scotscaz

Hi everyone, we are new to the site. Looks like we are moving to Melbourne at the end of the year with my husband's company. He will be working in CBD but we want to stay outside the city. It has been suggested that we look around Williamston area, anyone living in this area that can tell us more? We have primary children so thoughts on the school would be great too.
Thanks very much

elice_in_oz

Melbourne is very, very spread out and varied. You will need to tell us more about what you want for us to start selling our piece of Melbourne as the best place to live

You mention Williamstown, so I'll assume that you want to be near the beach. Are you coming on a 457 visa? If so, I'll assume you'll be renting. What weekly rent are you prepared to pay? How big a house/garden do you want/need? Will you be using public transport or car? Will you have one or 2 cars? Will you need some kind of childcare (before or after school)?

Once we know more about the sort of lifestyle you are after, we will be able to advise you accordingly.

scotscaz

Thanks for the quick response, and yes, we are coming over on a 457 visa. We will be renting and are hoping to rent for no more than 600 per week, less if we can; a three, or four, bedroomed house. You are also right about wanting to be near a beach. My husband will commute by train to work so we need to be need a station and we hope to have only one car, he is hoping to have a commute of no more than 30 mins. I want to work too, part time preferably, but will sort this out when we get there. We have two children, so when I start work we will need the after school care. Have I answered everything? If there are any other areas you can recommend that would be fantastic, we are all very excited about the move.
Thanks again.

Margaret3

As I answer to everyone on here. Narrow it down to good schools, if you can afford private education then you have more choice to where you stay, if not, target the suburbs that have public schools with good reputations. Also the after school care was excellent in the primary school we choose, although that was luck and not research.

This is what we did , we narrowed it down to a few suburbs then tried to get a rental in these suburbs, glen waverly (south east suburbs) was the first place we got a rental and havent really regretted that !!! (excet good public schools mean high house prices, so buying in GW is out of the question for us), so we rent and save until our youngest is finsished high school. Oldest now at university .

We rent a nice house near the train station at $450 per week, this is exceptionally good value for the house we are in, dont think we would be that lucky again, think next time it will be around $550.

papilon

One word,Sandringham, should tick all the boxes

Margaret3

elice_in_oz

Except that there is a grand total of two 3-bedroom houses for rent in Sandringham under $600/week at the moment...

There are some in the surrounding suburbs too but it's slim pickings... Anything along that train line and within 30 minutes of the CBD will be expensive methinks.

Williamstown does look like a better bet with houses, and under 30 minutes on the train. Have a look at Altona and surrounds as there are some nice pockets there. Then again, I live in the hills as far away from the beach as can be whilst still in Melbourne so I am not the best person to recommend beach suburbs
Best way is to have a look at a map of Melbourne, check the suburbs by the beach, check the public transport website for commuting time, then have a look on a real estate website for an idea of rentals and then research the schools.

If the schools are a priority (although tbh, public primary schools are mostly good except for a few exceptions), then do as Margaret suggested, but be prepared to compromise on rent or size of house. Rents are high anywhere near the really good high schools but that would be for longer term I guess, if your children are still young, so I wouldn't make that a priority yet.

Mummy3

We stayed on the edge of sandingham for 4 weeks, lovely but very expensive and a lot of locals went private schooling... They didn't rate the public ones.
Beach isn't everything!!!

scotscaz

Thank you all for your responses.
Margaret3, can you tell us more about Glen Waverley, people have mentioned this area to us and advised us of good schools in this area too.
We are hoping to pay less than $600 pw for accommodation but, as someone mentioned, the rental market seems quite quiet in some in areas.

RedDragon2008

Glen Waverley is a short train line, and being the end of the line I would expect your husband will enjoy a seat on his inward journey.

It has an extensive mall and the kingsway more than caters for food/cafes/movies etc.

Glen Waverley is also well situated for both the Monash motorway (east west motorway slighly south of Glen Waverley) and the Eastern Freeway (east west freeway slightly north of Glen Waverley).

Springvale and the relatively new east link also provide quick access south to the beach.

South of Glen Waverley are also commercial districts such as Mulgrave and Clayton which may be a source for part time work (dont recall you mentioning vocation but have assumed office work?)

On Waverley road close to Glen Waverley is also the large aquatic centre with wave pool.

scotscaz

Thanks for the detailed information, will look into the areas a bit more.
No doubt I will be back on with more questions as we progress.
Thanks to everyone!

Kiwikaye

We're in Mount Waverley (next to Glen Waverley). Have been here since March and really enjoying it. Our place is 3 beds (we have 2 kids) - not huge but big enough for us and backyard for the kids to play in, for $400 pw. We're 10 mins (max) walk from our daughter's primary school and a 15 min walk to the train station. We love the area - good access to the freeways for getting out of town at weekends, great shopping centres nearby, walks along Scotchmans Creek.

Not near the beach unfortunately, but a good area all the same.

Margaret3 - can I ask did you send your kids to state High School?

mel39

Some great walks in that area - from end of Highbury Road to Jells Park through Bushy Park Wetlands with beautiful views to the Dandenong Mountains. Also Jells Park itself is great - ducks on the lake and good for kids.
And it's only about 20 minutes by car and you are in the heart of the Dandenongs themselves - rain forest and a very chilled feel.

Commute isn't bad to CBD but I think it is a bit longer than 30 minutes. There is also the tram from Vermont South although takes longer.

Margaret3

yes, the oldest arrived in year 10,poor thing , she and us hadnt a clue what was going on!! but she did ok, and is now at uni (via tafe, which she loved more than uni!, you know the holmesglen one on waverly road). I am very proud with the way she has coped, gonna take this opportunity to boast, lol, she had a diploma in business, sport and even management, but realised it was not for her, so she is now doing a degree in public health at Deakin, where she is realising she is very passionate about the state of public housing in melbourne!!! She still keeps in lots of contact with a group of friends from her school here and from tafe . She also works very hard casual in a clothes shop for her spending money.
Our youngest one is at the same high school now and doing ok, she's not a great academic, so we back it up with a tutor. No real problems at school, just the usual teen stuff.
I have no issues with the state schools here but if i could've afforded private then i would've. Daughters boyfriend went to a very prestigious private school in Melbourne, and some of the stories he tells you about it is horrifying!! so all in all am pleased with the choices we made education wise.

We tried to get a rental in Mount Waverley and Mackinnon, but as i said we got a half decent one in GW first,

Margaret3

I love Jells park, my dream is to buy a house that backs on to it, I take the dog there all the time, walk round the park and have a coffee and a chat to whoever at the cafe.