Jamie hall

Not long now... Just need to find an area to live once my company sponsored short term accommodation runs out mid feb. locations that we plan to look at for us and our two primary aged kids are: In no particular order: Mordialloc Beaumaris St Kilda Frankston Point cook Sanctuary lakes Berwick Mornington p. As I will be working in docklands this is the draft list of areas to view and checkout schools, housing, amenities, Travel links etc, this has been based mainly on available property seen on real estate au. Has anyone experience of other ares in vic worth checking out? We are coming with a complete open mind. cheers.

Excellent guys thanks. This is exactly what i was looking for. J.

Hi all, only 4 weeks to go till we get to Melbourne. (staying at docklands service apartment for 6 wks before renting) As the title suggests, for those of you who have already made the move i have a question. During those first couple of weeks in Australia what are your top tips/lessons learned? ie, those - 'if only i'd known in advance' or 'we should have done it this way' Just seeing if you friendly internet people can give some tips. Cheers! J.

Cheers for the comments all - 4 weeks to go and i'll be in a service apartment for the first 6 weeks in Docklands so that should be enough time to get my bearings and find a place to live. Plus with the station only a few feet away, i'll be able to go off and check out areas to base ourselves..

Nice one. I'm from Canvey island so not far from Romford and i move out in 4 weeks - service apartment ready and waiting in Docklands.....

Akiralx, Thanks - we havent even looked that way - not sure why but people have been turning thier nose up any time we mentioned looking west of the bay and said just look North & South East of the docklands. Is this just a snobbish approach? Is there a south v west rivalry? personally i dont care - i'm from Essex and we have no airs and graces!!! Geelong is now on my 'hunt' list!

Thanks all, only 6 weeks to go and things progressing well. I really like the look of Mornington/Mount Eliza/Mount Martha - realistically using public transport it looks like a 1 1/2 hour commute to southern cross station which, if it looks as lovely in real life as it does in the photos we may end up there. (i do 1 1/2 hour commute into London from Essex at the moment so travel time not really an issue. However, other areas are still catching my eye - Point Cook (new big cheap housing), Berwick/Endeavour Hills/Oakleigh/Glen Waverly (seem to have everything except beach) Mordialloc, Aspendale, Bon beach (all for proximity to beach) Primary Schools will drive our final location and during the first few weeks of January we will be off checking out these areas. Will update the forum on our findings! :0) My company has given me the option of where we would like to live for the first couple of months (paid for by them) to get us settled and ready to find our own place to rent. Seeing as our areas are pretty varied has anyone got any suggestions on a central-ish area near public transport links to get out and about to view properties? thanks

I'll be there in Jan and up for this - keep me posted!

Hi M2M (thanks Cal) - we are looking for a long term rental (short term in docklands was only so we could find a proper place.) There are a few factors on why Berwick/Endeavour hills area for our long term rental (from our limited online research) we are just looking for a nice suburb within reasonable travel time to Docklands with lots of outdoor activities. Good primary schools Nice rental properties available (4 bed) Reasonable purchase price if we look to settle in a year or two - circa $5-700k My preference was point cook, (wife not sure on the schools & proximity to air force base - i love the houses!) My boss in oz recommends northcote (wife doesnt want to go north?!?) We also like the look of Endeavour hills/Berwick/Mornington - and with mornington looking too far away (2 ish hrs by train) it looks like the (current) winner in Berwick/Endeavour hills. Although, i am still open to other areas so long as my daily commute by train/bus/tram doesnt exceed an hour and fifteen each way -this is what i do in London... My real challenge is going to be getting the school right - this will drive where we rent as we may need to consider school zones. Sounds like it may be better to take the short term service apartment as i'll land on a Friday and start work on a monday only leaving weekends to view properties. My family come out two weeks later...

Hello all, My company has generously given me the option of either a service apartment for a month or a cash allowance that could cover my bond & first months rent on a property. I'm arriving beginning Jan and if i go for the cash, i will need to find a hotel somewhere near docklands to base myself for a couple of weeks before finding a rental. (i will work here) If i go for the rental i've a little more piece of mind that i know where i'm living from day one. My search has narrowed to the Berwick area (although my wife wants me to commute from mornington but it looks way too far) My real questions are: 1. Read the all the stories on here about renting and securing a property so expect it will be challenging - plus i need to secure it and move in before kids school term. (finding a school is a whole other issue) is it possible to secure and move in during a three week period??? and do we both have to view or can one of us do it? heard conflicting comments. Tonight we will start to call agents to get idea of what they need from us as well. 2. Assuming we take the cash - are there any reasonably cheap hotels out there near docklands that wont eat the cash before we put it on a property? Cheers!

Thank you for your help. Finding it all so difficult as we move over on the 17th Jan and as kids go back to on the 29th we don't have long to find schools, area and property. Aaaah. We'll get there then probably wonder what all the stress was for. Ses1976

Thanks, looks like we will find somewhere on the Frankston line.

Hi, we move over at the beginning of Jan and fortunately my company will provide an apartment near the docklands for the first month. Unfortunately they haven't yet given any advice on where to go after the first month! I'm struggling to get a clear picture on areas to live with good primary schools and good access to trains that could get me to docklands within a 45 minute commute. We are a family of 4 with 5 and 7 year olds. Not too worried about being on top of the beach but would need parks, shops etc. budget would be 500-600 pw. Cheers!

Hi I race 125 cc go karts in the UK and these are serious bits of kit with a top speed of nearly 100 mph. has anyone had any experience of shipping something like this. Its purely a race track toy and not something for the road so not sure how shipping would work. Cheers

Hi, I've just been notified this week that my internal transfer to leave rainy London and move to sunny Melbourne has just become a reality! I will be working in the docklands and will initially come over on my own and stay in short term rented accomodation for two months whilst i find a house to rent for me, the wife, kids and dog. My kids are 5 & 7 so primary age. With this happening so quick can you lovely internet people point me in the right direction for: - Where should we live! ideally coastal and not more than an hour out of docklands by train. - Will rentals allow dogs? he's a great dane.... - Schools will drive the area, so if the good mixed schools are not coastal - no worries. All i'm looking for are personal experiences/recommendations and a starting point for me to do research. Cheers!!!