jules and mark

We hope to be in Melbourne by mid December - we have two young children 5yrs and 2 yrs. Would be great if anyone could let us know which suburbs are worth considering settling in We do not know anyone there, so any info would be much appreciated. We moved from South London to Dorset 14 yrs ago, so we are happy to be out of the city, but within commutable distance for work.

bigjugs

Forget melbourne its FREEZING!!!
Head North East its Fab

Really don,t know just ENJOY

lor

Would be great if anyone could let us know which suburbs are worth considering settling in We do not know anyone there, so any info would be much appreciated.

just wanted to say welcome and good luck
sorry cant answer your question as were in the same boat. :scared:

HUP

Its a very tricky question. What are your professions/likes etc?

For us we liked the South East suburbs. You can get a rural feel with plenty of amenities, but that may not be for everyone. The suburbs I would recommend are Berwick, Beaconsfield, Fertree Gully, Some area of Narre Warren, Lysterfield

Flying Banana

Difficult question really as everyone will have a different opinion on what is ideal for them.

Lots of different factors to consider, whether you want to be close to the water (expensive), close to the country (further out from city), what amenities do you want close by, happy with a car for getting about or want to use public transport, where you're going to be working, how long a commute do you consider reasonable......... etc etc, the list goes on.....

You're probably in a good position without any friends or rellies out here, you can choose anywhere without needing to worry about being close to those you know.

Also I found areas I liked the look of on the net from property websites and other sites didn't fit the bill and some I hadn't even considered are actually more up my street.

As a rough guide start with work, Any idea if your jobs are likely to be in the city or out in the suburbs, if so use the job websites to see which areas your type of jobs are more prevalent in, ie if all the jobs you find are in the SE Suburbs then moving to the North of the city isn't probably a good idea and vice versa.

If you hope to be working in the city, what sort of a commute do you consider reasonable? As a rough guide allow 45 mins to an hour on the train from stations at the end of the line. For driving in the freeway system is good, in general traffic is a lot less than say in most of the SE of England however, there are days when it will be just as busy as the M25.

Your main arterial roads into the city are:

From SE: Nepean Highway from Frankston up the coast, lots of traffic lights not a freeway. Princes Highway, bigger three lane highway, still traffic lights and can get pretty busy at peak times. Monash Freeway, proper 100kmh freeway, turns into a toll road before the city, gets pretty busy in peak times, and not just close to the city, a lot of local traffic uses it further out to go in towards town to other suburbs for work. From the east Burwood highway, Maroondah Highway, again like the Nepean just a big suburban road lots of lights and can get snarled up going through individual suburb shopping areas. Eastern Freeway, 100kmh road, no tolls runs from top of Springvale Road to the outskirts of city, last bit into CBD gets pretty chokka at peak too.

From the West, the Western Ringroad over the Westgate Bridge into Southbank side of city, bridge seems to get quite slow at times, a fair few accidents on it and no practical way round it, Western freeway from some of the newer 'burbs like Hopper's Crossing, Caroline Springs, freeway to edge of city then normal highway with lights et al. From the North the Tullamarine and Calder Freeways, Tulla turns into tollway near the city and joins the other end of Citylink (www.citylink.com.au) which comes from the Monash in the SE. A return trip using a significant amount of the tollway will run about $10 a day or a bit less.

For public transport have a look at http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/ good maps of the train system there to give you an idea of where to have a look. For a trip daily into the city from 20-30km out of town then allow about $60 a week per person.

Next main consideration I guess is property, assume you will rent initially until you get jobs etc sorted, so need to look at what you will hope to spend have a look on www.realestate.com.au to get an idea what you like the look of and can afford. If you're not sure where the suburbs are then use www.whereis.com.au to see maps. A good map for looking at the suburbs is by Hema and is available in the UK http://www.estate-publications.co.uk...ref=1865001236 one side shows the Metro area of Melbourne with an Alphabetical index of all the suburbs and gives a good feel for distance and roads/trains etc.

With rental costs if you get a nearly new 4 bed house in some of the new Western Suburbs, or out on the fringes of the SE 'burbs you're probably looking at $250-$300 a week rent for somewhere nice with all mod cons, come in towards the city and prices go up accordingly, and unless you've won the lottery or are living in Surrey's stockbroker belt don't look at places like Toorak or South Yarra lol.

Guess with kids schools will also be a factor, I know the schools in my area (Glen Waverley) have a very good reputation and consequently you can add $50-$100 a week onto rent for a house in a school zone for one of the desirable schools.

If you haven't been to Melbourne before then I'd suggest find somewhere temporary for when you arrive, probably close to city in case you don't have a car straight off then it's down to the joyous task of trolling round loads of rental properties and suburbs to find one you like initially. Securing a rental can be done in days so better to do it once you get here and get a feel for the place. Again you might pick somewhere then find once you're working it doesn't suit what you want ie travel distance/time etc and gives you the chance to move again before jumping in and buying somewhere.

Hope this might help, if you want any info on places feel free to send a PM.

Bordy

Also ask in Britvics.

http://s7.invisionfree.com/BritVics/index.php?

Plenty of Melbourne folk on there.


As Bigjugs says its a freezing 23 degrees here today, so not sure how you will cope with that.

So if your a real wuss head North east as BJ says.

jules and mark

:scared: What do you mean it's freezing!!!!! No one told us Only joking! We will ENJOY - can't wait to get out

Jule's & Mark

jules and mark

Thanks for your reply, we'll have a look into these. Appreciate it's a difficult one to answer, but rural feel etc, would do us just fine

Many thanks

Jule's & Mark

ljj

Yes, it's really "freezing" which is why we have spent the last 4 days in the pool!!

... well we did get out every so often to eat/sleep/ go to work etc we are not all wrinkled from the water!

Guarantee it will throw it down next Tuesday as it is the Melbourne Cup and we like to show the rest of the country and the world how bad it can get here. That way we can keep our fabulous State to ourselves or else everybody would be trying to move here LoL.

Only joking there are lots of nice places in Australia but I get a bit fed up with others calling the 'cold' in Melbourne. On a typical winters day here you will see lots of Aussies wrapped up in hats, scarves, gloves and ...thongs (flip-flops)! Winter here does get cooler than a lot of places but compared to the UK but it's not that bad! I find it's colder inside houses than outside. Our last house had no heating, it got cold but only a 'put another layer on' cold.


Louise

woodyinoz

If you fancy rural you have the 'The Hills'. Does get colder and damper here though!

Mount Evelyn area gives a nice rural feel whilst still being close to the subs. You are looking at about 55mins to CBD here.
Warrandyte also is fairly rural with the CBD and shopping being in easy reach. It is further out from the beach though.

Shellfish

very true, our place is colder inside than outside

As you say, this great weather will invariably give way to a storm on Tuesday

Bordy

It certainly did last year,with a vengence.

ljj

I know and I'm camping for the first time ever this Cup weekend. Is it possible to drown in a tent?? :scared:

Louise

Bordy

No but you can be charged with loitering with in tent.

charlotte

Dear Jules & Mark,
we are just going to start our application process - and hope to be in Melbourne next December! We also have 2 boys age 3 & 6 - so I read your thread with great interest!

does anybody know if you can buy an 'old' house whilst on a visa, or does it have to be a new build or land - we have heard that we won't be able to buy anything for ages?

Thanks for the help
Charlotte