jollyswagman

Hi there moving to adelaide april 09 ,due to a late job offer as we were going to brisbane originally and have been researching that area solid for last 12-18 months so all at sea now as dont know adelaide very well at all ,we are looking for a 4 bedroom house fairly close to city preferably furnished but will look at unfurnished ,and also need to know where to shop for a good 2nd hand car if anybody out there can help me as its now 7 weeks and counting !!!!!! also if you see this thread and fancy selling adelaide a bit please feel free because we are going fairly blind ,thx for looking , swagman

doje6863

HI Jolly, We have been in Adelaide for 18months now and we absolutley love it. But, as you will find out, there are as many people that will slate it as love it. So heres what we like. The city is beutiful and easy to navigate. So many festivals, the fringe is on now, Clipsal (race cars and the like plus concerts nightly), immigrant festivals where you experiance the culture of the Italians, Greeks etc. Great wine regions, need I say more? Fantastic and diverse scenary. Relative affordability than other states for property. Work/life balance. Look, Sydney it aint, but it works for us. If you have already got a job lined up, you are in a really positive postition. What about your family? kids ages, partner working?

You may hate it, or like us, never want to leave. If you do search on here you will find loads of posts, anti Adelaide,Sydney,Perth, wherever. Its a personal choice. You will also discover a Northern/Southern suburbs divide(!) Im not going to get into that, suffice to say that we have settled very well in the South, but again the Northern suburbs suit plenty of people. Wherever you decide North or South, there is a vibrant ex-pat community where you will be welcomed, if that is what you want.

Have you applied for Accomodation on Arrival? Where is your job based, that would help us steer you in directions of suburbs for your rental. You could look on real estate.com or my domain for properties.

Good luck and enjoy this time in the UK with your family and friends and prepare for the rollercoaster of emotions that are about to descend on you like a ton of bricks, no pun intended!

let us know ow your getting on and how else we can help,

donna

jollyswagman

hi there many thx for your positive reply donna , i have no idea where we are heading but i know we would like to be near the sea/beach and i will be working within a 40km radius of the gpo ,as i said we were heading for qld but due to an employer whom i thought wasnt interested after being interviewd last year ,has turned around and offered me a position the job will be a good career move for myself and i cant afford to turn it down ,this all happened in the last 24hrs , hence the panic mode ,i travalled thur adelaide in 90-91 whilst backpacking for a year but have no real recollection of it ( alcohol didnt help !! ) so we are going blind apart from what we can research in the next few weeks , i am arriving with my wife and 2 children 6+11 whom we have to find a school for ( catholic preferably) do you have any advice regards education ?? also can you point out things of particular interest in and around adelaide please , thx again , swagman

Iwannabethere

You could try www.stayz.com.au for accommodation. Furnished can be double the cost of unfurnished so you might only choose to stay for a couple of months while you apply for unfurnished rentals. It also gives you a chance to look at suburbs before taking on a 12 month lease.

The other alternative is to stick 'caravan park adelaide' or 'holiday park adelaide' into a search engine and see what happens.

Also, Brian Threadgold at Aussie Car Rentals does really reasonable rentals of slightly older cars while you sort out buying one.

We are in the hills and love it so don't discount that area either!

Good luck and feel free to PM if you'd like to meet up on arrival or need help with anything.

Adi

johnnyx0

I can recommend the Adelaide Caravan Park Cabins, on Richmond Street, Hackney:

http://www.adelaidecaravanpark.com.au/adelaide.html

Good location, friendly people and a dip in the pool is heaven after a warm Adelaide day....

seanandmaria

Check out www.realestate.com.au for longer term rentals, Short term perhaps look at Glenelg (no idea on pricing).
Lots of garages in most suburbs or check out the local paper for private sales.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/
you might also find a rental there too
Best of luck

Maria

jollyswagman

thx for replies guys i will get onto that now , cheers , swagman

Nikki.P

Hi there, I just wanted to wish you luck with your move and to let you know that we also ended up coming here at the last minute when we always planned to move to Perth and we've never regretted it. We love Adelaide, its a beautiful city, the people are friendly and we've made lots of great friends. We live in the hills and love it and its an easy 30-35 minute journey down the freeway into the city. I did rentals for a wee while whilst I was looking for a job I would actually like and www.realestate.com.au is definately the best website for rentals. I do know of two furnished rentals in Littlehampton in the hills, no idea whether they are available or not but they have a website www.adelaidefurnishedrentals.com.au, if you like the look of them negotiate a lower price with the agent though if you intend to spend more than 8 weeks there.

Regarding second hand cars, we bought ours on South Road, there are a fair few garages up and down there and we looked at them all until we found something that we liked the look of, second hand cars are expensive though so its a bit of a shocker when you hand over nearly $5000 for a 10 year old car when you can buy the same in the UK for about 400 pound!!!!. Had it for a year and a half now though and its been a great wee car and not given us any bother and its nearly twelve years old. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions and you think I can be any help at all. All the best. Nikki

Leighj

Hi swagman. I've been here in Adelaide for 7 months now. As far as cars go, I have now bought two from a second hand dealer on Main North Rd called Cityside Motors. Like a previous poster says, second hand cars compared to blighty are extortionate really.

I crave my old car, which whilst over there I was thinking of changing after 3 years (!!) - Now I drive two cars where due to my budget, their combined ages are 31. Yes, you heard right!

The guys at Cityside, when I bought the first one really looked after me I felt. And some months later I felt pleased that my instinct told me that they were honest and reputable. I'm still doing fine in my 15 year old Ford to date, and so last week I went back for another for the Mrs. They're top blokes, they really are and again looked after me with an old runaround to suit my budget. Tell Nathan there that Leigh from the UK sent you and I'm sure he'll appreciate that you've sought him out.

Enjoy Adelaide. It's a great City.