Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

Is this possible?
Living in Brisbane and loving it but may have to go South for work in the big smog.
What family oriented areas can you find a decent 4 bed house for <$500k if at all?
Used to live in Balmoral and loved that but could just about afford a lock-up garage with that!
Suburbs will have to do!

Any ideas?

Andrew

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

we're looking in the Shire which is about 20km south of Sydney and about half an hour on the train from the CBD. There are certainly 4 bed houses available in the 500's with some in the 400's depending on the area.

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

My big sister and her husband lived in Oatley for 15 years and only moved away from the city because their priorities changed - not because they were fed up with the place. Not sure what sort of place you're after - but there's a wide variety of good property available in the area. It's on the main train line into Central and has a really nice vibe to it :)

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

MMmmm.................... Melbourne??? :D

Cheers

Buzzy

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

We're looking in the next couple of stops down as you say its about 30 minths to the city on regular trains plus only a 10 minute drive to the beach. I would expect you can find a nice property in your price range in the area particularly if you don't mind driving to the station.

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

Hills District. Family area, lots for sale under $500k.

Alternatively, any of the so-called 'western suburbs' - but you'd need to pick carefully. Some are lovely areas and some have -er- problems. LIterally thousands of houses for sale in that price range.

Only found about half a dozen 4-bed houses in the whole of Sutherland Shire for less than $500k on realestate.com so they're probably the worst houses in the area and to be avoided. Also nothing in any decent suburb in the St George area (west of Botany Bay).

Another alternative area is the very Upper North Shore around Hornsby Heights and Berowra.

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

Wattle Grove or Voyager Point? They are in the South West suburbs but nice, modern family oriented areas with a good train service into the city. Never had any problems on the East Hills line.

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

Really?? We have been looking for 9 months in the Shire, looking to spend upto $750K and cannot find anything decent. For decent area's down here (Sylvania inc Waters, Caringbah South, Lilli Pilli, Gymea) think minimum of $650K.

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

We're looking at Como, Oyster Bay, Jannali & Bonnet Bay and there are plenty in the $550 and $650k range (we're looking at up to $800k at present since only I've got a job). We're just a bit limited in that we want bush views (preferably bush garden & water views) with the ability to walk to the station each day and aren't willing to pay asking price. We've put a couple of offers on places in the last couple of days and are just waiting to hear back from the vendors. Saying that we're not in any rush as I think the market isn't going to go higher and is pretty likely to go lower (if I could stand renting for a year then I would but I can't so I'm willing to take some loss on the property I buy).

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

Yes absolutely beautiful place there is no doubt about that but no good in the peak travelling times or when the weather gets hot and bush fires are threatening, only one road in and one road out, stick to sylvania, miranda, gymea ect where there is three major roads. como was nearly wiped out by bush fires a little while ago so check your area carefully.

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

From our point of view Miranda and Gymea are to far out of the CBD on the train and Sylvania isn't on a train line. We also want bush views not blocky areas which is why we're looking in the areas we are. We will be using the train not cars so won't get the peak travel issues any more than people in Miranda & Gymea (plus train takes just over half an hour from Como to the CBD whereas driving takes more like 50 minutes plus even in the middle of the night. We've seen which areas were wiped out by the bush fires of 1996 and are happy to take that risk for the beautiful views you get (we even looked around a place that is currently on the market that was underinsured at the time of the fires but it was too small and not enough character in the house or garden).

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

Does anyone know if there is a website aling the lines of upmystreet for Sydney, showing things like crime figures, house prices, leisure facilities, and so on? It could be a useful place to start.

Re: Where to live/buy in Sydney for <$500k?
 

The Real Estate websites do a Suburb snapshot thing that shows demographic info, average house/unit prices etc. You just have to enter the Suburb name or Postcode. Try:

http://reareports.realestate.com.au/
or
http://www.domain.com.au/Public/SuburbReport.aspx