North , south, east or west?????? please help

[Guest jlr248]

Hi PIA, I know this topic has been discussed before but the posts all appear to be years old and therefore probably out of date. I have spent the last two years looking at southern suburbs from Marion to Port Noarlunga due to location and cost of housing (our budget is $400 k max for a 3 bed house and you seem to get more for your money in the south). However, as we dont know where we will be working I thought i should consider some other suburbs too, . Would love to live around West Lakes or in the foothills east of the city although many of these areas seem to be out of our price range.

Could anyone suggest any areas with a good state high school, good transport connections, and reasonable house prices. Thanks for your time x

[Diane]

Don't make any decisions just yet - rent yourself somewhere short term for when you first arrive, sort out where you'll be working, then use that as a guideline and check out all areas that give you a reasonable commute.

 

Could easily be a lot more specific but honestly, one man's meat is another man's poison and all that, so until you see for yourself you can't really decide!

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Only you can decide on where you want to live....alot depends on what you want from where you want to live such as

 

Schooling

proximity to work

proximity to beach

local amenities

public transport

sports clubs etc etc

 

Write a list of what you want from where you want to live then you can narrow it down a little, but dnt really book anything until your here, then you can go look around and check out different areas, what may look great may not necessarily give you a good vibe when you are there in person, we can all offer advice on where to live and have opinions of what hot ans what not...but only you can really decide,

 

HG

[Guest steveandshelltaylor]

SOUTH Aldinga beach!!! fantastic , we rented at aldinga but looked all over and ended back here . 5 mins from beach lots of parks for the kids , amazing private school called southen vales christian collage 5 mins in the car . shops 2 mins away . what more could you want xx

[ianb]

SOUTH Aldinga beach!!! fantastic , we rented at aldinga but looked all over and ended back here . 5 mins from beach lots of parks for the kids , amazing private school called southen vales christian collage 5 mins in the car . shops 2 mins away . what more could you want xx

 

what more could you want? Perhaps if the line of work you are in is all in the north not such a great place! A great beach is no good when you have a 2 hour drive to work! Many great places and schools and shops ALL OVER Adelaide

 

As was sensibly said before, wait till your here to decide.

[AussieRob]

It's always such a big subject this, there are good areas in all parts of the city, with probably the east being the best, and massively more expensive. Depending on your type of work, most industry is based in the north and if your job is based their then the journey from north to south or vice versa is pretty bad currently due to extensive road works around Regency Park.

 

Everyone loves the beach, but in reality you'd be so much better off driving max 30 mins from anywhere in the city to the beach once or twice per week, than trying to spend 2 hours in the car on your own every day, 10 hours per week, 2 whole days per month. I did the journey to like a muppet for 3 years, it is a wasted part of your life.

 

For your budget you could get a smaller property in a nice area like Mawson Lakes, Golden Grove in the North, or Flagstaff Hill / Hallet Cove in the south, or look at a slightly less afluent areas and you could get a large house with pool. I now live in Morphett Vale, the area is ok, we have a pub, supermarket, massive choice of fast food, and a nice choice of resturants, there are some not so nice bits to the suburb, but on the street I live, all the houses are well looked after and it's very quiet, yet we have a 4 bedroom home, large veranda over looking the hills, and decent garden for well under your budget.

[RockDr]

As others have said, proximity to work is probably going to be your main issue. There are good schools and nice places to live all over the place. Work out how long you're prepared to commute for, and look for places within that distance to work.

 

Myself and OH recently moved closer to the city. We are now 20min walk from both workplaces, and 5-15min walk from two major retail/restaurant strips, beautiful parkland on the doorstep. Rent is more expensive, but we don't have to pay for commutes/parking, which pretty much makes up for the increase in rent.

[ianb]

 

 

For your budget you could get a smaller property in a nice area like Mawson Lakes, Golden Grove in the North, or Flagstaff Hill / Hallet Cove in the south, or look at a slightly less afluent areas and you could get a large house with pool..

 

I am not sure where the believes and comments come from that you can only get nice large houses for small amount of $ in the southern burbs. There are many good suburbs north of the city and as for the less afluent areas that must cover areas all over Adelaide. We have a big house with a pool which was in current property environment reasonably priced, for less than the budget you mentioned, in a quiet area and we have had no trouble with crime, yobs, gangs, car break ins, burglary, noisy neighbours, graffiti etc etc and shock! horror! its north of the city!!

Come with your eyes open, dont believe everything you read, make your own mind up and go where suits you, your family and where you work.

[Guest jlr248]

Thanks to everyone at PIA who took the time to write. I know deep down that there is no substitute for pounding the streets and of course we can't make any decisions until we arrive, get jobs, school for kids etc but i can't help asking. I would love nothing more than to be able to roam the suburbs of Adelaide but while i sit (not so patiently) waiting to sell out house in Uk the closest I can get to that is asking lots of questions on this forum. Think back to when you were still in the Uk and keep writing all your titbits of knowledge and wisdom, they are keeping me sane!

[Anne B]

Would love to live around West Lakes or in the foothills east of the city although many of these areas seem to be out of our price range.

Could anyone suggest any areas with a good state high school, good transport connections, and reasonable house prices. Thanks for your time x

 

West Lakes is expensive and you are unlikely to find anything for under $400k, but some of the adjacent suburbs are much cheaper. There are some grotty areas, you just have to have a good look around. The High school for West Lakes is Seaton High which is quite small and has a good reputation. The zone for Seaton High is here http://www.decs.sa.gov.au/locs/pages/default/33798/?reFlag=1 and includes West Lakes, Tennyson and Grange (all expensive) and part of Seaton, Royal Park, Hendon and Albert Park. The train goes through Seaton Park and Albert Park. Although these suburbs are not as nice as West Lakes, there are some nice areas (just south of the golf course in Seaton for example), so they might be worth looking at. Obviously you get more house for your money the further from the city that you go, but there are advantages to being near the beach, the city and facilities, especially if you have teenagers.

[AussieRob]

I am not sure where the believes and comments come from that you can only get nice large houses for small amount of $ in the southern burbs. There are many good suburbs north of the city and as for the less afluent areas that must cover areas all over Adelaide. We have a big house with a pool which was in current property environment reasonably priced, for less than the budget you mentioned, in a quiet area and we have had no trouble with crime, yobs, gangs, car break ins, burglary, noisy neighbours, graffiti etc etc and shock! horror! its north of the city!!

Come with your eyes open, dont believe everything you read, make your own mind up and go where suits you, your family and where you work.

 

Sorry Ian, I didn't mean any disrespect. I did try to be balanced by mentioning 2 of the so called better areas towards to the north and 2 from the south. I only then mentioned Morphett Vale as it is somewhere that isn't always high on people's desirability yet we live somewhere that I think most people would enjoy. You are right though, I lived in the north for 5 years, and areas like Parafield Gardens, Salisbury East, Craigmore, gawler, Andrews Farm and Smithfield Plains are all good areas, and all with idyllic quiet streets.

 

I don't quite agree though that less afluent areas cover all of the city, I can't think of anywhere in the east of the city, and areas in the west that don't appear that nice are still relatively expensive.

[Guest natstar]

This is an up-to-date median price listing of all Adelaide suburbs, from the government website. http://www.sa.gov.au/subject/Housing,+property+and+land/Buying+and+selling/Advice+for+people+planning+to+buy+a+property/Metro+median+house+sales+statistics

[Guest SA Great]

We have a big house with a pool which was in current property environment reasonably priced, for less than the budget you mentioned, in a quiet area and we have had no trouble with crime, yobs, gangs, car break ins, burglary, noisy neighbours, graffiti etc etc and shock! horror! its north of the city!!

.

 

Thats because you live in the arse end of nowhere out North. Its prob as far from the city as Aldinga is.