Guest Mark2049 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Hi there, My girlfriend and I are moving to Melbourne in January so we are looking for rental properties. There are a few suburbs that we have shortlisted; Malvern Glen Iris Cauifield Armadale Hawthorn Camberwell Has anybody got any advice on these suburbs, i.e. affordability, rough area / too posh? Going out; bars / cafe's....or anything else that may be of interest. We have got no kids; so schools arent important (yet)! Anybodys help would be much appreciated. Cheers, Mark & Caz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracy123 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Why those areas??? Is it due to work? Where will you be working??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark2049 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Just looked at these suburbs as the most suited to us. Not too far from the city and decent bars cafes etc Ill be travelling around for work and the missus will more than likely be based in the city. Havent sorted out work as of yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheClarkes Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Hi Mark and Caz You can buy an e-book on line called "Where to live in Melbourne" from memory i think its about Ten Pounds or round about ...It is well worth the money, it has helped us a lot with our choices. It covers all Cities and Suburbs, Populations, Nationalities, Crime hot spots, Schools and Universities, Cost of living, Property prices etc. Hope this is of help to you Clare and Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracy123 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Ok have you thought about areas a little closer? Carlton, St Kilda, Docklands there you can get 2 bedrooms at a reasonable rate rather than going 3 bed+ The reason I say this as you are single (no kids) parks etc aren't that important But public transport ie trams would make it far easier to get in and out of the city for pubs, clubs, restaurants work for your wife. Geoffrey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 All of the areas you mention are where professional people like to live as they have good proximity to the top private schools. Could be pricey though especially houses, flats; there are cheaper ones around but you probably not like the cheaper ones as they would be in old blocks and unrenovated. Have a look at the areas you are interested in on realestate.com.au you can find out the prices to buy and also the rentals available in the areas. Domain.com.au is another similar site. Also look at East Melbourne which is walking distance to the city lots of nice units there. North Melbourne and West Melbourne are good areas for the city a well. North Melbourne lots of uni students and medical people as the hospitals and Melbourne Uni are close by. Southbank is closer in than the Docklands precinct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sally04 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Hi there, My girlfriend and I are moving to Melbourne in January so we are looking for rental properties. There are a few suburbs that we have shortlisted; Malvern Glen Iris Cauifield Armadale Hawthorn Camberwell Has anybody got any advice on these suburbs, i.e. affordability, rough area / too posh? Going out; bars / cafe's....or anything else that may be of interest. We have got no kids; so schools arent important (yet)! Anybodys help would be much appreciated. Cheers, Mark & Caz As a couple with no kids and working in the city i would recommend living a bit closer to the city initially. Obviously everyone has their own opinion and this is mine!.... The suburbs you've listed are all very nice/safe, but i'm wondering if you'd find them a bit dull? (in the nicest sense!) We are a prof couple with no kids and been here for a year now. We have opted for Elwood, which has the bayside beach and nice cafes/bars. We considered st kilda, but for us this was great for a night out but a bit too noisy to live (our opinion). You could try the docklands area, albert part or Richmond. We also have friends who love living in North Melbourne (close to victoria market) and also east melbourne (which borders Richmond). These areas would give you a base closer to the city and be potentially more convenient. You could always look at moving on after 6 months once you've had time to suss out the other suburbs. By the way, most rentals seem to be unfurnished. Hope this helps - Good luck. S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Claire Slinger Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Hi guys, I have recently moved to Melbourne and have spent some time looking round suburbs and settled on South Yarra. This is adjacent to Toorak and a short ride from the city on bus tram or train. It has a main high street, Chapel Street which has everything you could wish for in terms of bars, restaurants, shops and retail therapy. Bordering this area and for cheaper rents are St Kilda near the beach, Richmond and Prahran - great for food / grocery shopping and again, off Chapel St. Best of luck. Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark2049 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 As a couple with no kids and working in the city i would recommend living a bit closer to the city initially. Obviously everyone has their own opinion and this is mine!.... The suburbs you've listed are all very nice/safe, but i'm wondering if you'd find them a bit dull? (in the nicest sense!) We are a prof couple with no kids and been here for a year now. We have opted for Elwood, which has the bayside beach and nice cafes/bars. We considered st kilda, but for us this was great for a night out but a bit too noisy to live (our opinion). You could try the docklands area, albert part or Richmond. We also have friends who love living in North Melbourne (close to victoria market) and also east melbourne (which borders Richmond). These areas would give you a base closer to the city and be potentially more convenient. You could always look at moving on after 6 months once you've had time to suss out the other suburbs. By the way, most rentals seem to be unfurnished. Hope this helps - Good luck. S. Cheers Sally, I was looking at Richmond and Fitzroy also but for some reason the suburbs mentioned previously did feel quite safe to me and so jumped out. It seems that you get more for your cash in Elwood & Fitzroy etc I found St Kilda too much to live in when we were there last so Im with you on that one. I hope you dont mind me asking but how did you arrange accommodation in Melbourne before you left the UK? Do you know of any decent contact to set up a short term lease for when we arrive, we've been searching all over the internet but a recomendation would be fantastic. How have you found your first year over there? Cheers Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Hi Mark You may struggle securing a tenancy before you leave the UK. Most agents require that they meet you in person. The quickest way to secure yourself a tenancy would be to look through the rentals at Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au and organise some viewings for when you arrive. Even if agents agreed to let a property to you without you seeing the property I would strongly recommend against it. The properties may look gorgeous on the photos but you need to see the house in full and the area around. Good luck with your move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sally04 Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Cheers Sally, I was looking at Richmond and Fitzroy also but for some reason the suburbs mentioned previously did feel quite safe to me and so jumped out. It seems that you get more for your cash in Elwood & Fitzroy etc I found St Kilda too much to live in when we were there last so Im with you on that one. I hope you dont mind me asking but how did you arrange accommodation in Melbourne before you left the UK? Do you know of any decent contact to set up a short term lease for when we arrive, we've been searching all over the internet but a recomendation would be fantastic. How have you found your first year over there? Cheers Mark Hi Mark, We booked a Quest serviced apartment before we left the UK. You can get some discounted deals on serviced apartments in the CBD via the internet. The place was lovely & convenient but started to eat into our savings pretty quickly. You could try the Melbourne gumtree site for rentals, also Melbourne exchange website, which has both rentals and short term rentals. You could also post on the britvics website asking for advice Britvics If you like prefer the type of suburbs you've listed, i would give Fitzroy a miss initially. If looking at Richmond, then consider rentals around the area between swan street and bridge road, as i would personally say this is the best area of Richmond. Our first year out here has been really great! - the usual homesickness bouts and wanting to go home afte a crap day at work. But, we have the attitude that we can go back to the UK whenever we want and having a return ticket & booking a trip back to the UK for July (we've just come back) helped us around the 4 month mark. We have tried to make living out here different to the UK, so we are not comparing things too closely and that's why we decided to rent a nice apartment by the bayside. We both work, but try and meet in the city after work for drinks etc or go for a walk along the beach and we still act like tourists! We made the conscious decision not to buy a car, so we rely on walking and using the trams and buses which gives you a different outlook. I'm sure things will become more routine as time goes by, but this attitude has got us through our first year in Oz, which although exciting, has also been a struggle at times. S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ashmalog Posted August 31, 2008 Share Posted August 31, 2008 my uncle lives in hawthorn and prior to that malvern, very pricey - nice lifestyle though if you have the money. prahan is apparantly the gay district but nice housing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindsayloo Posted September 4, 2008 Share Posted September 4, 2008 Hi Mark and Caz! I live in Malvern with my partner, we are also working professionals with no kids (yet) and we both work in the city. We are 26 and 32. Initially before we arrived we wanted to live near to the beach but we found an amazing brand new apartment in Malvern that we just loved! Weve been living there for 16months now and I just love living in Malvern. I do understand what people have said about being closer to the action but we can be in St Kilda on a tram from outside our front door in 15mins, Chapel Street on a tram in 10mins and at the beach in 20mins. Id say Malvern is more of a family suburb and can certainly be pricey but it’s beautiful. Lovely parks and trees, I also feel really safe there. We went out into St Kilda the other week and there was a riot outside a bar, literally 20-30 people fighting which was like being back in Nottingham! I then realized that im so glad I don’t live around that area J we did consider moving when our lease expired in June purely to experience a different area as were not sure how long we’ll be in Australia for and we considered moving to South Yarra/Prahran but ive just head too much about burglaries in the area and just wouldn’t feel safe. (of course everyone has their own opinions and no offence at all to anyone that lives in these areas, this is just based on my experience and things I have heard J) so we stayed put and im glad we did. Living in Malvern we are right on a tram line, and a train into the city takes around 15mins. Malvern has a big road called Glenferrie Road which I just adore! It has everything you need including supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, clothes shops, post office, hairdressers etc etc. There are also gyms and swimming pools in the area too. Anyway price wise, we pay $575 a week for our 2 bedroom apartment, and id certainly say that for a half decent 2 bedroom place in the area you’ll be looking at $450-$600 per week. With regards to bars in Malvern there aren’t many, we tend to go to Chapel Street or into the city which I don’t mind. I like the fact that there aren’t many near to where we live, and as mentioned before we can be at these places within 10mins… Let me know if you need any help or have any queries, PM me anytime and let me know when you arrive and we should all go for a beer! Lindsay and Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mark2049 Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Hi Mark and Caz! I live in Malvern with my partner, we are also working professionals with no kids (yet) and we both work in the city. We are 26 and 32. Initially before we arrived we wanted to live near to the beach but we found an amazing brand new apartment in Malvern that we just loved! Weve been living there for 16months now and I just love living in Malvern. I do understand what people have said about being closer to the action but we can be in St Kilda on a tram from outside our front door in 15mins, Chapel Street on a tram in 10mins and at the beach in 20mins. Id say Malvern is more of a family suburb and can certainly be pricey but it’s beautiful. Lovely parks and trees, I also feel really safe there. We went out into St Kilda the other week and there was a riot outside a bar, literally 20-30 people fighting which was like being back in Nottingham! I then realized that im so glad I don’t live around that area J we did consider moving when our lease expired in June purely to experience a different area as were not sure how long we’ll be in Australia for and we considered moving to South Yarra/Prahran but ive just head too much about burglaries in the area and just wouldn’t feel safe. (of course everyone has their own opinions and no offence at all to anyone that lives in these areas, this is just based on my experience and things I have heard J) so we stayed put and im glad we did. Living in Malvern we are right on a tram line, and a train into the city takes around 15mins. Malvern has a big road called Glenferrie Road which I just adore! It has everything you need including supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, clothes shops, post office, hairdressers etc etc. There are also gyms and swimming pools in the area too. Anyway price wise, we pay $575 a week for our 2 bedroom apartment, and id certainly say that for a half decent 2 bedroom place in the area you’ll be looking at $450-$600 per week. With regards to bars in Malvern there aren’t many, we tend to go to Chapel Street or into the city which I don’t mind. I like the fact that there aren’t many near to where we live, and as mentioned before we can be at these places within 10mins… Let me know if you need any help or have any queries, PM me anytime and let me know when you arrive and we should all go for a beer! Lindsay and Dan Lindsay, Thanks for the advice, such a big help. When we were there last November we rented an apartment in Prahran which was really nice and great location, very pricy though. I have a cousin who lives near Frankston, when we said we'd like to live close to the city in a decent suburb thats not too extortionate, the first place she suggested was Malvern. Price wise do you see Malvern as good value fore money? Ive spent a few backpacking boozy nights in St Kilda about 6 or 7 years ago so I know we wouldnt feel to comfortable living there. It looks as if we have made our minds up regarding Malvern but I suppose you cant tell until you make the move. The only thing we seem to be struggling with at the moment is finding decently priced accommodation for our first month there as we get settled in and start job hunting. We are considering a nice hostel instead of a short term lease or holiday flat as it will really eat into our savings. Where did you settle when you first arrived? A beer would be good, we booked our flights last week, I think the realization, excitement and worry has now just set in. I cant wait to get out there now. Just going throught the motions at work, its a struggle to stay focused. Cheers Mark & Caz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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