hiya all,
going to Perth this Jan/Feb.
Checked out the real estate websites and there is quite a difference in prices depending which suburb you live in.
Does that mean that the cheaper suburbs are less attractive/
more undesirables/ more crime etc. Why are they cheaper?
BTW, I'm no snob - brought up in a council house.
The point being - I'm in a very nice area of Glasgow, good schools, great friends.
I would hate to move my kids (& myself) to a roughish area in Perth.
Does this make sense?
You click on houses on these real estate websites and then quickly go onto another property, because its tooooooooooooo cheap!!!!!
Hubby went last year to his cousins.
He liked (and so did I, going by his home video) -
Joondalup, Iluka(where his cousin lives), Kinross, Ocean Reef, Currambine, Connolly, Hillarys.
I think some of them are hell of expensive compared to other suburbs eg. Rockingham, Mullaloo, Warnbro, Craigie, Duncraig.
What really is the difference. Anybody know?
In other words - where do you NOT contemplate?
Shona x

The main things that drive Perth's prices are: proximity to the CBD (central biz district or downtown) AND proximity to beach/river. Some other things factor in but not as much as the above two. If the suburb is close to BOTH of the above, the price will typically be highest. Also easy access to freeway/train is something that will affect prices of far-flung suburbs.

If the suburb is fairly close to the city and beach/river, but seems low in price, there's some other factor that drags the value down: i.e., large proportion of state subsidized housing with their larger proportion of dysfunctional families & crime, for one. Or the suburb might consist of very small, old worker's cottages that are now family homes but many people don't consider a "2 bedroom plus sleepout fibro cottage with sagging floors & ancient plumbing & wiring" all that desirable.

Of course it makes perfectly good sense. Why move from a nice comfy area into god knows what? That'll probably make you regret the move big time, no matter how nice everything else is.

Yeah, all good suburbs with nothing horribly wrong about them. Typical suburbia, most of them with single family homes, the odd shopping centre, school(s), parks, etc. Hillarys has an old section and a newer section, so the cheaper homes there might be 80's era homes in need of some revamp, but they're usually on bigger blocks than the newer homes.

*Well Rockingham is way, way south of Perth. Might be a beach suburb but it's like a different city. Northeast section is not supposed to be all that great and the high school has a reputation for being a bit rough. South of Rocky is better. Pretty little suburb. Nice to go on a Sunday afternoon.
* Warnbro - far south too. Nothing outstanding.
* Craigie - northeast section is home to Waste Water Treatment Plant, area sometimes smells like poo.
* Mullaloo - maybe you're looking at some of the older homes, but I wouldn't count this one out. Good proximity to everything.
*Duncraig - one suburb but real-estate-wise is divided into Duncraig (north of Warwick), and South Duncraig (south of Warwick). South Duncraig is newer and more expensive. Adjacent to Carine which carries some sort of cachet. I think the north section is a suburb that will take off soon. Good proximity to lots of amenities - good access to freeway/train, shopping, recreation centre, library, only one suburb away from beach which is close enough, and very good high school. Mostly older homes which is probably what keeps the price down but from the several Open Homes we've been to, they're not bad. Some are very nice. Not flash but good solid homes with established gardens and big trees. Bigger blocks.

Balga, Girrawheen, Mirrabooka, Koondoola. Balga is improving, crime rate coming down but I still wouldn't live there. High school very rough. Mirrabooka too.

I've heard Merriwa being called "The Balga of the North". That's up by Mindarie.

I wouldn't contemplate Leda, north Rocky, and anything around Naval Base or Kwinana (heavy industrial area). Supposed to be rough sort around there, but also pollution is bad. When I was a kid, they developed Kwinana as the industrial area and put it way, way south where "nobody would live too close to". But then they put suburbs downwind of the place, far too close as far as I'm concerned. People there claim they have health problems due to living there. Wouldn't be surprised.

Within one suburb, you can have areas that are nicer/worse than the rest of the suburb. You have to take a close look yourself. Internet images don't show the true picture. Best to look at Internet listings with a Perth map, so you can see if the house is on a busy road, backs on to a highway/freeway, across from a school, in front of a roundabout, and any other things which might drive you nuts if you lived there.

Good luck,

Helena

We live In CBD in Joondalup , Helena has done a great job on the Estate agent front . The chances are you will rent when you come out , this has to be for min of 6 months no one will lease for less .
So give yourself time and settle in while you look. then again you could look at building if your hubby is in that game buy a block and do yourselfs this may give you a good start as you will make more money on new house rather than buy older one.
Good luck

I think you the only reason for building is to get EXACTLY what you want. Also the availability of vacant land will determine where you can live not where you want to live.
You will get more for your money buying an established home.

After you do all the painting, garden, retic, pergola, pool/spa, it isn't all that much cheaper to bulid. Unless you want to use cheap and nasty products.