Sideshowdeb Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Howdy all, I'm hoping to get a little bit of advice on choosing a suburb. We've booked our flights and we land in Perth on 1st of August and I honestly can't wait. As problems go, it's a nice one to have, finally, but I really don't know where to start when thinking about suburbs. Some are off the list immediately because without a lottery win they're out of our price range, some because they're too far out or I've heard bad things. That still leaves a huge number of lovely family suburbs with good schools. My OH is a dry liner (or gyprocker, as I think he'll soon be known) and I currently work in a hospital pharmacy but could easily change to a local chemist if the hospitals are too far away or jobs are scarce. I guess what we need to know is whether the building work is concentrated in particular areas, or as I suspect, sub-contractors have to work all over Perth? Which areas are the most commutable and have the best transport links? We have 2 children (15 & 6) so I would like to narrow my search down to a few suburbs so I can check out schools etc. We plan on renting a holiday let and exploring thoroughly when we arrive, but there's a limit to how much we will get to see so any insider knowledge which would help us target our search would be greatly appreciated. We both drive and would love the kids to be close to the beach and/or a large areas of parkland Thanks in advance Deb x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beandownunder Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 I'll be watching the responses Deb, good luck xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivera Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Can only speak for NOR but there is a huge amount of building work going on in the corridor up to Yanchep http://www.western-australia.com/alkimos.html Joondalup hospital might work for you ?? Housing is reasonably priced (ha ha) compared to the rest of Perth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideshowdeb Posted January 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Can only speak for NOR but there is a huge amount of building work going on in the corridor up to Yanchep http://www.western-australia.com/alkimos.html Joondalup hospital might work for you ?? Housing is reasonably priced (ha ha) compared to the rest of Perth Thank you for that link, lots of info :0) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
portlaunay Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 This might help Suburbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bibbs Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Well where do you know in Perth? Where do your friends/family live? Are you city slickers or country bumpkins? If you want public transport, all the routes are on google maps (just click from / to points, and then click 'Public Transport' and it'll show you the timetables). Remember though, even a 500m walk can seem a long way on a 44deg day, and there are not many suburbs that are within walking distance of a station. Perth from Joondalup to Mandurah is about the same as Heathrow to Swindon, but it's all suburbia without the countryside gaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) What is your budget for rental? Do you want the kids to go to state schools? Do you want to pay more to be nearer the beach that can only really be used 6/7 months a year? Do you want a rental with a pool that again is not used all year round? Does your 15 year old want / need a part time after school job so being near a big shopping centre for travel ease could be important? Do you want to be near a train station? Do you want to be near the city? Do you need to be near a hosiptal? And so on and so on but only you guys can decide these things because everyone is different. Just keep jotting down all your thoughts as they pop into your head. Then I would just get a big list of suburbs that you think you can afford from the RIEWA website (search by rental cost), draw up a table / checklist of the affordable suburbs, your "wants" from a suburb, then do as much online research as possible for each of the listed suburbs, rank each one of your "wants" from 1 to 10 based on what you find out and a bit of gut feel, total up scores for each suburb and this paper based scoring system should get you to get a short list of say 6 to 8 suburbs (more or less no matter). Then on arrival target those top marking suburbs and go through the ranking system again based on actually being here to cehck your findings and to get the real answers for each one. Alternatively as one poster said recently throw a dart at the map and go for it If you need a excel sheet to help you with your budgets then send me a private message with an e-mail address and I will fire one off to you. On completition it will help you get to the rental budget starting point. Edited January 16, 2014 by StraighttothePoint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideshowdeb Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 (edited) Thanks Bibbs, my son will have to walk or ride to school until he's old enough to drive so the distance is a really big thing to take into account. Arriving in August, I probably wouldn't have thought about it like that :-) We don't have any close friends or family in Perth so that's not a factor and in the past we've been happy living in the country and in the city. The boys love mountain biking and the outdoors, but having shops, restaurants etc on hand would be great also, especially with a teenager in the family. Deb x Edited January 16, 2014 by Sideshowdeb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideshowdeb Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 What is your budget for rental? Do you want the kids to go to state schools? Do you want to pay more to be nearer the beach that can only really be used 6/7 months a year? Do you want a rental with a pool that again is not used all year round? Does your 15 year old want / need a part time after school job so being near a big shopping centre for travel ease could be important? Do you want to be near a train station? Do you want to be near the city? Do you need to be near a hosiptal? And so on and so on but only you guys can decide these things because everyone is different. Just keep jotting down all your thoughts as they pop into your head. Then I would just get a big list of suburbs that you think you can afford from the RIEWA website (search by rental cost), draw up a table / checklist of the affordable suburbs, your "wants" from a suburb, then do as much online research as possible for each of the listed suburbs, rank each one of your "wants" from 1 to 10 based on what you find out and a bit of gut feel, total up scores for each suburb and this paper based scoring system should get you to get a short list of say 6 to 8 suburbs (more or less no matter). Then on arrival target those top marking suburbs and go through the ranking system again based on actually being here to cehck your findings and to get the real answers for each one. Alternatively as one poster said recently throw a dart at the map and go for it If you need a excel sheet to help you with your budgets then send me a private message with an e-mail address and I will fire one off to you. On completition it will help you get to the rental budget starting point. The lazy me could quite happily go for the dart option! I think you're right about the systematic approach. My research so far has been about as targeted as a shotgun and I really need to narrow it down or I'll be a Perth fact machine by August. I'm really aware there's going to be a limit to how much we can explore Perth before we have to start making some choices, so thanks for the advice. Debs x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Ultimately it will come down to budget. So first, work out what that is likely to be. Then, list the priorities for what you want in order of priority. Your husbands work is actually likely to be most in demand in the outer parts of Perth as this is where there is most construction going on. We are in mandurah which is a beach / sea side town popular with tourists but also growing rapidly with lots of house building going on. It also has some stunning countryside and is a short drive to Dwellingup which is famous for hiking and mountain biking and water white water canoeing. We also have an expanding hospital. But, we are not Perth. We are 50 mins from the city by train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideshowdeb Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Ultimately it will come down to budget. So first, work out what that is likely to be. Then, list the priorities for what you want in order of priority. Your husbands work is actually likely to be most in demand in the outer parts of Perth as this is where there is most construction going on. We are in mandurah which is a beach / sea side town popular with tourists but also growing rapidly with lots of house building going on. It also has some stunning countryside and is a short drive to Dwellingup which is famous for hiking and mountain biking and water white water canoeing. We also have an expanding hospital. But, we are not Perth. We are 50 mins from the city by train. I actually looked at Mandurah for the first time yesterday because I saw it on TV (yes, I'll admit it, I was watching Wanted Down Under). I was pleasantly surprised at the house prices and it looked lovely. It's good to know there's work there because my OH really likes the thought of a beach suburb/town and he definitely favours being south of Perth. Beach, building work, hospital and Good mountain bike terrain ticks quite a lot of our boxes! Thanks, Deb x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Good to hear. What I would do is make a list of the areas you think you like the look of and then when you first arrive, stay in some short term accommodation and drive around and get a feel. Realestate.com.au will give you a good idea of prices before you arrive to ensure they are in price range. Mandurah is a small city in itself with a large range of suburbs which each have the pluses and negatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideshowdeb Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Good to hear. What I would do is make a list of the areas you think you like the look of and then when you first arrive, stay in some short term accommodation and drive around and get a feel. Realestate.com.au will give you a good idea of prices before you arrive to ensure they are in price range. Mandurah is a small city in itself with a large range of suburbs which each have the pluses and negatives. We've added Mandurah to the list of places we want to explore and it tipped the balance in favour of a SOR holiday let. I've managed to convince my OH to book it for longer to give us more time to check out areas and schools etc. I can't wait to put the iPad away and see these places for myself though! Still, there are worse ways to while away the hours of my last ever wet and grey British winter :smile2: Deb x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted January 18, 2014 Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Depending on how quick the builders go, our place might be available for rent about the time you arrive. We are renting a three bedroom 2.5 bathroom place with a pool and 100m walk to the beach. If you google "the cut golf course mandurah" and "Oceanique mandurah" you will see the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideshowdeb Posted January 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 Depending on how quick the builders go, our place might be available for rent about the time you arrive. We are renting a three bedroom 2.5 bathroom place with a pool and 100m walk to the beach. If you google "the cut golf course mandurah" and "Oceanique mandurah" you will see the area. Wow, that looks like an amazing development! We've settled on a month's holiday let initially, so we'll be hopefully we'll be in a lease house by September. Are you staying in Mandurah? Ultimately we'd love to build our own house, but as usual I'm getting ahead of myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verystormy Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 Yes, we are in Dawesville which is in the south of mandurah. We have been renting here for 5 years and are now just starting to build our own place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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