We are moving to Brisbane in April next year and have been searching the rental adds . I know these complexes will vary a lot, but in general are they suitable for children to cycle, scooter , swim and play with others without being evicted.?? Our children aged 5 & 7 are pretty normal but they do make heaps of noise and get excited. The other concern i have is the size of the living areas. I know that a lot of time is spent outdoors but the living areas do look pretty small.
So, any experiences or advice would be great.
One area we have circled at present is Carindale.

The complex we were at in Ormiston did not let children ride their cycles etc around the complex due to safety reasons. However the houses were a good size and there was a pool with a grassed area. The garden to the house was relatively small but big enough for a trampoline.

Hi

I have PMd you as we have lived in this area for over 3 years and have some experience of complexes.

Cheers

Jacqui

A very good friend lived in a lovely gated complex here in Hervey Bay up until recently. They enjoyed it but it seemed the fun police never missed an oportunity to have a go about their young son riding his bike or his mates calling for him. Wouldnt think it was an ideal place as from what ive seen they seem to be full of old folk!!!!

Hi

We live in a gated complex, and we only rent our house, which I am glad, I do love living in here but the bickering and busy bodying does my head in, there are a number of older couples that live in here and they seem to have nothing better to do than complain about petty things, I could be here all day telling you stories of what goes on, and this doesnt mean that all gated complexes are the same, but at the minute there are 26 houses in here and 8 are for sale, one family only moved in 6 months ago and they have had enough already. And there is another gated complex near where we live and it is the same, people seem to think just because there is a gate at the bottom of the street that it gives them all these rights to complain and tell people how to live their lives.

Hope this helps

Gill

Hi
we moved into a fairly upmarket complex on the Gold Coast when we got here which was the right decision for us as a tempory measure. Complete contrast to what we had in the UK, fantastic pool for the kids and a perceived safe environment. The managers did a great job, even the front grass was kept immaculate. Pay your rent and your responsibility end there

We took out a 6 month lease and stayed just the six months while we looked for a permanent home.

The gate eventually gets extremely annoying.

It is always a pain for visitors getting into a complex.

The fun police are either good or bad depending on your point of view but there is that ever present feeling you may get bollocked for something you either have or have not done.

Burglars will get past the gate if they want to.

Look at the comunal areas and landscaping, it should be very well kept if the management is doing it's job.

I have a friend who actually bought on a cheaper complex and it is a living hell with centrelink clients for neighbours and mangement who take the body corporate fee but don't maintain the place.

This is quite an intresting topic as I would appreciate some feedback on this also.

We are moving over to the Gold Coast and I have three kids (10 months, 2 years and 7 years) to bring along, also a little family dog and husband (which could be counted as a kid!). We have found a lovley looking rental in Robina, in a gated complex.
To give you an idea of the type of kids I've got:
my 7 year old Tash is quite loud and active, so will want to be outside a fair bit. She loves her scooter and the trampoline, so would be noisy outdoors. There is also a pool in the complex we're looking at so she would be undeniably loud and squealy, and in the pool quite alot.
my 2 year old Seb follows suit of his big sister but sleeps alot in the daytime and isnt as loud. In fact he's rather quiet most of the time. He just scoots along behind his sis and jumps on the tramp with her until he gets tired.
10 mth old Sydney is....a baby. So she's just learning to stand and walk. good baby
Dog is a little mini poodle so is well trained and quiet.
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One thing you need to be aware of if you BUY into a BC in QLD is that their are 2 main types of BC rules for different types of BC's. These rules apply to gated and ungated complexes.

Standard Format:
This is designed for townhouses, villas, lowsets which can be defined by pegs at the corners of the property and everything within the pegs is your reasponsibility.

Building Format:
This is for multilevel building where owners live vertically above one another, appartment blocks, Six packs, tower blocks, etc and Foundations, building structure and roofs are BC reasponsibility in this situation.

Problem is in QLD developers, councils have been approveing what should have been Standard Format BC as Building Formats which introduces no end of complications as to who is reasponsible for what.