Where to focus on Sydney suburbs

[North to South]

Hi,

I currently live in SA but have an opportunity to relocate to Sydney next year for work, but only know the Sydney CBD and am seeking some guidance on what areas I should focus a house search on to see whether even considering a move makes sense given difference in house prices.  I have a budget of $2.5 million and need ideally a 4 bedroom house in a nice area within a 30-40 min commute to the CBD.  I think my preference would be to be in the northern suburbs from everything I’ve read, but again open to ideas.  I’ve looked on Realestate and can see some lovely houses around Epping/Penant Hills but don’t know if this is a good area or not, so appreciate thoughts on these areas.

Any ideas would be great so when I visit for a weekend I can drive around and get a feel for the areas.

Thanks :)

[Marisawright]

So much depends on what you like in a suburb.  For instance, I'd hate to live in Epping/Pennant Hills because it's suburbia, nice and leafy with lots of lovely MacMansions but lacking in any kind of soul.  Plus it's further inland (the further inland, the hotter it gets, by several degrees - no sea breezes) and a long way from the beach. 

People who live on the North Shore think the South of Sydney is a bogan dump.   People who live in the South think the North Shorites are a bunch of boring snobs.  Both are wrong, of course, but it's worth remembering that when you get advice from people - ask yourself where they've lived and take that into account when deciding whether to trust their advice. 

I'm an Eastern Suburbs girl myself.  Before I met my second husband, I thought anything West of the CBD or south of Maroubra was barbarian country, and the North Shore was posh but dull.  However he lived in the Inner West and his Mum lived in Gymea and thanks to that, I widened my horizons.   My favourite part of Sydney now is Oatley, which is in the south.  It's a 40 minute train ride to the CBD and has a lovely village atmosphere - it even has its own clock tower and village green.  It's very close to Cronulla Beach as well.  

[Ausvisitor]

I've only been in Sydney a while, but like you I've got a similar budget.

Ultimately if you want to be within 40 minutes of the CBD you at looking at a small house in Newtown or a large apartment in North sydney.

If you can push the distance to an hour you can find some stunning and huge stuff, but in that "acceptable" computing time frame there isn't a great deal (if you need a family home).

 

[Ausvisitor]

Just now, Ausvisitor said:

I've only been in Sydney a while, but like you I've got a similar budget.

Ultimately if you want to be within 40 minutes of the CBD you at looking at a small house in Newtown or a large apartment in North sydney.

If you can push the distance to an hour you can find some stunning and huge stuff, but in that "acceptable" computing time frame there isn't a great deal (if you need a family home).

 

I'm more than happy to keep you up to date with our house search, but as of yet we haven't found any quality stuff nearby the CBD 

[Marisawright]

16 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

I've only been in Sydney a while, but like you I've got a similar budget.

Ultimately if you want to be within 40 minutes of the CBD you at looking at a small house in Newtown or a large apartment in North sydney.

Do you mean 40 minutes by public transport or 40 minutes by car? 

If it's 40 minutes by car then I'd agree with you.  However like i said, I lived in Oatley, which is 40 minutes on a reliable and not overly-crowded train line.  On the weekend or in the evening, it's 20 minutes in the car (for instance, driving home after the theatre).  Like I said, inner-city types (including me at one time) think of it as boganland, but that's completely unjust.   

I also lived in Five Dock/Canada Bay and loved it - again, against all my prejudices.  Lovely walks by the river, nice cafes etc.   Bus not train to the CBD but not crowded and with bus lanes, so again, 40 minutes or so. 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Marisawright

[Bulya]

19 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Do you mean 40 minutes by public transport or 40 minutes by car? 

If it's 40 minutes by car then I'd agree with you.  However like i said, I lived in Oatley, which is 40 minutes on a reliable and not overly-crowded train line.  On the weekend or in the evening, it's 20 minutes in the car (for instance, driving home after the theatre).  Like I said, inner-city types (including me at one time) think of it as boganland, but that's completely unjust.   

I also lived in Five Dock/Canada Bay and loved it - again, against all my prejudices.  Lovely walks by the river, nice cafes etc.   Bus not train to the CBD but not crowded and with bus lanes, so again, 40 minutes or so. 

Spent a lot of time in Five Dock.  Very good times but some truly awful hangovers…

[Marisawright]

22 hours ago, Bulya said:

Spent a lot of time in Five Dock.  Very good times but some truly awful hangovers…

The Five Dock pub was pretty rough, from memory.  We never used it. Plenty of cafés though, especially on Majors Bay Road which is not far away

[MARYROSE02]

Home for sale in Paddington for 2.5 to 2.95 million at 32 Jersey Road, terrace house, no garage or off street parking but you don't need a car in the inner city. Just book a Go get car by the hour. Buses to CBD or Bondi Jn, walk to either in 15 mins, pubs, shops, cafes, restaurants all walking distance. Google it. Probably posher than my suburb, Surry Hills though I prefer Surry Hills .

This was in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph which I'm reading in Surfers Paradise Surf Lifesavers Club. Into my fourth month here now.

Epping has the advantage of being on the Central Coast and Newcastle line as well as the "ordinary" Sydney trains line so you can get a limited stop train to Central via Strathfield (handy for Western Line trains to Parramatta and Penrith and Blue Mts.

Oatley is nice!

[DIG85]

Surprised there is still anything left that is sub-3m on jersey road. 

[Marisawright]

40 minutes ago, DIG85 said:

Surprised there is still anything left that is sub-3m on jersey road. 

Sounds to me like a classic case of under quoting

[Tychen]

I think it depends a lot on whether you will regularly commute to the City or work from home. Traffic in the northwest is terrible, and even if you buy near a train station, the peak hour commute into and out of the CBD from the Epping will probably get annoying. Unfortunately, you won't be getting a comfortable four bedroom family home in the lower North Shore, or somewhere like Paddington.

Below are some ideas in other parts of Sydney, if you are looking for a four bedroom family home on the $2.5m budget.

- Oatley and surrounds. Oatley station gets relatively frequent and relatively fast trains into the City. It's a southern suburb with lots of green spaces and excellent schools. $2.5m will get you a comfortable four bedroom house with front and back yards, but no water views or wharf access. Very popular with British expats or returnees: when we were looking to buy in Oatley a couple of years ago, it felt like every second person at the open house had a similar story of having just moved from London and have a $2m budget etc etc...

- Croydon, Homebush South, Concord West, North Strathfield, etc. Strathfield itself is all mansions on grand boulevards and premium private schools - unfortunately that's why it is the 13th most expensive suburb in the country and $2.5m won't get you anything reasonable in Strathfield itself, but it can get you a comfortable four bedroom house in some of the nearby suburbs. They are not as flash as Strathfield but can still be very comfortable, with excellent schools. Strathfield is a major station with express trains to the city (15 minutes to Central) every 1-2 minutes in peak hour. So if you are close enough to walk there, or can easily change there, it will keep your commute short. I haven't included Burwood because it's full of tower blocks now, not a great place to live.

- Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Earlwood. Not traditionally a premium area -- long term residents might look at you in horror -- but this pocket of south-western Sydney near the Cooks River has really gentrified. Marrickville itself is a curious blend of very trendy industrial chic cafes and very leafy streets with Victorian/Edwardian houses. And of course now the Prime Minister is a Marrickville local. Dulwich Hill has both the train and the light rail. The light rail is great if you work in Pyrmont or the southern CBD. The train is being converted to metro which will be a direct service to Martin Place - great if you work in the financial district/northern CBD.

[Tootsie]

On 05/05/2022 at 15:34, North to South said:

I have a budget of $2.5 million and need ideally a 4 bedroom house in a nice area within a 30-40 min commute to the CBD.  I think my preference would be to be in the northern suburbs

Hello

I really like Lane Cove - which is a northern suburb

It has got a really fast direct Express bus service into the CBD. I know because I caught it by accident - takes 15 mins.

It is in your house price range.

It has a lovely little village-like community, great food shopping (Harris Farm is amazing), post office, restaurants and cafes.

Got a really excellent Aquatic center with indoor and outdoor pools, gym, spa, sauna & steam room. 

The suburb is surrounded by the Lane Cove National Park, where you have boating, running trails, biking, and bush walks. 

It is 3km from Chatswoood, which is a larger suburb with two massive shopping centers, restaurants, banks, markets, doctors, schools, a train station and a bus depot.

Plus 3km from RNS Hospital.

And it is 11kms from the Sydney CBD, and takes about 15 - 30 minutes to drive a car (depending if you travel the early tradie rush hour, or the late school rush hour) traffic during the week.

Last Sunday took me 15 mins to drive from Lane Cove to Darling Harbour. I used the M1 motorway and cross city tunnel.

Just a nice all-round place.

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Tootsie

[Tychen]

On 16/10/2022 at 12:38, Tootsie said:

Hello

I really like Lane Cove - which is a northern suburb

It has got a really fast direct Express bus service into the CBD. I know because I caught it by accident - takes 15 mins.

It is in your house price range.

 

Lane Cove is very lovely, but the OP would have to be very lucky for get a reasonable 4 bed house for $2.5m. Anything like that within walking of the village is going to be more like $3-3.5m I think. But maybe if the market keeps falling for another year...