Where to focus on Sydney suburbs

[North to South 61]

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 9,314]

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 576]

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 576]

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 9,314]

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 by Marisawright

[Bulya 2,522]

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 9,314]

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 2,236]

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 159]

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

[Marisawright 9,314]

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