Pepp

My first post but I've been lurking for some time! Any help/advice that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated

Bit of background - I am moving over to Brisbane in a few weeks time along with my civil partner & our 20 month old son. I've managed to sort a job out which will see me working close to Central Station and in a little while the office will be moved close to the Riverside Centre.

We are looking for some advice on suburbs that we should be looking to rent in. We ideally would like to rent in an area that we can afford to buy in so housing prices are a consideration (we would be looking to spend around $700K on a 3 bed+ house - we might be able to stretch this higher if my partner also decides to work).

Schools are definitley a consideration as when we buy, we don't intend to move for some time. I would like to send our son to a private school but am not yet certain how are family type will impact upon this possibility (I'm aware that the majority of private schools are catholic and therefore would not be supportive of our lifestyle).

Other things that are important to us in an area are:
- access to public transport to get to work (prefer train or river travel over bus)
- minimal commute time to work (i.e. we don't want to live in the outer areas of Brisbane)
- access to good parks and outdoor space
- areas that have family stuff happening and/or have a good local community feeling (currently we do a number of classes e.g. swimming, playgroups etc with my son and live in an area that has a very active community market on the weekends)
- walking distance to cafes for coffee/breakfast etc on the weekends would be a huge bonus

I am also likely to need to travel by air for work at least a couple of times a month so ideally I wouldn't be based in a part of the city that meant I had to travel for hours to get to the airport.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

KJCherokee

Northern suburbs - Woolowin, Nundah, Northgate etc - are on train line and close to Nudgee College. Toowong, Auchenflower are on the river for the Citycat from Regatta and close to BBC (Brisbane Boys College).

Nudgee is Catholic, BBC is Lutheran. Both are near the upper end for fees.

Woolowin, Northgate etc have easy airport access - the airport is that side of town. Toowong etc also have good access now the Airport Link tunnel has been opened and will be even better when Legacy Way tunnel is completed in a year or two's time.

Shenni

There is also Strathpine, Warner and Joyner. At Bald Hills there is St Pauls a non catholic private school and trains are easy to get from eith Bald Hills or Strathpine. There is also a good pool at Lawnton and playgroups. Nice markets also at Lawnton on a Saturday morning

Kim67

This is what $700-$800 will get you in the greater Brisbane area http://www.realestate.com.au/rent/pr...%2c+qld/list-1. Personally I'd stick to within 10km of the city. My usual advice, rent for 12 months and during that time go out every weekend and look at homes open etc in heaps of different suburbs, go to the suburb during school time and have a coffee at at the local shopping centre to check out what type of people live in the area, check out the parks on weekends etc. There are many different types of private schooling in Queensland, Catholic being one of the less expensive private options. If you live in a decent suburb the state school may be an option too. You're son is only 20 months so you have a couple of years to research the best option for him. Good luck.

DadAgain

I'm always here to champion my corner of the woods so:

The Gap/Ashgrove/Bardon.

- Great public schools (arguably best in Brisbane)
- some housing in that price range
- Easy access to hills, bushland and great walking and mountain biking country.
- Very strong family communities (too much for some people)
- 15-25 mins bus to CBD

Great 'safe middle class' area - if you like that kind of thing.

Time to airport? 30 minutes in taxi. (Possibly less with new tunnel)

As Kim said though - definitely worth renting and looking around making sure you know you like the area before committing.

Tockalosh

We are loving doing the "which suburb" runaround.

I liked Albany creek but wife thought it remote

Wife liked robina near the shopping centre, I thought it bland but I did like the more scenic bits

Wife liked Miami, I thought it looked like Blackpool

The first thing we agreed on was not liking spring vale. Bland

Second thing we agreed on was a Lovely house in Hamilton but neither of us wanted to live that close to the city.

Guess it's another weekend suburb hunting weekend coming up

Tramps_mate

I was hovering around Chermside/Aspley/Carseldine/Nundah/McDowall areas..

fish.01

Active suburbs with the ability to put the car away for extended periods, shops, schools, restaurants and on a good commuter train, bus, citycat ferry line, bikeway include Rosalie at Paddington, Red Hill, Kelvin Grove, Wilston, Auchenflower, Toowong, Taringa, Indooroopilly, New Farm/Teneriffe, Teneriffe, St Lucia, pockets of Ashgrove, Bulimba, South Brisbane, West End, Highgate Hill, Wooloowin...your budget should be enough to get a 3 bed in most of them (West End and New Farm you will struggle).

Bulimba:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...ba#post9486480

Nundah:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...e#post10029630

Teneriffe/New Farm:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...y#post10112261

Wilston:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...se#post8683452