spiv

I have a brand new house, fully furnished with quality furniture (leather lounge etc. The home has 4 bedrooms, but only two have queen size beds, the third is decked as an office ant the fourth as a home theater. There is also a lounge, dining room, large decked al-fresco area. It is in Spearwood, close to shopping centre, bus stop, beach and freeway. It is in a complex of 4 with security sliding gate and double lock up garage. It will be available in 7 to 10 days, but only for long term rental (min 6 months) and I am looking for around $600/week. I will post pictures in a couple of days. Keep smiling Stefano

Wambro is nice, the closer you get to the ocean the better and more expensive... Rockingham is a very relaxed water playground, the further from it the newer the suburbs and housing estates. If you work in the city, then you must be prepared to share the Freeway with other thousands of commuters, at peak hours the Freeway slows to a crawl, some people don't like it, some just put up with it. keep smiling Stefano

Hi John, not sure if your inquiry refers to Palmyra or life down here in general.... I posted my view of Palmyra in the Suburbs thread. Should you be interested, we are selling our beautiful home in Palmyra, see post here. Keep smiling Stefano

Since we are keen to go to our boat in Europe before it gets freezing there as well, we have reduced the ask prices as follows: Three different buying opportunities: $780,000, Cash: the simplest and preferred option $785,000 Vendor finance: if you cannot get a loan, we will lend you the money at our existing mortgage bank rates +1% until you can refinance (hopefully less than 2 years). You own the property, we keep the title. You still need a deposit, ideally 10% (not 20% as the banks require), but we can negotiate a lesser deposit. You also need to pay Stamp duty of about $30,000 $879,000 Rent-To-Buy: sort of like try before you buy, some of the money paid in rent goes towards your purchase. The contract is written with an Option to buy, the option cost goes toward the purchase price. You need a smaller upfront lump sum (to buy the option) but you need a larger monthly payment than the above two systems. No Stamp Duty payable upfront, but will be payable on conversion of option to purchase. Please get in touch with any questions at all. Keep smiling Stefano +61 (0) 411 045 909

Tonight we are expecting 2 degrees C, which is FREEZING for us poor Ozis used to much warmer nights...... July / August you can expect a few cold night like this, if it goes below we will put an official complaint! During the day you can expect 10 to 25 C, I think the average for the 2 coldest months Jul/Aug is 13C. Sept gets warmer. So, you can safely leave the long coats behind... Keep smiling Stefano

Thank you Tracy, we had a lot of responses from our ads in Gumtree and realestate.com since we reduced the cash price by 15,000 (it is now 780,000 not 795k as originally advertised), so we hope to get away soon !!! Keep smiling Stefano

Hello everyone. After six years in this home, we have now bought a Sailing Catamaran and we are planning to circumnavigate the globe. This will take 3 to 4 years, so, with a touch of sadness, we are selling our beautiful home. 4 bedrooms + home theater + lounge + formal dining, shining timber floors throughout. Three car garage and parking for 6 more under the trees. Salt water Swimming pool and decked entertainment area at the back. Full details and pictures on here Gumtree. Three different buying opportunities: $795,000, Cash: the simplest and preferred option $805,000 Vendor finance: if you cannot get a loan, we will lend you the money at our existing mortgage bank rates +1% until you can refinance (hopefully less than 2 years). You own the property, we keep the title. You still need a deposit, ideally 10% (not 20% as the banks require), but we can negotiate a lesser deposit. $815,000 Rent-To-Buy: sort of like try before you buy, some of the money paid in rent goes towards your purchase. The contract is written with an Option to buy, the option cost goes toward the purchase price. You need a smaller upfront lump sum (to buy the option) but you need a larger monthly payment than the above two systems. I posted my personal view of Palmyra under the Suburbs thread. Keep smiling Stefano

Palmyra is a very old suburb, with tall trees everywhere and full of birds. 95% of the old 1/4 acre lots have been subdivided and are now two strata lots one in front and one at the back. Most of the houses have been renovated and many are new, you will also find smaller villas in complexes of 4 to 8. Roads are signaled so that every second intersection you have a stop sign and sometimes no through, so that you only have local traffic as it is easier to go around it than through it. There is a good primary school and bus services to Fremantle and the CBD are regular and very efficient, I prefer to catch the bus to the CBD as it has a preferential lane and will get you in and out faster during peak time. The buses also stop at the train station on the freeway and Fremantle. Garden city shopping centre is about 7 min drive, Fremantle a little less, but there are also smaller shopping centres and grocery stores nearby. All considered this is a great place, quiet and close to Fremantle, the river and the CBD In Myaree you can find anything, from Apples to Zebra mats (much like Osborne Park NOR). Willagee is a quite similar, if just a little younger than Palmyra. O'Connor is predominantly industrial with many factories and the Cemetery. Beaconsfield is also similar, but somewhat more expensive, especially closer to Fremantle. East Fremantle, Bicton and Attadale are more up-marked, given the proximity to the river. If you can afford a 2~3M$ house with a Northerly exposure overlooking the river, then look no further than my favorite place: East Fremantle, if not, Palmyra makes a lot of sense. Keep smiling Stefano PS: We just bought a Sailing Catamaran and we will live on it for the next 3~4y, so we are selling our two storey Palmyra house for AUD $795,000 cash and a little more on Vendor Finance or Rent-To-Buy. I will post its details on this forum in the real estate section, if you are interested.

Coogee is a beach side suburbs with higher than average cost. Most houses are two storey, some three. At part from a small area in the North, it is relatively new, the house I built there in 1986 could be seen from Rottnest, Fremantle and Rockingham, now it has been swallowed by hundreds much bigger houses. Coogee primary is a good school, there are no High schools close by, my kids went to Fremantle's John Curtin SHS. Bus can be a little difficult to use, most people drive.... There are several delicatessen, the closest shopping centre is Phoenix Park in Spearwood or you can drive to Fremantle in 6~7 min. Property prices are overvalued and many that bought at the height of the bubble are in negative equity. There is a ridge that runs North/South and all the houses on the west of the ridge (having ocean views) are more expensive. The views over the three islands and the Cockburn sound are the best in Perth, nothing NOR can come close. The long white sandy beach is protected by the large oceanic swell by Garden Island. It can be windy, so if you don't like the sunsets and the cool wind, look elsewhere. Keep smiling Stefano

We've been in Perth 30y, lived and visited friends everywhere. I would not make a drastic distinction between NOR and SOR, you will find good and bad in either, its not that people change as they move NOR... I will try and write about places I have lived SOR and will start with Spearwood. 30y ago it was already there, we never locked the house, just in case friends came to visit.... you don't do that anymore, but I think that is true for the whole of the world. Spearwood is a well established area in the hearth of the City of Cockburn, you will find several public and private schools, shopping centres, the largest of which is Phoenix Park. 3 to 5 min drive to beautiful Coogee beach and the new Coogee Marina and 8min to Fremantle. Major arterial road, Stock Rd, will take you to Rockingham or Canning Hwy quite quickly. If you need to go to the CBD, you can take the Kwinana freeway and be there in 20m out of peak hours, however you might have to double it if driving in peak hours 7:00 to 9:00 and also coming back from the CBD from 3:30 to 5:30. The stats might tell you that there are a lot of Italians and Croats there, but I would not really know what difference it would make, they as well as POMs are everywhere. Here in OZ we are a multicultural society and you hardly see any discrimination. Financially, I would say that it is a sleeping giant and now it is a good time to buy property here, I just did and am looking forward to a good capital gain as properties in neighboring suburbs like Coogee have had. Keep smiling Stefano

Scott, your list is not insane, final price will eventually boil down to the suburb you end up. Close to the ocean or river costs more, so you would really be struggling to get a furnished home with pool for that price, but you would more inland. I'd suggest you rent away from the CBD, but close to a train station or bus that takes you to the train. That way you avoid driving in peek-hour and travel in comfort, perhaps reading that great book you always wanted to read... In a couple of months I will have a brand new, fully furnished home in Spearwood, close to shopping centre, school, bus and the Marina, for rent to the right family. I will be looking at minimum 6m leases. I am not fishing for rentals, just mentioning in case I can help someone; I actually expect to have to reject many applications. Please get in touch if I can help. Keep smiling Stefano

Yes, lived in Spearwood 1980 till -85, then Coogee till 2004, then Palmyra. Loved them all. We are selling the Palmyra house to go and live on a Sailing Catamaran for the next ... years, then we will come back to the new Spearwood house. Keep smiling Stefano

I'd suggest you ask people what is nice rather that what is bad; most people do not like to rubbish their neighbors.... I have been in Perth for 31y, when we first arrived we used to leave the car windows down when shopping and the house unlocked. We don't do that any longer, but nobody in Perth had bars on their windows. Having said that, you can judge the suburb by the rental price asked. I'd suggest you rent away from the CBD, but close to a train station or bus that takes you to the train. That way you avoid driving in peek-hour and travel in comfort, perhaps reading that great book you always wanted to read... In a couple of months I will have a brand new, fully furnished home in Spearwood, close to shopping centre, school, bus and the Marina, for rent to the right family. I will be looking at minimum 6m leases. I am not fishing for rentals, just mentioning in case I can help someone; I actually expect to have to reject many families. Please get in touch if I can help. Keep smiling Stefano