gobbyjock

All depends on what you`re budget is really - certainly have a good look around - make sure you know what you want (cafe strips/beach do you need to be near the city for work, will you be working North or South of the River etc) and then make sure all you`re boxes are ticked (or as many as poss) also work out what you`d be willing to compromise on. Rent for at least the first 6 months - once you`ve bought your first home selling it and re buying can get expensive.
Once you know what you want from an area and what you`re budget will be, working out which area to head to becomes slightly easier.

eddie007

I beg to differ... We are in the Rockingham area and we have 3 children all in the state system... you wouldn't HAVE to budget for private school fees at all...

HelenTD

That's great, but there have been several posters on here who have found state primary and high schools unsatisfactory. Another poster put up this link http://bettereducation.com.au/results/WA/all.aspx and there's http://www.myschool.edu.au/. These sites give you an idea of how schools are performing, but not the whole picture. Dodgy schools can be in any area, dotted around, even in the western suburbs, and certainly in the north and east. Same goes for good schools. If you are in an area where state and private schools don't get good rankings, you might have to travel further afield, and commuting to school has its drawbacks.

eddie007

League tables is as league tables does... Our children are recieving a quality australian education ... There are parents who will find Eton unsatisfactory and that the VERY highly thought of and high ranking in league tables Public school I went to in the uk made my life a misery...

Our children didn't go to private schools in the uk, and they don't here.

Sorry, don't mean to offend (thats just a bonus) ....

HelenTD

Sorry, but you don't get your bonus. My children both go to state school too, but not without some issues. Some of the expensive private high schools do not get good rankings. I have done a lot of work on schooling in WA and am aware of the inconsistencies out there. Any parent needs to do their homework when deciding on a school.

gobbyjock

Totally agree Eddie - it`s all down to the individual kid - I know plenty of folk who have left the private schools because it wasn`t right for their kids - it works the other way too.

deb68

We have three children who went through state schools here in England, ones a qualified nurse, ones at university doing law and the other is at college doing a vetenary introduction course with the view point of going into animal care in some form. My point is that the high school they all attended was in the bottom half of the national schools league table, they are all girls so that might be it, all i do know is that they worked hard at school with people around them who are now doing nothing with there lives and there are others who have moved on to greater things than our children, it is the individual and how they crack on with it.
This has to be the answer over in Australia to, probably applies to almost every school system on earth, look at places like india and other poor countries, they supply first rate students and people with very high standards of grades, they also supply lesser levels of people, all from the same system?
Also, all of our children attended the same primary school on the same council estate, does that make my family any less of a family or is it purely a grade thing?

lauralollipop

hi helen, the houses in Duncraig, etc which are affordable to us all need rennos, they are all original houses and with a big mortgage like that, we would have no money for rennos Think its so hard here. We are looking at Halls head in Mandurah, we love it down there and love the close proximity to the ocean, which is more important to us than the city. However the downside is the schools there are rubbish, so you are right would have to save for private school fees and get name down quick too...... either way, we will lose out on something....

Yes definitely rent for a year or 2 and get to know everywhere in Perth, we only rented here for 6 months as we were desperate to get onto property ladder (cos we rented for 1.5 years in melly too) and i just wish we had of taken more time to look into things more, then I wouldn't be in this position now.................... we would have pushed ourselves a bot harder to get to a nicer suburb instead of just buying where we could afford and thinking it would be ok

HelenTD

Yes, LL, some very painful lessons have been learnt by many when it comes to property. Just be careful you don't rush into a similar situation again, and give yourselves some time to settle into parenthood.