Good suburbs?

Hello all,

Need your advice regarding Melbourne. We're moving from Adelaide and looking for a place to stay. Our budget is 500-650 per week, interested in already established suburbs, safe, good public primary schools, parks around, preferably Aussie or English neighbors) Husband works in CBD so train stop close by is essential. Buses are too slow. Any advice?

Thanks a lot

Ally

Follow the frankston line down the bay and then you can just weigh up commute time vs rental cost. its about an hour into the cbd from seaford where i get on. Anywhere south of chelsea should come in your budget

Brighton, Hampton, Beaumaris, Blackrock, Mentone, Parkdale, Mordialloc are all good bayside suburbs but you would probably only get a very old, not very nice house for your budget in these areas. Frankston South is nice, full of Brits and better value but is at least an hour by train to CBD. You can live much closer to the CBD if you are prepared to live in an apartment.

You might get more for your budget in Geelong, 1 hour to Melbourne CBD on more comfortable trains.

What are you looking for size wise? For that budget you will easily find a 2 bedroom unit in the inner suburbs. Generally you would be looking from the NE round to the South. Fitzroy, Carlton, Richmond, South Yarra & South Melbourne are all popular, close to the CBD and have plenty of expats

If you want a larger house then you would have to look a bit further out but Brighton, Hawthorn east, Elsternwick or Malvern are worth a look. All have good train or tram links

Mentone down to Seaford would fit the bill. More house for your money the further you move out. Your budget would get you a 3 bed townhouse with not much garden in Parkdale or a 3 bed old wooden house with a bigger garden.

Look at the transport site and follow the train lines out, then look at realestate.com.au or domain.com.au for rentals. It will give you an idea of how far out you have to live to get a home in your price range. My daughter pays $500 for a house that is not big enough to swing a cat in in Brunswick. To move to something bigger and they are looking is $700 + for anything decent.

Don't just look at metro, also look at vline services. Even though you'd be further out, the vline is often quicker than metro because of fewer stops. Being further out also gets you more for your money. It'd be quite easy to find a 3 bed house with double garage for $300 pw if you don't mind a 45min-1 hour vline train

Along the bayside suburbs or you could try the inner-eastern suburbs around Hawthorn, Caulfield or Kew. Bentleigh also may be more affordable but isn't nearly as affluent. I would suggest the Mornington Peninsula too but the only nearest train station is Frankston.