Guest cdonoghue Posted January 15, 2010 Share Posted January 15, 2010 Hello, This is the first time I have posted a thread so am new to this but wondered if anyone has any advice that could help me. My husband and I along with our 1 year old son are planning to move to Brisbane in May/June this year. In order to help me narrow my research could anyone advise of the best areas to live - we are looking for a suburb with good schools which is family friendly due to our young son. We are happy to be up to 45 minutes out of Brisbane itself. Although we will be looking to buy a property we will obviously rent intially until we find out feet - appreciate the cost of renting varies largely on size of property and location but if anyone could advise me of an approximate costing that would be great - also are utlities incl electricity etc more expensive that the UK? We are just trying to get ourselves as prepared as possible for our move. Thank you to anyone who may be able to help me! Caroline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Hi Caroline Welcome to PIO,, The problem you have with Brisbane is there are too many nice family places,lol Do you know where you or hubby will be working as this may help narrow down your search a little ? Will you both have cars or will you need public transport? Child care centres are everywhere ,so i wouldn't worry too much about finding a place for your little one, my daughter attended an ABC centre for 18 mths before starting school and she loved it. It was also good for me as i met lots of the other parents and made some good friendships. Real Estate | Homes for Sale | Houses for Sale | MLS Listings | REALTORs | Real Estate Agents - RealEstate.com is a great site for looking at property and their prices,, i spent hours on there prior to our arrival,lol Hope this helps a little for now Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jak2503 Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Hello, This is the first time I have posted a thread so am new to this but wondered if anyone has any advice that could help me. My husband and I along with our 1 year old son are planning to move to Brisbane in May/June this year. In order to help me narrow my research could anyone advise of the best areas to live - we are looking for a suburb with good schools which is family friendly due to our young son. We are happy to be up to 45 minutes out of Brisbane itself. Although we will be looking to buy a property we will obviously rent intially until we find out feet - appreciate the cost of renting varies largely on size of property and location but if anyone could advise me of an approximate costing that would be great - also are utlities incl electricity etc more expensive that the UK? We are just trying to get ourselves as prepared as possible for our move. Thank you to anyone who may be able to help me! Caroline hi, we live north side of brisbane in north lakes, gotta say we love it here, its about 40 mins out of brisbane right on the highway in. its a big suburb and ideal as a starting base, massive shoping center and really close to beaches in redcliff, scarbourgh ect, also straight on the highway to the sunshine coast or south to the gold coast (surfers paradise ect). a lot of expats live here and it has been nicknamed little britan i think, however its a good safe place to start your life here. we have found gas and electric to be cheaper than the uk, when renting you dont pay rates and only get gas and electric bills, plus foxtell if you have it (sky). Our rent is $380 a week for a 4 bed low set, we put $100 away a week for bills as well, this seem to cover it. our food bills is approx $100-150 a week depending on wether im there to put crap in the trolly. a lot depends on what you want when you get here, we have a 4 year old boy and we just found the place a great base to get around, i lived south side for a month but moved north side for work. i think the closer you get to the city the dearer it becomes. not being city types it doesnt bother us , we are close enough to pop in if we want to by driving in close and jumping on the city cat. anyway i hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest36187 Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 I am in brissies west. Sinnamon PArk. we are about 12k`s from teh CBD and a little further from beaches but all depends what you are looking for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JillG Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Hi Caroline, We have just moved to North Lakes and really like it here. There is a big shopping centre in North Lakes, Good Schools and childcare. It’s close to Redcliffe where the beaches are and also the lagoon. We also like Redcliffe, Scarborough and surrounds but found there are more rentals in North Lakes. Take a look at What to see & do | Moreton Bay Regional Council and also the North Lakes Website: North Lakes Mango Hill, Queensland - Community Portal North Lakes The best thing to do is take a look at rentals on the real estate website to get an idea on prices etc Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au Hope this helps a little. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudi Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Hi Caroline Welcome to Poms in Oz. It is so hard choosing an area to live in. I can only tell you about my area, because I know and love it, but maybe some other people will have some other advice for you. We live in the Brisbane Bayside area, which is south east of the city. It runs from Wynnum in the North, through Manly, Lota, Thornside, Birkdale, Wellington Point, Ormiston, Cleveland, Thornlands, Victoria Point and Redland Bay. Redland Bay is probably about a 45-50 minute drive into the city and less as you go north from there. We have a good mix of property here and a complete range of prices too!! Anything from a small 3 bedroomed 1 bathroom place for about 350k up to the water front properties at Raby Bay which sell for several million.....and plenty in between! There are very modern housing estates, some of which are are still being built, so you can get a house and land package, or much older Queenslander style properties - the original queenslanders are so quaint and beautiful. As well as suburban property, there are rural areas with acreage properties.....but still close to all the local amenities. As the name suggests, the suburbs are all located next to the water. There are lots of parks and cycleways. At lots of the parks there are free BBQ facilities, which are great for a family day out. The suburbs down as far as Cleveland are all on the train line into the city. We live at the very southern end of Thornlands and it's about an 8 minute drive to the station. However, property in Thornlands, Vicky Point and Redland bay is very slightly cheaper as a result. School are generally good, with state, semi private (church schools generally) and private schools. I hope that helps a bit. If you want some specific info about housing, let me know. Two good sites to look at to get an idea of what you can get for your money are domain.com.au and realestate.com.au. Love Rudi x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cdonoghue Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Thank you everyone for your help - it is really good to be able to get info from those who are actually there! Our situation is that my husband doesn't yet have a job, sounds risky seeing it written down but he got made redundant here in the UK earlier this year and we sold our flat so are living temporarily with family for the short term. He worked in training as a training manager and has struggled to find another job here so is just doing some temporary work but due to him not working and us having sold our place we thought it is the best time to go to australia as always knew we would some day. My hubby is australian and my son has citizenship now but I am applying for a visa (I'm british). Would be great to know that there are other english people out there doing the same - very scarey! My husband doesn't mind travelling into brisbane so we are not worried about being central and to keep costs down we only want to buy one car between us so ideally we would like to option for him to travel on public transport into the city most days. We hope to come over in June time this year, my hubby plans to go ahead a month before me and my son to try and get things moving on the job front. How is the job market in brisbane? I'm an HR manager and although not looking to work initially until we are settled as I have my son but I will be looking ideally for part time work in HR in time. WIll get researching on all the areas mentioned but good schools and nice family area are our main criteria, somewhere where i will be able to meet people too! Thanks Caroline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Boy Somerset Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Hi Plenty of HR work in Brisbane, and equally plenty of L&D jobs for your husband. Obviously Sydney & Melbourne have more, however there are plenty of well paid HR/L&D jobs here. Somerset Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Benchola Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Hello, This is the first time I have posted a thread so am new to this but wondered if anyone has any advice that could help me. My husband and I along with our 1 year old son are planning to move to Brisbane in May/June this year. In order to help me narrow my research could anyone advise of the best areas to live - we are looking for a suburb with good schools which is family friendly due to our young son. We are happy to be up to 45 minutes out of Brisbane itself. Although we will be looking to buy a property we will obviously rent intially until we find out feet - appreciate the cost of renting varies largely on size of property and location but if anyone could advise me of an approximate costing that would be great - also are utlities incl electricity etc more expensive that the UK? We are just trying to get ourselves as prepared as possible for our move. Thank you to anyone who may be able to help me! Caroline Hey Caroline, We've just been granted our Visa (this very morning in fact!) and we're also looking at relocating to Brisbane - but not until August. We have a son who will be 5 in April and a 1 year old daughter - so schools are first on our minds as well. We're currently looking at a number of areas such as Ferny Grove, The Gap, Kenmore and Redland Bay. I've just posted a similar thread in News / Gossip - here is the link: Schools Thread Shaz very helpfully supplied a link to the Dec 2009 schools report - so we're going to start trawling through this to short list our areas. If you guys do the same we could compare notes? :jiggy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffod1lly Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Hey Caroline, We've just been granted our Visa (this very morning in fact!) and we're also looking at relocating to Brisbane - but not until August. We have a son who will be 5 in April and a 1 year old daughter - so schools are first on our minds as well. We're currently looking at a number of areas such as Ferny Grove, The Gap, Kenmore and Redland Bay. I've just posted a similar thread in News / Gossip - here is the link: Schools Thread Shaz very helpfully supplied a link to the Dec 2009 schools report - so we're going to start trawling through this to short list our areas. If you guys do the same we could compare notes? :jiggy: Hi there - we too are in a very similar situation as both you and the OP. We got our visa grant this morning and are heading out to brissy in July (with our 8 year old). We have done loads of research and are particularly keen on Ferny grove, Ashgrove and Kenmore too. Our plans are to rent a furnished property for the first 4-6 weeks before securing a longer term unfurnished rental. We've been really surprised though at the price of the furnished places :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chihiro Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 congratulation on your visa :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudi Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Hi there - we too are in a very similar situation as both you and the OP. We got our visa grant this morning and are heading out to brissy in July (with our 8 year old). We have done loads of research and are particularly keen on Ferny grove, Ashgrove and Kenmore too. Our plans are to rent a furnished property for the first 4-6 weeks before securing a longer term unfurnished rental. We've been really surprised though at the price of the furnished places :eek: Furnished rentals are more than normal rentals, but remember, you will not have to pay anything for utilities etc. Love Rudi x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffod1lly Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Furnished rentals are more than normal rentals, but remember, you will not have to pay anything for utilities etc. Love Rudi x Hi Rudi We have been struggling to find anywhere that isn't either gone or extortionately priced. (Have tried yours but it isn't available for our dates :huh:) Have also tried many other places that have been recommended here. Some people mentioned the realestate site but it seems that they, and other agency type places state charges for utilities and cleaning on leaving, rather than being serviced while we are there - we are a little wary that we may be presented with a pricey bill for this on leaving. We're also struggling with the many people that just don't respond! Any useful tips would be desperately appreciated :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudi Posted January 29, 2010 Share Posted January 29, 2010 Hi Myrtle Sorry you are having problems finding somewhere. Have you had a look through the Stayz and Takeabreak sites? It is so frustrating when owners don't get back to you - all I can say is, business must be booming for them!!! Even if I can't accommodate people I respond, I think it is a courtesy to do so. What dates was it? I only ask because the dates that are "booked" in July aren't really booked, it's just that I will be away for some of that time, so had blocked them out. Love Rudi x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helenarthur Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Just thought i would let you know that when i spoke to my son in Brisbane he said it was an awful route by car into city from wynnum/manly, hope all is progessing well Hello, This is the first time I have posted a thread so am new to this but wondered if anyone has any advice that could help me. My husband and I along with our 1 year old son are planning to move to Brisbane in May/June this year. In order to help me narrow my research could anyone advise of the best areas to live - we are looking for a suburb with good schools which is family friendly due to our young son. We are happy to be up to 45 minutes out of Brisbane itself. Although we will be looking to buy a property we will obviously rent intially until we find out feet - appreciate the cost of renting varies largely on size of property and location but if anyone could advise me of an approximate costing that would be great - also are utlities incl electricity etc more expensive that the UK? We are just trying to get ourselves as prepared as possible for our move. Thank you to anyone who may be able to help me! Caroline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rusty10 Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Caroline hi. I live in Cleveland and work at the Princess Alexander Hospital in the centre of Brisbane. I travel 35 mins to work in the morning and 45 mins to 50 mins back again. It is 26 k, I dont know it in miles but it feels like 18. It's worth remembering that I did the same in England for half the distance Travelling is different here- we go on day trips of over 100 miles each way- got to love the Sunshine Coast- but would have said no to 50 miles in the UK. I have a brother who commutes from Aldershot to West London everyday and hates it. We can offer experience but not advice, if you have a good enough look around this site you will find some great experiences. Bloody good luck to you and remember it's not a one way ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cartermonaco Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Maybe try HoodPoints, although I think its mainly populated in the UK, its a website which helps people find where to live using neighbourhood ratings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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