Hi me and oh are moving in august to Perth, any advise appreciated on weather North or southis a better option ??????....mandurah or ocean reef/mindarie ...we like the look of Mandurah as houses seem less , !!!......and looks nice looked up halls head area etc, and also (north ) been looking up mindaire ocean reef area a little more cost for renting but also looks nice , schools a must as have 4 kiddies ...three teenagers ,one 7 yr old ...looked up mandurah and the schools on here are slated but not the catholic ones but they seem hard to get kids into .......north burbs well ocean reef high ...I don;t blumin know lol..........just some thoughts would be greatly appreciated as got enough stress trying to sell everything rehome my old hound ...........as she is too old and ill to go. take three cats and all the paperwork is doing my nut in....................just need that little help in deciding, we will obviously have a good old drive around when we get there before renting , and choosing an area ...........but for now its good to know ur views

I only know NOR but not mindarie where you are thinking although I have been to the marina and it is nice.

I was going to ask where you will be working but if it is CBD then you are probably the same distance either from Mandurah and Mindarie.

Can't really help other than saying you are probably best to have a look at both areas when you get here to decide.

thankyou for your help......no job as yet that would help decide I guess hubby is a tradie plumber/carpenter any jobs any one lol ?

Gidday Bruce n Sheila

One point that I see is that you are looking either quite far north or far south of Perth itself. Whilst there is a good highway connection, traffic can be pretty slow on them especially at peak hours.

The northern parts of Perth (around where you are looking) are very popular with brits and there are a lot of new housing developments going on.

There is a new guide book to Perth suburbs and schools which shows you maps of the suburbs using different colours to show the better-off and less-well-off areas - a guide to likely prices - plus the nearby schools (religious, government, independent etc) and shops.

Also shows where different people tend to live, brits, south africans, various other nationalities as well as people who work in different professions and have different income levels - all pretty interesting.

Have a look at www.perth-suburb-guide.com for more info if you are interested.

As with all things you will get a feel as you drive around as to where you are most likley to be happy settling.

best of luck with the move - above all it's an adventure!!

If I were moving to Perth and had three teenage kids, I think I might aim to rent somewhere like Duncraig in the North or Willeton in the South where there are good state school, it may end up saving you a fortune.

Private schools fees are not as reasonable as they used to be.

Also, as mentioned above, getting into the city from areas like Ocean Reef or Halls Head, can be very difficult, however if you OH is a tradie chances are his work will be on the outskirts of the city and traveling out in the morning will be pretty much trouble free.


Good luck.

Has your husband checked out re getting his plumbing licence ? He won't be able to work as a plumber without it and the authorities [and other plumbers] take a very dim view [i.e. VERY hefty fines] of anyone doing work without a licence.

I don't think Carpenters need a licence in WA but many go onto get their building licence [which again you must have to do any building work].

Welcome to the red-tape paradise that is WA....[although it does give the consumer a modicum of protection].

It's quite an expensive book, at $42.55!

Why not north east? Plenty of good areas around Midland and the Swan Valley.

Hi peeps, husband wanted to go to wa instead of brissie as didnt have to retrain, he is a carpenter by trade , but currently a manager at the local council for plumbers , he has nvq this and that , will get his licence in wa , justt needs to know how to go about it all.................ref north and south we are open to all of perth just , many recommendations are ocean reef etc ....north east ? which areas do you recommend I will take a look.....thankyou

I would personally say to move closer to the city, I lived up north in clarkson, close to mindaire, for a year or so and even though I got the train every morning it still took a long time.

There really is nothing up north either to be honest. I moved a lot closer and prefer it. The further out you go the cheaper the prices and nicer the houses get but also the more empty things become. There are some nice places closer to the city and its well worth going for them instead

Any areas you recommend looking at , we have 4 children and it seems the closer to the city the house rentals are extortionate ....need some where nice as new start don't wsnt to be crammed in ...how about mandurah ...as mandurah has alot there does it not ? it's a city also smaller ....am sure there must be work for hubby in south ?? .....

problem with Swan Valley, no train and hot hot hot and a long way to the ocean.

There are quite nice suburbs closer NOR to Perth. Rentals in those areas often have not been renovated for 40 years, are dark and don't appeal to newcomers. To be honest, initially I would prefer to live in a brighter and newer house. Although many suburbs NOR closer to the city have a large number of villas/units.

with 3 cats your choice of rentals might be a bit limited.

Hi I would also like to live in a brighter newer build , and they seem expensive the closer to the city !! no winning really maybe mandurah I should stick to

there are alot of rentals I have found on realestate,com.au saying pets negotiable....many don't like dogs but am sure we will find some where ....