can afford to splash out initially and go for up to about $600 per week.

Sorry Skater Sue, I think I've stolen your thread a bit...

wongstonn

Hi

You might want to consider what the reality of the commute from Mt Eliza to the Eastern Suburbs is going to be like. At peak hours the Monash Freeway will be hellish, and I'd bet that Springvale Road and the Frankston-Dandenong Road will be not particularly pleasant either. Might be worth researching.

Neil

baglady

Thanks Neil, My husband will be working in the Moorabin area. I'm not sure what roads he'll need to take, you are right, I'll need to research. What are the "peak hours" over there?

wongstonn

Moorabin is straight up the Nepean, so no problem. About 50 mins by car from Mt Eliza, or roughly 45 mins or so by train from Frankston.

Peak hours 7am-9am, and, say 4:30pm-6:30pm.