Life on the coast & Hayborough/Port Elliot area

[Guest WeGottaGetOuttaThisPlace]

Hi

 

We are in the final stages of our visa application and are starting to discuss exactly where we would like to live. I don't mind really as long as it is a nice, safe neighbourhood close to the amenities but my partner has just told me he has his heart set on a house by the sea!!!

 

I didn't even realise he wanted to live near a beach until today - we had been discussing how expensive a nice 3 bed house might actually be in Adelaide as we have been told to avoid some of the areas we were looking at on realestate.com.au which have 3 bed brick houses for the price of our 2 bed terrace in a sh!tty area of Glasgow. One of the places was called Elizabeth but an Uncle's friend who lives in Flagstaff Hill, Adelaide said it wouldn't be wise to actually buy property there.

 

Anyway, after all the internet searching, my other half has his heart set on a house within walking distance (eg 20 mins or a couple of blocks away) of a nice beach so we can go there every evening if we want to and just have a better quality of life than we do back here.

He also wants a 3 bedroom house ideally.

 

Any suggestions? I don't even know where the best beaches are in Adelaide. We stayed in Melbourne for some time a few years back and the nearest beach was either St Kilda by tram ride or Port Melbourne which was a lot quieter so we could only really go at weekends when they got pretty busy.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice. We have been looking at Port Elliot and Hayborough as that is the only place we have been told to look but the houses are a bit too expensive for us there (AUD $280,000 and up) so I don't know if we are being totally unrealistic about having a coastal/beach life but really want to try for it anyways!!!

 

[Guest barmyarmy]

just a personnel opinion but aldinga looks lovely ,right by the beach n have spoke to people having a house built there so must be ok:D

[Guest Guest75]

Hiya

 

Port Elliot is lovely but far away from Adelaide (1.5 hours drive to CBD)

It's a sleepy place but set to take off eventually.

 

You may want to look closer to the city if that is where you would be working.

 

Start at Sellick's Beach,Aldinga and work up the map from there I'd say.

 

It's going to depend on budget as well $280,000 is getting less for your money each day.

 

We live a short drive from the beach in Onkaparinga Hills,it's nice to be able to get in the car and take a trip to the beach.Makes you appreciate it a little more ...

[Guest macu68]

Have you thought about renting until you know where you want to buy?

[Guest WeGottaGetOuttaThisPlace]

Have you thought about renting until you know where you want to buy?

 

We don't really know Adelaide that well since the people our relatives know are from Scotland originally and none of us can afford a decent house in a decent area here so most 'burbs in Adelaide seem fine to them but they say it is really expensive on the coast and if you move to Reynella or western suburbs of the surrounding area like western side of Morphett Vale, you can get a decent 3 bed detached house for around $200 - 250,000 at the moment although this is cheap for Adelaide. Have been told to avoid Elizabeth?!? It's too far inland anyway I think...

 

Anyway, we have been looking at rentals in Hallett Cove/Christies Beach/Christies Downs/Morphett Vale (west side) and Reynella (west side again) and we are looking to rent fully furnished or stay in a hotel/holiday park for the first few weeks anyway because we made the mistake of looking at rentals before we went for our working holiday visa in Melbourne and only booked 2 weeks in a shabby hotel (which cost a fortune) on the run up to the Open so ended up on the streets since we hadn't realised all the rentals we had looked at before we got there were 6 months lease at least so we ended up taking out rucksacks and luggage with us round hotels looking for a room (which again cost the earth due to the Open!!!) before finding some fully furnished accommodation.... Don't wanna go through that again - especially since this time we are actually emigrating and will have a 1 yr old with us!!!

[Guest macu68]

Hi

 

Just a quick line.... Do you know about the meet and greet service etc that South Australian offer us? http://www.immigration.sa.gov.au/site/services_index.php This is the link that will take you to services on offer for skilled workers emigrating to SA. Hope you find something useful in there for you all. Hope all goes well for you.

[Guest Libby1971]

Welcome to PIA firstly.

 

I really don't want to be the bearer of bad news but there are some things to be looked at with the suburbs.

 

Adelaide has many great beaches - some of them are Glenelg, Hallett Cove, Brighton, Aldinga and Port Willunga.

 

The closer you are to the city, the higher the price of the property but the closer you are to jobs. The nearer you are to the beach, the higher the cost.

 

Houses right on the seafront can be half a million - they are generally big houses, not always though. Some of the older smaller ones are owned by older generation and when they don't need it anymore, the chances are the developers will swoop in, buy the block and stick a monster of a house on it to get max return for their money.

 

Moving back from the beach a bit will lower the cost a bit. But I am not sure if you will find much within your budget close to the sea unless you move further out of the city. You could have a look at Aldinga but that is the only place I can think of that might fit all your requirements. It is further south of the city at about a 50-60 min drive, I am not sure exactly of how long it takes. You could also have a look at Victor Harbor but again that is a hefty drive from the city - about an hour and a half.

 

I hope you do find your dream house - you just need to find it.

 

Libby

[Guest salisbury massive]

. One of the places was called Elizabeth but an Uncle's friend who lives in Flagstaff Hill, Adelaide said it wouldn't be wise to actually buy property there.

 

There is nothing wrong with buying property in Elizabeth, you just wouldn't want to live in it. Its a good place for an investment property. You are right, the North East suburbs are too far from the beach, its a good 40 minute drive to our nearest beach at Semaphore.

 

Aldinga seems like a good starting point for you.

 

Jo

[Guest WeGottaGetOuttaThisPlace]

Hi again

 

Thanks for the good advice and for the link regarding welcoming to SA!!!

 

We're going to have a look at Aldinga then. It is so difficult at the moment - there is sooooo much to look into and think about. I don't want us to end up in the same situation as we are in here - ie we managed to get our foot on the property ladder here in the UK just at a point where we could almost not afford a house at all but we had to sacrafice the area we live in so we could afford more than just a 1 bedroom flat. We don't want to make the same mistake in Adelaide so will def be renting at first when we get there but can't really afford not to try and buy a house asap before the house prices in Adelaide rocket as well!!

 

Thanks again guys.

[Guest macu68]

I love this site, look at all the replies to one question. Hope these are all helpful to you. The Welcome to SA includes how to apply for the On Arrival Accommodation (OAA) that is cheap, furnished and basic. You can have this accommodation for up to 12 weeks. I thought it was allocated anywhere but have been told (on this site) since that you can ask for areas that you are interested in. Might be an option for you while you look for somewhere to live permanently. Its difficult to make a decision when you are not there. We thought about a reccie etc but with no firm dates to go what feels right now might not in 6-12 months time. Also theres the money and we don't have it for a reccie for a family of 5. Where abouts are you in Glasgow?? My mum and dad live in Eastwood, we moved away when I was 5 but they have returned about 15 years ago. Also got a brother in Barrhead. Good luck with everything, let me know how you get on with the OAA if you go for it.

[Guest WeGottaGetOuttaThisPlace]

I love this site, look at all the replies to one question. Hope these are all helpful to you. The Welcome to SA includes how to apply for the On Arrival Accommodation (OAA) that is cheap, furnished and basic. You can have this accommodation for up to 12 weeks. I thought it was allocated anywhere but have been told (on this site) since that you can ask for areas that you are interested in. Might be an option for you while you look for somewhere to live permanently. Its difficult to make a decision when you are not there. We thought about a reccie etc but with no firm dates to go what feels right now might not in 6-12 months time. Also theres the money and we don't have it for a reccie for a family of 5. Where abouts are you in Glasgow?? My mum and dad live in Eastwood, we moved away when I was 5 but they have returned about 15 years ago. Also got a brother in Barrhead. Good luck with everything, let me know how you get on with the OAA if you go for it.

 

This is a brilliant site - everyone is so positive and helpful (even with the negative advice but really is better to know what we are getting ourselves into!!!)

 

I best not say exactly where in Glasgow we are since I was complaining on other threads about it not being safe to leave the house after dark due to the ned population etc. We really don't live in a good area at all but we wanted on the property ladder and have been in our wee house for a few years now and our street is actually ok (touch wood n all that) but there are some scary incidents that happen mostly on fri/sat nights and during the school hols (esp towards the end of the hols when the rival gangs are really sick of each other.... I won't embelish!!!)

 

Eastwood is a nice area I believe... I think it is near Rouken Glen park?!? Barrhead - don't really know it that well but was stranded at the railway station there one night years ago!!!! :embarrassed:

 

Anyway, I hadn't heard about the OAA - sounds ideal! We would really need furnished accommodation at first and are looking to rent for a few months anyway since we have been told we won't be able to get a mortgage straight away... I dunno - I aint thinking too much about the actual red tape toooooo much at the moment cos we are trying to wade through some visa application red tape at the mo so hopefully everything will work out and we'll be asked to go for the medicals/police checks soon...

 

Thanks again!!! Sorry for the waffle!!!

[Guest macu68]

No problem with the info, we have learnt so much by asking questions and reading other peoples questions, that is what this site is all about. Hope all goes well for you. Don't worry about the move and the negatives, we have decided to deal with whatever problems we face when we get to them. We will miss our families but feel we need to give, in our opinion, ourselves and children a good start and attitude in life. We think we will get that in Adelaide.

 

Good luck with it all.