decca

We have lived in Mandurah for two years now, what do you want to know

elmtree

Everything !!!

I understand it has a population of about 50,000.

I suppose what I'm really after is an opinion on its' suitability to live in for families. We have a seven year-old.

Are there any rough areas to avoid ?

Do you feel there is enough to do there ?

How long does it take to drive to Perth ?

Do you know what local schools have a good reputation ?


..... I'd be grateful for any opinions/info.

Madhouse!

[QUOTE=elmtree]Everything !!!

I understand it has a population of about 50,000.

I suppose what I'm really after is an opinion on its' suitability to live in for families. We have a seven year-old.

Are there any rough areas to avoid ?

Do you feel there is enough to do there ?

How long does it take to drive to Perth ?

Do you know what local schools have a good reputation ?


Hi Elmtree,
We have been living in HallsHead Mandurah now for 17months and love it!!
we have 2 kids daughter just turned 16 and son who is 12 yrs old.
Our son goes to hallshead primary school which we can not fault and have noticed how much better he is doing in such short time!
We are only renting at the moment and paying $250 week for a 4x2 two storey house with views of Indian Ocean and Mandurah Estuary.
It takes just over an hour to get to Perth, but with the new train line coming there hoping it to only take 40mins via train which would make commuting to Perth for work no worries at all!
To be honest i can count on one hand how many times i have been in to Perth i find Mandurah has all we need and more!
The only area i can think to avoid settling at first would be part of Greenfields,
i do say only part of that area as there are also nice parts to Greenfields too.
Mandurah to us is perfect, and if you like boating/fishing ect you will be in heaven like us I personaly cant think of a nicer place to bring up our kids!

Claire

aston man

[QUOTE=Madhouse!]

robo43

Hi All

5 of us flying out saturday on PR visa looking in Mandurah area ,have holiday rental in secret harbour for 2 weeks. will post my first impressions in a couple of weeks.
ROB

aston man

is there much building work going on there at the moment?

thanks,marcus

Madhouse!

Everywhere you look there is building going on!! Plenty of work for tradesmen

Jacqui

We have lived in Mandurah for four years now, and still loving it. Put "Mandurah" in the search box and see what it brings up. There are plenty of folks who have been asking the same questions as you over the years so you'll find plenty of your answers already on this site.

When I first asked the same questions as you back in 2001, no-one had heard of Mandurah! I got two replies I think and had to just cross my fingers and hope we'd made the right choice. Hope you'll be very happy here

As the poster above said, avoid Greenfields to start with, you need to get to know the area first to decide for yourself which are the rough parts. Best not to let an estate agent push you into buying a property in a dubious area. My advice would be to look at the developments happening north of Mandurah, Lakelands and Meadow Springs or for coastal, Madora Bay if you are likely to be commuting to Perth for work. To be able to get on the new freeway that heads south to Bunbury (construction due to start soon) these northern suburbs will be better placed. There is a real shortage of building land in Mandurah now and the blocks are just getting smaller and smaller. If you fancy rural or semi-rural, take a look at Pinjarra or any rural suburbs on the edge of Mandurah. There was a report in the paper showing the demand for rural properties for those wanting a "tree-change" and these areas are rapidly gaining favour.

joanc

We live in Pinjarra (Murray River Country Estate) about 20 mins east of Mandurah, Its fantastic, nice small town, great people. Country and close to Mandurah for beach etc. We are now retired, we've been in Oz nearly 11 years, we first lived in Leeming, about 20mins south of Perth and both worked in Perth..
Our son emigrated last Nov. He loves living here, and does not want to live or work nearer Perth. I would recommend it to anyone.

martin102

We will be in Mandurah 13th september, Flying out of Birmingham on the 11th. When do you go Debra?

JOE2369

whats so bad with Greenfields ? drugs / prostitution / robbery / to ethnic what ? i would love to know i saw this http://www.ljhooker.com.au/property_...egory=buy#cont

and thought wow

joanc

Greenfields is very nice our neighbours daughter lives there.

Joan

decca

We have some friends live in Greenfields and it seems a nice place to live, their neighbours are very nice and they have had no problems.

Jacqui

There are plenty of nice places and people in Greenfields; however this is also where you'll find a higher percentage of the population living in HomesWest houses (i.e. council houses). Coodanup and Dudley Park also seem to be in that same "low socio-enonomic" group. I would just be very worried that a real estate agent has a particular house on its books that they can't sell because of the awful neighbours, and will try to dump it on unsuspecting Poms just off the boat. If you already have family or friends in these areas, then you will know which parts to steer clear of and it won't be a problem. Having said that, it's the same wherever you live these days isn't it? Australia is no different to the UK. Find a nice house in a nice suburb and the neighbours from hell move in next door and spoil everything.

When we first looked around Mandurah, we met a lovely real estate agent lady who turned out to be a Pom that had emigrated some 20 years before. She knew just what it was like to be new to a place and worried about where to live. She spent a lot of time taking us all around Mandurah, introducing us to different areas, pointing out things that are done differently here, really took us under her wing, as it were. Nothing was too much trouble. We traipsed around so many houses one weekend, not just from her estate agents but from others too (they have agreements and can collect the keys from other estate agents so you just deal with the one person who can get a feel for what you're looking for). In the end we purchased a house from Elders, so she didn't get the full commission, only a percentage, but we didn't find her pushy or money-driven, just really helpful. I've bumped into her a few times since, and she always asks after the children and how well we've settled etc. The best advice I can give you is to go to Century 21 and ask for Linda Knight. Tell her Jacqui recommended her.

yvsie

hi jacqui how are you?