Moving to Perth august/september - can anyone advise good schools/areas?

[Rob's Mob]

Hi, My wife & I, are moving over to Perth middle of August/early september, exciting & frightening in equal mearsures. All our focus so far has been finding a job for myself, which we have now done, and we are currently being taken through the sponsored visa process by a migration officer.

The next big challenge is finding a good school for my 7 year old son, we currently have no set suburb in mind, as from applying for a job, and being offered has been a real whirlwind. Our choice of suburb will be dictated by schools, can anyone give us a starting point, and advise on good state schools, equally let us know of any not so good ones?

We also have a 13month old daughter, so any advice about toddler groups etc would be a help. Also can anyone recommend a good letting agent?

Perth here we come,

Rob

Hi and good luck with the move... Australia migration - suburb profiles, accommodation, schools, real estate, jobs in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart is a good site for researching suburbs..it's hard to say particular suburbs because it's personal choice and there are quite a few..we've lived south and north of the river and have no personal preference..hope it all goes well..
Tess

[Rob's Mob]

Tess,

Many thanks for the link, we will have a look tonight. Things are moving very swiftly so we just need to get a starting point. My sponsoring employer is putting us in hotel accomodation initially, but there is such a massive choice!!

Best Wishes,

Rob

[ali]

As Tess says it's difficult to recommend places as people want different things, some want new houses/estates whilst others look for more established suburbs. We live in Leeming, which is an ideal spot for us - 10 mins from the city by train and 20 mins drive to Freo and the beaches. I work in Armadale and it's only a 20-25 min drive to work. Hubby got the short straw - his office is based in Malaga and he travels rush hour (but his work takes him all over). The suburbs surrounding Leeming are all very nice too and schools in the area have good reputations (it's an older suburb), and has lots of amenities. If you want something near the beach then i've heard good things about port kennedy and Bunbury

Ali

[tim_the_taf]

Originally Posted by Rob's Mob

Tess,

Many thanks for the link, we will have a look tonight. Things are moving very swiftly so we just need to get a starting point. My sponsoring employer is putting us in hotel accomodation initially, but there is such a massive choice!!

Best Wishes,

Rob

basically, it goes like this....

there's north of the river and south of the river. if you work in the Central Business District (CBD), the car journey into work in the morning up the freeway from south of the river is a nightmare. south of the river is more like an urban sprawl generally, with lots of traffic lights, but more like suburbia back home. prices tend to be lower, unless you are by the river where they are sky high (places like Rossmoyne, Attadale etc.).

North of the river in Perth is regarded as posher (lots of jokes about giving southerners passports to get north of the river). Prime real estate is the western suburbs, dalkeith, nedlands, west leederville, floreat, cottesloe, city beach etc. if you can't afford $2m plus forget it. scarborough to hillarys is pretty good if you want beaches but don't want the ludicrous prices of western suburbs. cheaper but still not far from the CBD, and by the beach. east of perth is a bit more industrial generally speaking, and watch for places like guildford, which are under the flight path to the airport. Perth hills is a bit cheaper but hotter in the summer, and miles from the beach. Fremantle's really nice, and worth a look.

if you can live further from Perth, lots of Brits are in Joondalup to Hillarys (on the coast) northwards. if south, they're all in rockingham and secret harbour.

generally the further from perth beaches and the river the cheaper it is. my advice would be to start with your place of work, then work out your preferred lifestyle (beach, bush etc) and then look at schools and availability of places. Best of all, get on a plane and come over for a look-see before you do anything.
Good luck.