Right, the job is sorted and we'll be heading down to Sydney for 18 months (maybe longer) in early January next year. I've been polling friends and friends of friends who have been to or lived in Sydney about places to live and two names keep cropping up: Manly and Paddington. Add into that a few places that I've been checking out and quite like the look of - Glebe, Pyrmont (it's the fish market :D )Potts Point, Balmoral and Mosman - and we have quite a large area to focus on. Can anybody give me a compelling reason to strike any of them off the list straight away? At the moment we're looking at taking a 6 month lease in the city and possibly moving out to Manly after that if we like it there.
Our budget for renting will be around $2000 a month and ideally we would like to rent a furnished place. Does that seem reasonable? We're only after a 1 or 2 bedder and the close proximity of nice restaurants is pretty much the only 'essential'…..but that seems to include most of Sydney from what I've been reading, heh heh (tetsuyas will be booked before we even leave :D )
We're both pretty easy going and just want to experience Sydney in all it's glory. Any tips or warnings are greatly appreciated.
Also, just as an aside, these guys >> << are just wrong .
Never heard of furnished flats in Sydney - you might get a cooker, that's about it, unless you're looking at a short term serviced apartment. All those places you mentioned are OK - though I wouldn't be keen on Pyrmont - the fish market stinks and is long overdue for a major upgrade, even the management admit that. Plus you have a casino on your doorstep.
Depends what kind of lifestyle you want - Manly is very much the beach and surfing/party culture place with quite a few travellers. Balmoral and Mosman are very upmarket residential places, whereas Potts Point/Paddington and Newtown are more inner city chic/grunge {respectively). If you want restaurants why not think of Surry Hills too - near Paddington and heaps of eating places.
Damn. No furnished flats is a bit of a kick in the crotch. The vast majority here are let fully furnished so I never really thought about it, just one of those things. I guess a trip to IKEA will be in order. Not the end of the world but it would be nice not to have to spend an extra $2000 on furniture when we arrive. Ah well.
Good tip about the fish market. I want to use it a lot but I don’t really want to wake up smelling it. I think Paddington might have the edge so far, although the idea of a nice modern place with a swimming pool and a gym is rather appealing. Newtown and Surrey Hills have also cropped up on a few searches.
My mate lived in a nice place in North Sydney CBD but he sadi it was a CBD in the truest sense and just emptied completely at the weekend. Might be worth a look.
Hi there, I keep a keen eye on Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au you can check all different areas, we took a furnished rental in Manly overlooking the beach and that was furnished. We are looking to be out there June 2008 and there seems to be quite a few furnished rentals available at the moment, when we went over there we had a lot to choose from.
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I'm probably slightly biased, but Paddington is a great place to live.....and yes that's where we live! You can get a unit (flat) unfurnished within your budget but as pointed out, NOT furnished. Our place had a cooker, dishwasher and tumble dryer. That's pretty standard. It means you have to purchase a fridge before you can even think of moving in or live on takeout.
Don't worry though, the second hand market here is thriving and you can pick good furniture up everywhere and you can easily sell it all on again too so you don't really lose out.
Originally we looked at Manly, all the bays (Elizabeth, Double, Potts Point etc) etc. Manly wasn't really for us, and although I loved all the bays we couldn't get something nice with a view within our budget and didn't really see the point of living there without having the view. Paddo won because we just loved the area, so many lovely cafes, restaurants and bars on your doorstep, yet it's fairly uncrowded and doesn't get too noise or rowdy. It's also minutes from Centennial Park which is gorgeous and great for summer picnics and BBQ's and is only 5 mins bus from city centre and 10 mins bus to beach so easy peasy.
We also looked at Surry Hills and you can certainly get a bit more for your money over there but there are some great areas and some not so great areas so you have to be picky. We also saw a few furnished places over there within that budget.
If you know London areas well, it might be worth mentioning places you'd like to live or do live in there - as the suburbs here are fairly comparable and we can probably make better suggestions for you. YOu may change your mind when you get over here but it's good to have a few places to concentrate the viewings on as just going to viewings is such a traumatic experience! We turned up to viewings with over 100 other people!
Newtown is the complete opposite of somewhere like Paddo, and people tend to either love it or hate it. We lived there for 2 weeks in temp accomodation when we first arrived. Plenty of cheap eats, realy punk/grunge place, but fairly cool with it and good accessibility. Again, you get quite a bit for your money over there.
Damn. No furnished flats is a bit of a kick in the crotch. The vast majority here are let fully furnished so I never really thought about it, just one of those things. I guess a trip to IKEA will be in order. Not the end of the world but it would be nice not to have to spend an extra $2000 on furniture when we arrive. Ah well.
Good tip about the fish market. I want to use it a lot but I don’t really want to wake up smelling it. I think Paddington might have the edge so far, although the idea of a nice modern place with a swimming pool and a gym is rather appealing. Newtown and Surrey Hills have also cropped up on a few searches.
My mate lived in a nice place in North Sydney CBD but he sadi it was a CBD in the truest sense and just emptied completely at the weekend. Might be worth a look.
To give you an idea, one of my sons rents a pocket handkerchief, 1 bedder, unfurnished in Paddington. The rent is $280 per week. I kid you not the whole flat is about the size of my family room!! I know one lot that rent furnished but I can't remember the name at the moment. Will post it when I do!:)
<< are just wrong 
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