muffinoz

Yea ... good post ... similar to you we've been on the bayside for about 14 months ... in Cleveland ... didn't have the disasters that you had ... but we've had a couple of hiccups ...

We rented for the first few months and saw the house that we really liked at a price that was more than we planned and before we were really ready to move into our own place ... however we took the plunge and really glad we did ... judging by the house next door which has just sold (nothing to do with us ... honestly!) our place has gone up over 5% in 6/7 months ...

The hiccups have been around getting work ... I left a really good network of contacts in the UK and building up a new one over here is hard work in itself ... had to contract in Sydney for four months to start ... great rates but the weekly commute / hotel living wasn't what I came over here for ... have now got a contract in Brissie after three months intensive searching and hopefully that will lead to more in the future

My other half has found it difficult to get work and has temporarily stopped looking, fortunately we are not reliant on her income. On the other hand our 21 year old has built up a great social network and has picked up a couple of jobs while he decides what he wants to do longterm ...

Work aside and being pissed off with no daylight saving in Qld ... only minor grumbles about other things which are more than offset by a great lifestyle ...

Cheers ... David

ozzydreamer

But of a long shot, but........ oh and I have decided on Brisbane for the area of choice, but not the exact place!
Oh will be looking for an Engineering job, and we will have 2 young children just starting school.
I like the shops and cafe's and riverside parks, oh doesnt like to be too crowded, and likes a roomy house (we have a cramped 2 bed house here with awful neighbours so anything is an improvement). We are looking to rent out house here in UK which will just cover mortgage here, so want to rent in Australia.
Oh is a hard worker and not afraid of early starts, I will quite happily work during term time in the school hours (Childminder maybe) or would quite happily be a stay at home mum if we can afford to.

We live within our means and budget well............so any ideas of the good places in Brisbane for a young family? And any tips on how on how to decide?

muffinoz

Hi there ... there have been a number of threads recently ... mainly in December about Brisbane suburbs .. might be worth doing a search ... my tuppence worth is that the bayside round from Thorneside, Birkdale, Wellington Point, Ormiston to Cleveland is pretty good ... they're all on a train line into the city and there's loads of light industry round the Pacific Motorway corridor about 20 / 25 mins drive away.

Not too crowded plenty parks... some on the waterfront ... loads of cafes / bars particularly in Cleveland

Can't comment directly on schools but second hand info would suggest they're pretty good

Generally the bayside is a tad more expensive than out west, but there are still pockets of reasonably priced property ... run a search on the web on Ray White, LJ Hooker or Century 21 sites. The bayside is a couple of degrees cooler than in west as well ...

Cheers ... David

comet555

I second the Bayside area, we really like it here.

Ozzydreamer:
How much are you looking to spend on a house, and what kind of house are you expecting? Sadly, that's often the most important factor. You might love an area closer to the city (cbd) but it won't do you much go if you can't afford to live there.

The Bayside area would be a bit more expensive than the areas west of the city, but you're by the ocean and have a breeze here. The areas right around the city centre are really expensive, so unless you're bringing over lots of money with you I'd look carefully there.

ozzydreamer

Hi thanks for all your replies, everyone's so helfull on here

I think we are going to rent, and we are hoping that oh will have a bare minimum wage of atleast 3000 a month (after tax), but I am sure this will be more because he is currenlty on the equivilant here.
In the beginning we will rely solely on his wage untill I sort myself out, so an estimate of about 400 to 450 a week on rent - just based on the income above. Thats in an ideal world, but Im sure we will probaby have to pay a bit more!
It all depends on where oh gets his job, as Im sure he'd only want to travel a max. of half hour drive to work, so Im sure well have to decide on an area that way

dave7370

We'll be there in less than 2 weeks..... can't wait.

ShoppingJoJo

Hello

Good post and just what we like to hear - the good, the bad and the honest!

We are coming out to Brisbane in March for a few days as part of a bigger trip up the east coast, mainly so my oh can check out a possible relocation with Laing O'Rourke and to meet the team. I just wondered whether anyone would fancy meeting up with us and our two small children (5 years and 18 months) for a coffee/beer or whatever to give us an insight on what we could expect if we moved over.

We don't know Brisbane at all, so any advice regarding good areas to live and schooling would be much appreciated but to see a few friendly faces would be a much bigger incentive! This could potentially be a big move for us this year and we are terrified!!!

Jo