Cam Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 This sounds like a wish list. We're on the verge of going back after 12 months as the area we live in which is very nice we don't feel is particularly family friendly, and we wouldn't ever be able to afford a 900,000 plus for a 3 bed house without really cutting back on everything else (Ironically we both earn fairly decent wages over here). But, as a last ditch attempt, can anyone recommend any family friendly areas that are 30-45 mins from the CBD with good schools and ideally 3-bedders for around 650000 to 700000 (the fact that most places go to auction doesn't help with ascertaining prices). Mainly because house prices are forecast to keep on going up & up we need to jump on the property ladder asap, so would need to move to the area to rent and be in the catchment for a good school ready for admissions in June/ July, and then possibly after another 6 months be looking at buying. If it's not feasible we kind of need to know so that we can finally make our decision that Oz was an adventure that we loved, we will miss it, but it's time to close the chapter and move on. If it is, happy days!!! Thanks!!:biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murta Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Wow those high prices.where are you now? I worry about coming over and having to decide on an area to live in as need to start school straight away and here you are having lived in sydney with your family and you can't figure out which is a good area. I am doomed...will be so interested in the replies your get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleabo Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 What do you mean by 30-45 mins to the CBD? Car, train, bus, rush hour? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 In a recent thread, LKC mentioned Engadine in the Sutherland Shire as the sort of place you are looking for http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/renting-real-estate/175243-sydney-commuter-towns-4-bed-home-around-600k.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 We live in Kingsford, so Eastern Suburbs, just beside Randwick. It is lovely, and our house is lovely, took alot of looking for it. We pay 790 dollars a week rent but we have friends in Maroubra who pay 1200 a week!!! I'm sure you'd be fine, I think we prioritised being close to Centennial Park and possibly beaches and assuming our prior knowledge of kids activities rather than really investigating the right area for us to live as a family (doh!). Public transport commute. I guess at the mo, i have a 15 minute walk to the bus stop, 45 mins on bus to Camperdown, then 5 mins. My husband's commute is 5-10 mins walk to bus stop then 25 mins bus. Although that all gets messed up by one of us having to stop off halfway to pick up or drop off kisa at childcare, but if we lived elsewhere we'd be over the moon to find somewhere for childcare as there's is really poor but no other alternatives in the area. Ironically some days I run it - it's about 5.5 to 6 miles and it's actually quicker for me to run except factoring in the shower at the other end. And yes 8.30-5 is probably a usual working day, so around these times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bromney Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 I would imagine the bus journey adds to your delay given Sydney traffic. Could you not move closer to a train station instead rather than having to bus it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murta Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Cams would mind telling how much your child are costs. I have 7 yr old and 3 and both of need to work when we get there. Is there a demand for a childminder as was thinking if advertising myself to mind kids in my home is this popular? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Engadine sounds lovely, and people are really enthusiastic about it but it's possibly a bit too far out. My commute would be 1 hour 12 mins each way by public transport which would make pick-up & drop-off for kids quite difficult. Any ideas for a bit closer? Someone mentioned picnic point, but I had a gut feeling it may be a bit lifeless, we looked at Croydon Park but it seemed a little lifeless. What do people think about Arncliffe and Banksia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Ironically as I'm travelling across Sydney East to Inner West the traffic doesn't hugely affect my commute!!! Very happy to go to a train station. We don't have trains in Eastern suburbs, hence why we're wondering about having a look around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Cams would mind telling how much your child are costs. I have 7 yr old and 3 and both of need to work when we get there. Is there a demand for a childminder as was thinking if advertising myself to mind kids in my home is this popular? Hi Murta, Childcare is in huge demand. I pay 110 dollars for my 9 month old and 100 dollars for my almost 4 year old. We get CCR which is a huge help, but just found out yesterday that it's capped so you can actually only get the rebate for about 2.5-3 days a week per child, which is going to be a huge factor when I go fulltime. If this is something you'd like to do, go for it, there are so not enough places. I would be over the moon to move my kids from our childcare centre as it's just like a bad quality babysitting service. You can set yourself up through the council or there are a couple of other private organisations who offer an umbrella service for 'family daycare'. Check out 'careforkids' this will give you a really good idea of what is available and also how many places do not have any space available. We've been on waiting lists for other places for over a year and nothing has come up and on enquiry they say 'not likely'. People put their kids down at conception - I'm not joking!!! But this could be an Eastern suburbs thing!!! My cousin is setting herself up, and there are stringent rules for the property etc. but I imagine all achievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Just to say, I have no probs whatsoever with my or my husband's current commute, I know we're really lucky, we could even cycle it if we didn't have to drop off the kids. We're just looking for a family-friendly, good schools/ childcare and affordable suburb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hi Cam. I reckon that Engadine would be about 45/50 minutes drive or about 50 minutes on the train to Redfern (which I think is the nearest station?). Alternatively you could drive to Jannali station (about 12-15 mins) and then catch the train from there which would take about 35. There are twice the number of trains through Jannali than Engadine. Another couple of areas in Sutherland Shire that you could look at would be Menai, Barden Ridge and Illawong. Although there are no train stations, they are commutable in about 35 - 40 minutes to Camperdown by car (no trains, not sure about bus), and are all lovely areas that we looked at. There is a fab pre-school/long daycare in Barden Ridge that I would be happy to recommend. Our daughters both went there, even though it was a 50 minute round trip for me to take them/pick them up from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 (edited) Where have you looked so far? I was an Eastern Suburbs girl when I first arrived and I'm amazed now how blinkered I was about the rest of Sydney. I still find the outer West too "dead", and it's an awfully long way from the beach, which is one of the things most Brits appreciate. However the Inner West (where I live now) has good transport links and you can still get to the beach with a short drive. I'm not sure about schools but cheaper suburbs for housing are Dulwich Hill, Lewisham and Marrickville. The St George and Sutherland Shire areas are worth a look. Engadine is too far out IMO - it's well over an hour to the city by train, and while it's only 50 minutes drive in theory, in practice it's over 2 hours in the rush hour. Besides, if you like the inner city life around Kingsford, you would find places like Illawong and Barden Ridge pretty dead. I've just spent 5 years in Oatley, which is a beautiful leafy suburb in the St George area. It has a village feel, a small town centre with a couple of cafes, huge park, 40 minutes by train to the CBD and about 30 minutes drive to Cronulla. Avoid anything close to the raill line because goods trains use it at night. Jannali and Gymea are a bit further out and also worth considering. Just to say, I have no probs whatsoever with my or my husband's current commute, I know we're really lucky, we could even cycle it if we didn't have to drop off the kids. We're just looking for a family-friendly, good schools/ childcare and affordable suburb. Edited February 3, 2013 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam Posted February 3, 2013 Author Share Posted February 3, 2013 Where have you looked so far? I was an Eastern Suburbs girl when I first arrived and I'm amazed now how blinkered I was about the rest of Sydney. I still find the outer West too "dead", and it's an awfully long way from the beach, which is one of the things most Brits appreciate. However the Inner West (where I live now) has good transport links and you can still get to the beach with a short drive. I'm not sure about schools but cheaper suburbs for housing are Dulwich Hill, Lewisham and Marrickville. The St George and Sutherland Shire areas are worth a look. Engadine is too far out IMO - it's well over an hour to the city by train, and while it's only 50 minutes drive in theory, in practice it's over 2 hours in the rush hour. Besides, if you like the inner city life around Kingsford, you would find places like Illawong and Barden Ridge pretty dead. I've just spent 5 years in Oatley, which is a beautiful leafy suburb in the St George area. It has a village feel, a small town centre with a couple of cafes, huge park, 40 minutes by train to the CBD and about 30 minutes drive to Cronulla. Avoid anything close to the raill line because goods trains use it at night. Jannali and Gymea are a bit further out and also worth considering. I had the same concerns about moving out beyond the Shire - I grew up in London and we live in Bristol so we're used to a bit of action and good commuting times. Engadine sounds fantastic but just too far for everyday. I love the Inner West, we should have moved there 6 months ago but persuading my husband was hard, he wanted to be near to the beaches - and we don't have a car, because they're so expensive. I work in Camperdown and the area I look after is Inner West. Ironically though it's hard to find anything for under 700,000. Again it's the compromise, I'd be happy with a 3 bed unit, but my husband says that for that amount of money we should have a house and if we're moving to this side of the world then we should at least have some of what we're used to in the UK. We've had a few drives around (hired a car) and cycled to a few places. Went over to Arncliffe on Thursday, it ticks the boxes house prices (just) and commuting, but just weren't quite sure. But Cooks river is beautiful. Oatley sounds great on Street Advisor, we should have got a car earlier I think it would have opened up our eyes more to Sydney, you see so much less when you travel by bus!! Damn! Anyway sadly, we've decided not to continue the search I think we started it too late with too short a deadline, and there are too many risks, so we are returning to the UK, whether it's the right decision or not we will have to make it that way, at least for the next 5 years, as we owe it to our children to be settled somewhere and to make some solid friendships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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