Activation holiday looming - checking out towns , where should we avoid / check out

[scubacam]

Hi again everyone,

 

I just wanted to drop back on here as our activation holiday is now looming this April.

We are staying in freshwater next to manly , Sydney. We will have a car and plan on travelling a lot up and down the coast exploring places. We are going to check out Wollongong, Newcastle, central coast and maybe even Byron Bay. A few people have now mentioned Newcastle and I’m wondering if anyone can pls give us an idea of where to look / not look for areas in which we may want to settle / look for properties/jobs when we do actually move. We are looking to be coastal or a 20 mins drive to beach max really and not too in the sticks as my hubby is a project manager so will need to find work within 1 hr commute. We have a child so somewhere with a community feel , decent schools etc. I know that living outside London there are just towns to avoid, and towns which are fine and towns which are great. Any knowledge to refine our trip and save time is great! Thank you !

[Marisawright]

I forget, what’s your budget for housing 

[scubacam]

I’ve never said , hard to tell at this stage but renting no more than 700-800 a week. When we buy I’m not too sure because of property prices here when we sell and our income out there but maybe 800,000-900,000 but all those numbers are flexible and obviously renting in the beginning would like lower but we need a 2-3 bed house

[Marisawright]

42 minutes ago, scubacam said:

I’ve never said , hard to tell at this stage but renting no more than 700-800 a week. When we buy I’m not too sure because of property prices here when we sell and our income out there but maybe 800,000-900,000 but all those numbers are flexible and obviously renting in the beginning would like lower but we need a 2-3 bed house

I assume you mean dollars not pounds?  That's a tight budget if you want to be near the coast anywhere in Sydney.   To give you an idea, we had a 2-bedroom townhouse in Oatley, which is half an hour's drive from the beach and 45 minutes commute to the city on the train.  No garden.  It is now worth $1.2 million.

The reason Newcastle comes up most often is that it's the next biggest city after Sydney, and its economy is doing well.  So if you can't afford Sydney (which many can't these days), Newcastle is the next biggest job market, with comparable pay rates to Sydney but much cheaper housing..  I'm out of date with the place now, but here's a good article:

https://www.hunterhunter.com.au/newcastle/house-perv-newcastle-most-popular-suburbs

Wollongong is half the size of Newcastle and the economy isn't as healthy. 

There isn't much work on the Central Coast.  People do commute to Sydney but it's a long haul and not something I'd want to do every day. If you can work from home a few days a week, it makes it more bearable.   

If you're asking about towns near the coast within commutable distance to Sydney, there aren't any really.  It's not like London where you can get a fast train from outlying towns and villages.  If you're on the outer edge of Sydney in any direction, you're already more than an hour's commute from the city.   There are a few towns between Sydney and Wollongong but the coast there is highly desirable and the property is very expensive.

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by Marisawright

[scubacam]

Yea I mean towns near Wollongong/ Newcastle / central coast. Not Sydney itself as that is not our budget. We stayed last time on northern beaches and are very aware of the price tag.

[Marisawright]

Newcastle sits right on the beach and I think you’d afford a suburb so wouldn’t need to go fringe