The pie Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Hi, looking for advice in the best suburbs to live in at Canberra, moving there in Jan and have never been before. Kids will be at school in Griffith and I will be working in fyshwick. If anyone knows of any rentals as well please advise. cheers dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 (edited) If the kids are going to Eddies or Clares it probably won't matter where you live as they take kids from all over the ACT and there are buses from pretty much everywhere (through the a Interchanges anyway). It really depends on how much you are prepared to spend on rentals - some areas of Narrabundah aren't bad (on the Caley Cres side) but "lower" Narrabundah can be a tad rough. Lots of apartment living in Kingston if that's what you prefer. Personally I prefer the inner suburbs and wouldn't touch Tuggeranong or Gungahlin with a barge pole but I know folk who are perfectly happy with the outer suburbs. It really does depend on what sort of house you want to be living in, what sort of amenities you want nearby, how much reliance you will have on public transport, where you can actually find a house within your budget. It doesn't even really matter if you go north side or south side as Fyshwick is pretty central. January isn't a great time to be looking for rentals (lots of people moving in) so be sure to get all your documents and references lined up and ready to go. If I had a lot of money then Yarralumla would be my pick. http://www.allhomes.com.au is pretty much the monopoly place to look Edited December 16, 2013 by Quoll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Personally I prefer the inner suburbs Are Belco, Woden and Weston classed as inner yet? :tongue: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The pie Posted December 16, 2013 Author Share Posted December 16, 2013 Just wondered if anyone had any info on Mawson? As a place to rent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Just wondered if anyone had any info on Mawson? As a place to rent Gets a bit rough in some areas especially around the Tavern but in all honesty nowhere in Canberra is really that bad - although some suburbs like Narrabundah, Charnwood and Richardson don't have the best of reps but are gradually getting gentrified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 16, 2013 Share Posted December 16, 2013 Are Belco, Woden and Weston classed as inner yet? :tongue: Nah! Not yet LOL. They were definitely out in the wilds when I moved in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The pie Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 What about chiefley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 What about chiefley? That would be Chifley - it's OK. Honestly, there aren't too many places to run a mile from! I really wouldn't agonize at the moment! Book a holiday rental to see you through the first 4-6 weeks then spend a couple of days just touring the suburbs, checking out the facilities, looking at the housing, having a coffee in the local coffee shop, scoping the local supermarket, checking the traffic flow from there to Fyshwick in the mornings etc just to see what goes on. Check out some of the Northern suburbs too - Hackett, Downer and Watson are much underrated IMHO and Phil Spencer on his ACT episode picked Dickson as the place to be! There really isn't a "OMG this is the place you have to live" scenario and it so much depends on whether you like the property on offer or not and whether the landlord will accept you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The pie Posted December 17, 2013 Author Share Posted December 17, 2013 Thanks for info , do you know of any good holiday rentals, cheers Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Thanks for info , do you know of any good holiday rentals, cheers Dave http://lmgtfy.com/?q=canberra+holiday+rentals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABL275 Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Just wondered if anyone had any info on Mawson? As a place to rent Yep - We lived in Mawson for 16 months when we first arrived and moved just to the next suburb about a year ago. Mawson's a smallish suburb divided in two by Mawson Drive. The southern part is essentially a small hill which Shackleton Drive encircles and is typically older properties (i.e. 1970s-80s) with large plots and mature gardens. We had a beautiful house with a pool but it had no air conditioning and very little heating (both can be very expensive in Oz and Canberra can get very cold - so be aware of both when choosing a house). The South-west part is either playing foelds (Home to woden Valley soccer club which has about 1,800 kids playing football each Saturday in shifts throughout the day!) and the Southlands shops - it's one of the biggest groups of shops in a local suburb and may not be pretty (1970s concrete) but it's a very handy facility to have within 2 minutes drive. North of Mawson Drive there's the primary school and a more newer inexpensive housing; many are maisonettes and the sort of typical new builds you'd see in the UK. There's also another smaller shopping area with a couple of pretty good restaurants at Swinger Hill which is essentially just the northern most part of Mawson. Things we like about the area: - easy access to Yamba drive which will take you straight into town in 15-20 mins or turn right onto Hindmarsh Drive (stunning views) and it's only 15 mins into Fyshwick. - easy access to Isaacs Ridge reserve - we often walked upto the top to seethe Kangaroos and take in the views - good range of shops and restaurants within walking distance - easy access to Woden Shopping Centre and Phillips if you needed your car fixing - the Mawson Club opposite the shops (Canberra doesn't really have family pubs, it has clubs instead) is generally thought to be one of the best in town never head of the Tavern - wonder if it still exists Downsides included: - some traffic noise from Yamba Drive or Athlon Drive (avoid being near any traffic lights) depending on where you lived - it's quite hilly so walking and cycling, specially with young kids can be difficult - where we lived, the mature gardens and large plots meant that we hardly ever saw neighbours Other thoughts: - take a look around first if you schedule/budget allows - apparently there's a huge excess of 2/3 bedroom apartments around town at present but many still aren't cheap even to rent - Getting a good property can be a competitive sport; typically a property will be open for 30-45 mins for people to view and good properties will probably have several applicants so you'll probably need to have all the paperwork completed and ready to submit straight after the viewing. For good properties it's probably also a good idea to dress reasonably smartly and ingratiate yourself to the agent as he/she will be making a recommendation to the owners as to which 'candidate' to take! - Rental paperwork can look onerous but Canberra has a large transient community (diplomats, political followers, military and civil service postees) so they're used to people not answering all the questions. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The pie Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Thanks for all the replys , been here 2days now and strugling to find a decent rental !!! All the research just wasn't enough !!!! Looked at Queanbeyan which would be good for kids school and my job first , didn't get a good vibe , but after looking around the places we fancied ,realised far to expensive for poor rentals , so back to ask for help and advice ! What are the best areas in Queanbeyan and which are the best to stay away from , thanks Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Best, probably the Ridgeway and some of the homes up on the hill in East Qbn are ok. Jerrabomberra used to be the Upmarket estate and is fine if you don't mind being on the flight path into Canberra. Avoid Oaks Estate. Do you have to live in Qbn? It's a tad more on the "bogan" side than Canberra in general. But it is definitely more quintessentially Australian if that is your bag. People are usually disappointed by the quality of rentals TBH, you might want to revise your possible rent budget and do a search on allhomes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABL275 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Maybe a worse than usual time of year as a lot of the diplomatic/political/military people tend to change postings over the Christmas period (I know that's not much help now but it should get better). Canberra (and to a lesser extent Queanbeyan) is also reknowned for largely closing throughout Christmas and January (it's both the school Christmas and summer holidays rolled into one) so many people are off work until the start of February looking after kids - this might also be depressing the market further. Hang in there, I'm sure it'll pick up soon, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Bad time of year to be moving to the ACT/Queanbeyan area for reasons above. Good luck with search, at least rental prices are down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABL275 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 So how goes it? Any joy yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie2012 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hold on. If you are on a 190 visa tied to ACT, better that you know that Queenbeyan is not ACT but NSW so you cannot work or live there as part of your obligation. Just saying. It looks that it easily could be. FYI Thanks for all the replys , been here 2days now and strugling to find a decent rental !!! All the research just wasn't enough !!!! Looked at Queanbeyan which would be good for kids school and my job first , didn't get a good vibe , but after looking around the places we fancied ,realised far to expensive for poor rentals , so back to ask for help and advice ! What are the best areas in Queanbeyan and which are the best to stay away from , thanks Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The pie Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Thanks for all the help and replys , finally got a 6 month rental in Chifley which will suit us great ,the wife got job in hospital and I'm working In fyshwick , kids at school in Griffith , get keys on Friday everyone happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Thanks for all the help and replys , finally got a 6 month rental in Chifley which will suit us great ,the wife got job in hospital and I'm working In fyshwick , kids at school in Griffith , get keys on Friday everyone happy Hope you have a car(s) or motorbike(s) as they are pretty much mandatory in the ACT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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