What suburbs in Sydney offer a nice quietish environment, decent neighbourhood and reasonable rent prices?

I have been looking on rental site, but unfortunately without being there, you have no idea what the suburb is like.

We live in Westleigh, north of Sydney which is lovely, with parks, schools nearby and very peaceful. It is about a 45 minute train ride to the city. The suburbs of Normanhurst, Pennant Hills, Thornleigh are also really nice. Rental prices are from about $500 per week.

Marsfield, Epping, Ryde, Lanecove, St Leonards, Kingsford

Oh ok....

I will be working in Ashfield....

What is Bankstown like? or something round that way.....not too far.

And yes - thanks poster 2, schools are another thing as we ave a 9 year old daughter.

This has been covered on this site, so do a search and you may get some better idea.
Also you may want to be more specific i.e

What is reasonable $ to you?
Do you have kids?
Do you want a house/apartment?
Where will you be working?
Decent depends on what you are comparing it to - decent if you come from Chelsea is restricted, decent if you come from a dodgy part of Liverpool could be almost anywhere.


ahh.. your reply just beat mine

Cool thanks - I will have a looksy. I was using my man eyes so just sorta done a quick scan and didnt see anything initially lol. I will put on my woman eyes now.

I am not sure how dodgy those areas ar in UK, but we have some pretty grotty areas in NZ and I do not want to go to Australia and inadvertantly end up in one over there! LOL.

$500 per week works out to be about £1000 per month!

Is that the cheapest? We're looking to move from manchester to sydney in a year or so, but in manchester we're renting a decent size two bedroom flat for £675 a month. Is sydney really THAT much more expensive? If so might have to consider living somewhere else.

Please fell free to tell me I am wrong but doesn't it work that $500 is £250 (approx)?

Yes £250 per week = £1000 per month

I was just checking

of course your right.

Now where are those reading glasses oops I am wearing them

check out www.domain.com.au or www.realestate.com.au and see what is in your price range.
then check out www.131500.info for public transport options from locations that may suit you

no, that's not the cheapest - wait until the exchange rate changes to 2.8, then $500 will = ~£180/week or ~£720 a month....

HI Luke Brown

I have been looking on lots of real estate sies and it all depends on the suburb you live in. Obviously water front properties are prime rentals and are at the ridiculous end of the scale but the further out you go the lower the rent seems.

I am not sure what suburbs are worth living in though.

I was looking at a rental in Bankstown for $400 a week. 3 Bed with double garage and easy maintenance yard.

We currently in NZ pay NZD$265 for a 15 year old 2 bedroom house with internal garage in a really nice neighbourhood, which is cheap but we are also a one hour commute from the city and work.

When we move we dont want to commute for that long if we can help it.

I am pretty sure that Bankstown and many surround suburbs are not really that well thought of. You may wish to check out other suitable suburbs - if an area is cheap, there is often a reason...
Good luck

That is very true.

I didnt think $400 was too cheap though. I have seen cheaper, like $280 for a 3 bed home that looks a bit grotty.

I will heed that advice though and if that area isnt too highly though of, I will look around.

Luckily I will be there for 4 weeks on my own so can have a bit of a scout before my partner and kid join me.