Moving to Brisbane
 

We are moving to Brisbane in March and will be living in the city to start with before we decide where we want to be based.

We have looked into different area but it would be really helpful for some advise and opions of others of nice areas to live.

We have 2 children aged 4 and 1 and my husband will be working around the city so a 30-40 min drive would be the most he would like to drive to the city. As I will be at home with the children I need to be able to get to place easier and for it to be a safe place to live!!

any help would be great
:confused:

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Hi we have been in manly for just over a year - we have a 6 & 4 year old.
My husband works in fortitude valley and takes 35 mins over the gateway bridge to get to work. Its a fab area with lots of parks and familys. Manly state school is great abd my daughter really enjoys it. I am a relief teacher there and the children are excellent.
We have made loads of friends of all nationalities and being on the bay it has a great community feel- markets, films, events, bbqs by the water etc.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

The Redcliffe Peninsula is about 40 mins drive to the city, it is north of Brisbane whereas the Wynumm/Manly area is south.
Suburbs are: Woody Point, Clontarf, Margate, Redcliffe, Scarborough. Nice beaches, parks, family stuff etc.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Does he need to drive or can he take the train? If you're at home with the kids will you have a second car or will you be looking to walk/use public transport? Budget for rent, number of bedrooms, with or without pool?

Do you need to be near the coast?

If you have a 4 year old you want to be looking at primary schools, the NAPLAN results give an indication of the better schools. I've posted a spreadsheet before showing the top 20 schools.

So plenty of choice, to narrow it down we need more info. Look at Bulimba, Ashgrove and Wilston.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

My husband will be getting a company car as he does air conditioning so will be working all over, so no trains to worry about.

For the first 6-12 months will be renting and don't really want to pay more than $550 pw rent, will need min 3 beds.

I have noticed that the further out you go from the city the more you get for you money which is why I was asking for help.

I have looked at North Lakes and Scarborough but thats about all at present

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

550pw will get you a really good house in The Gap with good schools great community and commute time within your parameters.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

It'll get you an alright 3 bed without a pool at best.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Again all depends on what you want. Neither of those are particularly close to CBD, Southbank etc etc. If you want to live in an outhouse of Brisbane those would be fine, if you want access to facilities IMO they're no use.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Really, at peak times?

Wynnum / Manly is east of the CBD...probably even slightly further north than it.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Sorry, meant Wynnum/Manly is south of Gateway Bridge, whereas Redcliffe is north of the bridge

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

550pw rent!! I need to become an air conditioning repairer!

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

That is pretty reasonable for a house near to central Brisbane.

They are a lot more than that the nearer you get to the centre in the better suburbs

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

I know. Iv been searching rentals in Brisbane for 3 months, you can get a superb house for that within 15km of the cbd..

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

That means you also have to travel through 15km of Brisbane traffic if you work in the CBD:eek:

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

The trouble with asking such an open ended question is that you will get SOOOO many replies touting different areas and it may confuse you even further!!

You have a decent budget, not huge, but it should get you something nice within the distance you are looking at from the city, with a pool if you want one.

Would you rather be nearer the water or inland?

Anyway.....just to add to your ever growing list.....

Have a look at the Redlands area. Suburbs such as Wellington Point, Ormiston, Cleveland, Thornlands and Victoria Point. They are all Bayside suburbs, so close to the water. They are great family areas and there is a lot of choice when it comes to schooling.

I hope that helps!!

Love

Rudi
x

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

So you come on and tout your area:rofl:

Where you conveniently have your properties to rent:rolleyes:

Mind you Redlands is too far to commute to the CBD each day.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Yes - I am touting my area

No, I do not have properties to rent, I have short term rentals. As the OP has already stated she is staying in the city for a few weeks whilst she looks around, so these would not be suitable for her anyway

Yes, the Redlands and an easy 40 minute commute into the city.

Go stick you head in the sand somewhere else and come back when you have something useful to add.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

:hysterical:

That is bullshit

It is way more than 40 minutes at busy times.

I live in Redlands remember:)

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

No bun fight please and thanks.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

I do not think it particularly helpful, to people seeking advice, to be given inaccurate information.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Nor do I, but a bun fight won't help either.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

It's more fun though:)

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

can you? really?

I still look regularly as I would really like to find a bargain and pay less. Oldest is in school now so really stuck to The Gap, Bardon and Ashgrove and $550 does not get you much in any of them.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

I do the same commute in about 35 to 40 minutes. Maybe you should invest in a map or a GPS?

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Where from, where to and what time of day?

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

I look regularly too with view to how much rental income I might get or our house, and recently I've come to be conclusion that we wouldn't get any more than $450pw for our house (4bed, pool, ducted air-con).

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

That sounds odd. I recently saw my old house in Mt Gravatt East for rent (4 bed, pool, no garage, asbestos roof) and they were asking high $500s!

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

House across from me went up two months ago, 4 bed, pool and air con. Had a nice new kitchen, bathrooms etc, that was $1100 a week.

If you reckon yours would only get $450 it must be a dump.

This one not far from me is $670 a week and look at the state of it

http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...+gap-405855051

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

I would recommend North Lakes/Mango Hill area. It's great for families, has a decent shopping centre, schools and day care. It also offers good access to the highway. The rail link to the city won't be completed until 2016 but it's a 10min drive to the train station (Bald Hills or Kallangur) in the meantime. The train takes about 20mins so total travel time would be 30mins.

For your budget you'd get a great house too - not so easy closer to the city. Check out Realestate.com.au

It's probably a good idea to find out the areas to avoid rather than the best areas to live since everyone will have their own opinion based on a range of factors.

Best of luck!

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Whats Bracken Ridge like as an area for kids etc??

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

I live in Mt Gravatt East and it's a lovely area - very expensive to live as it's so close to the city. I pay $480 per week for a rather crummy 3 bed bungalow. Suburbs slightly nearer city - Holland Park, greenslopes are a bit more, but it's stiff competition to secure a rental. Nice houses with pools tend to be in the $750 a week area - but when you're here a while, you don't stress too much about having a pool.
Be careful about commuting estimates - if you drive to the city at peak hours it can be desperately slow due to volume of traffic and there are a lot of accidents on the freeway, especially when it rains. Many people (myself included) use the busway or the train as this is often much quicker:fingerscrossed:

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Hi Bingobib777

In your post you mentioned a spreadsheet referring to NAPLAN top 20. I dint suppose you could send it to me. I want to see if there are good schools in the woollengabba area.

Thanks
Sara

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Try this link

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=733785

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

that's about right. I used to go from Redcliffe past/through the city to South Brisbane in about 50-55mins in peak hour traffic. To the city and then finding a park might add a bit more time though

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

if McMansions are your thing, of course. I really don't see the point in North Lakes.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

It's not a great area. Bracken Ridge, Chermside, Zillmere, Fitzgibbon are all a bit dodgy especially after dark and it'll be a nightmare to get to the city in peak times from there.

If your budget goes to $550 you're well into a much better area (not sure what bingobob is on) like the Gap or some nice Northern suburbs Wilston, Mitchelton, Ferny Grove. 30 second search... first one... http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...orne-406631211

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Agreed. I've never seen the point of those places. Not a mature tree in sight, and you want trees, they keep the sun off the ground. Just a sea of tiled roofs that go right to the boundary. If I had a $ for every time I've heard, "it's a shed" about Queenslanders. FFS stay in England if you want a redbrick semi.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Eh I live in The Gap, I think I'm more than qualified to comment.

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Certainly some nice affordable places in Upper Kedron and Ferny Grove..

Re: Moving to Brisbane
 

Fair enough. Your posts came across as very negative that was all. The OP asked for recommendations about areas with accessibility and safety and good areas being the main concerns. They did not ask if they could afford the perfect house in the perfect area complete with pool and aircon. 550 is very do-able for what they're asking.