Geelong Gent

Oh how we suffer

herrchook

Stuart, in Caroline Springs (where I live) the most you'll spend in rent is around $400 per week. We are curently renting a 5 bed plus study and rumpus house for $340.

We are around a half hour drive from the city and it's about a 35-40 min train ride from Watergardens station (which incidentally is end of the line so a seat is assured inbound).

I have heard of only one break in and that was 18 months ago. I'm sure there's crime out there but I reckon it's minimal as we never hear about it. Good range of state and private schools and good amenities round here. Also, it's a really nice community and we're very happy with it.

Good luck with it all. BTW, we found our on arrival accom on stayz.com.

Mr Anderson

ha ha ha good pictures of the beach

try taking pictures of the town centre

its not that bad in retrospect, it just reminds me of bolton or preston in the uk.

Im originally from preston and if i wanted to move back there i wouldnt move half way round the ****ing world and pay a fortune to do so! Thants all iim saying i suppose. I want better if i have come this far.

The beach is nice but it doesnt make up for the roughness looking of the town.
Im talking asbout frankston itself, Frankston South is nicer.

Mornington on the other hand................................ very nice

The Crow

I'd rather live in Frankston/Seaford than any of the new build estates/suburbs - that's what you call faceless.

Mr Anderson

Fair enough, we all have our point of view. Ive told you my reasons.

Pomster

my mate has just moved into Point Cook, and her 13 year old daughter (who is quite bright) thinks the schools are appalling.

Nothing to substantiate this except for a 13 year old's opinion (they just moved from Geelong)

charliegirl

Hi, I lived in Melbourne for a while and can suggest the area around Altona Beach and Seaholme as a good area for families. It's a little closer to the city than Point Cook with more pubic transport options. Altona has a really cute little village shopping area, with a bigger shopping centre nearby. If your budget is $600- $800 per week, you will be able to get a very nice place. Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has a house in Altona which is really unusual because it's not considered a cool area. It's really very much family territory.

If you want to find out a little more about Altona, I'd suggest checking out www.cityhobo.com

I found it very useful for Sydney and noticed recently that it's expanding into Melbourne. It's profiled Altona.

The Crow

Many people are happy on these estates and that's great - I just think you need to drive around a real variety of areas before you jump in. We are so lucky in Victoria to have such a wide choice of differing suburbs and housing.

You certainly can get a lot of house for your money, but against that, for me, is a sterile and artificial living environment. They give you 'your' shops and 'your' club and 'your' school - but, I don't want purpose built facilities - I want an area that has grown over many, many years with a little bit of history and an established population and village centre.

Geelong Gent

With all areas mate there are good and not so good streets. We are lucky (well actually no - we did do our research), our area is secluded from hoon activity and has all the bonuses of good location near beach, near key transport links, near shops and yet is a quiet tree lined area.

Had more sleepless nights in south yarra on saturday nights than in Frankston. But then I'm not a pub or club person.

WithIce

We've just come back from a reccie and found this place good:

Brighton on the Park

www.brightononthepark.com.au/static/welcome.asp

http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel...ghtononthepark

We got a 3 bed, 2 bath place for $240 a night, but we were only staying a few nights and you should be able to get it cheaper for longer stays. All the other families we met there were emigrating, and on longer stays until they got a rental/bought.

Plus points:

*Good size - 3 beds, 2 bath (we are a family of 2 adults, 3 kids - all under 7)
*Big telly/VCR
*Squash Court (we also used it as a space for the kids to run around, so great for if its too wet to go to the park) Bring some squash balls!
*Good sized kitchen with full sized table, fridge/freezer, microwave, oven, washer, dryer
*Direct gated access to Landcox Park (its got a nice little playground and duckpond, it was also really easy to get chatting to the local Mums there and get lots of useful info!)
* 5 minutes from a Tram into town (about 30 minute journey) - helpful if one of you has taken the car.
* 10 minute drive to the beach (the one with all the beach huts)

So/So points!

*Swimming pool fully fenced with shallow bit for little ones (but 'solar heated' - euphemism for 'very cold' - worth bringing wetsuits if its not full summer! )
* 15 minute walk to North Brighton Train Station (But you have to cross the Nepean highway which is an enormous and busy road and just crossing it can take 5 minutes!). Its about 15/20 minute train journey to CBD.
* 15 minute walk to Bay street shops (where the train station is), lots of shops and food places but once again you have to cross the Nepean highway.
*Internet - we were told to bring our laptop as they had internet access. But there wasn't any in our apartment so I assume you have to use the owners, but never bothered to find out in the end.
* Heating/air con units in a couple of rooms but not all of them
*Fixtures and Fittings & decor were all a bit tired and dated and a couple of the rooms were a bit dark but this was more than compensated for by the amount of space we had. Having 3 beds meant there was lots of room for the kids to play and run about and we didn't have to share with them.

Brighton is a lovely area but house prices are super expensive so are out of reach for many. We saw 4 bed rentals for about $800, although some areas of Brighton are more desirable than others. (The Church street shop area is fab and has a lovely villagey feel).

But even if you are not going to live there its a nice place to recover from the jet lag with the children, while you research other areas. Our other choice of area to stay was to just be central but it was too expensive but then you are near the museum, aquarium, shops etc.

Hope this helps!

WithIce x

EdnaAverage

Some great advice from Mr Anderson earlier in the thread!

I can't advise on ST rentals on arrival as luckily we had a serviced aprt for the first month. However, I do know from bitter personal experience that it's a bit of a nightmare trying to find somewhere more permanent.

We've just got a place in the CBD which is especially cut throat at the moment and when I get a minute, I'm going to to do a FAQ to hopefully help others avoid the stress that we had. We're pretty robust but we really were ready to go home at one point about a week into the search, although the lack of sleep due to the 37 degree was probably a factor in that....

It is very different to the UK system and you just need to go with the way things work and use it to your advantage!

As a priority, before you leave the UK, I'd

1. Photocopy your driving licence, passport, birth cert and as many refs as you can get eg old landlord if you have one, old work, new work, professional reference from a friend (I got one from an accountant). You might also want to consider copying other financial info such as proof that you have a mortgage etc or that you are a landlord yourself if you have rented your UK place out. Basically loads of stuff to prove your identity and the fact that you can pay the rent.

2. If you can, set up an Australian bank account before you leave and have at least one statement, preferably showing a few hundred dollars balance copied.

3. If anything is unclear, consider attaching a single page explanation of your affairs with something that makes you stand out as 'good' tenants eg a promise that you won't trash the place etc.

If you have all of this, you can easily put packs together for each place that you're interested in and hand it to the agent at the viewing so that it's seriously considered and hopefully first in line. You can pay over the odds, offer lots of rent up front but if you're first in line and you're a good prospect, you probably won't have to. I wouldn't do that as a first option but I think that's morally wrong and I'm stubborn! Ultimately, you need a roof over you and your family.

Good luck,

Edna x

Sergio Lopez

There's a reason why new areas like Caroline Springs, Point Cook, etc etc are cheaper than the rest...on a yield basis (for investors) they attract higher rental yields than so called expensive places like Brighton. Translation? from a renters point of view YOU get less home for your buck. Pay more, rent in a blue chip suburb like Brighton - especially if you value, a cleaner environment (the West is more polluted), a more desirable location (places like Brighton are simply nicer!), a safer location (crime can happen anywhere, but locals in the West only live there because they can't afford to live anywhere else, they would ALL live in the East if they could) and a much better networking / social opportunity (surround yourself with successful people and families and guess what? you'll have a much "richer" experience and so will your kids).

You get what you pay for - real estate is no different. Those ads on TV promoting the latest estate in the far west or south-east are a joke...you hear things like, "...we love it here, we love taking walks around the (artificial) lake" - mmm, and the "real" commute time to work?, the poor infrastructure?, the desert-like wind swept plains that surround their "oasis"?, the lack of that "feeling"?...come on get real!