fish.01

Just a note in case it is not clear, moving inland from bayside to Brisbane City Council (BCC) area won't necessarily make it cheaper...often it will be dearer. Places like shailer park are cheaper because they are further from the cbd in the Logan city council area, rather than just because they are inland. Like the suburbs 4500 Times recommended, if you stick with suburbs in the Logan City council area you will find the more affordable houing because generally they shoot up once you cross into the BCC area even when they look the same. Daisy Hill area definitely worth a look with it's koala park, hills, trees etc.

jonnyfletch89

The bayside area south of brisbane is very nice. If your on that type of wage i'd recommend Raby Bay, its beautiful. If your commuting around brisbane and g/c then bayside, cleveland etc is right bang in the middle. hope this helps mate

jonnyfletch89

there is also a really good school around the corner called Carmel college, not really to sure about primary schools though, but they may do lower grades?

boxer1982

Brilliant! Thanks. My main concern is working out what we can afford. If my wages alone are 150k and were debt free what sort of price range would you recommend for renting first then buying. I'm British army and have never had a mortgage in uk.

jonnyfletch89

i have no idea mate, im kind of in the same position as you. my parents and sisters live in cleveland lived there a couple of years ago but moved back to manchester with my girlfriend and now we have a kid so we're thinking of moving back. we dont have a mortgage or anything so we're gonna try and look at renting in cleveland first, no idea how much house cost though all i know its on a weekly basis instead of monthly like they do here

coldbeer

Take a look at the Helensvale/Hope Island area (North GC) nice big waterfront houses, easy access to the freeway, not far from the beach and great for boating if you fancy that too. Expect to pay $800-$1,000pw multiply by 1000 to buy.

Quick search - something like this http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...vale-404418247

boxer1982

thanks think that property is a little out of my league, awesome though. Would anyone happen to have a top 10 suburbs to live in, in the south, south east, east brisbane just so we can narrow things down and make comparisons to suit us? would really appreciate it, thanks

lesleys

100%. You can't choose a place to settle from a distance. You may even decide to buy land and build when you get here. We rented for 2 years.

moneypenny20

We purchased a house within two weeks of landing. It's been perfect for us but I don't think I'd recommend other people to be as silly. It was madness in retrospect but as I say, we were incredibly lucky.

fish.01

Jonny don't want to take away from the rest of your recommendation but just re the location part of it I know you've been away and probably don't know the roads that well.

Thought I would mention for the OP that being far east of the motorway on smaller slower roads Cleveland is further away from the Gold Coast than most of the outer southern suburbs of Brisbane next to the M1 motorway. The Daisy Hill area is more around half way and suburbs like Mansfield and Wishart are a lot more convenient for the Gold Coast than Cleveland. Of course this doesn't take away from jonny's recommendation in other respects. I actually had a friend recently move from Cleveland to Greenslopes and he said it was even quicker from inner southern Greenslopes to the GC. I guess distance to the motorway helps a lot.

moneypenny20

Got friends up in Raby Bay, it's easier and quicker to get in Brissie than get to RB sometimes. Nice houses up there but packed in tight. I guess it depends on how much space you want around you.

steve`o

thats a good point
i personally didn't cope well with been able to hear what was on telly next door
what the the neighbors had for tea or whose turn it was to wash up
as its warm most of the time the only separation between your selves and next door can be a couple of fly screens
this was one of the the reasons we opted for acreage to put a bit of space between us and next door,

coldbeer

Fair enough, but on $150k its not unrealistic, especially if you have a partner who also works.

fish.01

Having no house to sell really puts you in the starter house category. The size of mortgage you are willing to take on depends on the amount of debt/risk you are comfortable with really. I would imagine the average mtge is around $300,000 (roughly $2000/month I think) so you could go up from there but it is obviously a personal choice.

Some decent starter area's:
http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...hill-110861099
http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...rove-110282941

Note that there are even cheaper further away options as well to keep that mortgage down though I don't know the area to recommend:
http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...well-110914023
http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...well-111156263
http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...well-110513033

You could also start in a town house as some of them are quite nice and more affordable.