# Family suburbs North Brisbane



## antojak

My family and I will be moving to Brisbane at the end of the year. We are looking to find a family friendly, quiet neighborhood in the North Brisbane area.

Can anyone recommend an affordable suburb (rent up to $450 for 3-4 bedroom) with good schools, children are ages 9, 13 and 17.

Thanks

Antoinette


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## Wanderer

antojak said:


> My family and I will be moving to Brisbane at the end of the year. We are looking to find a family friendly, quiet neighborhood in the North Brisbane area.
> 
> Can anyone recommend an affordable suburb (rent up to $450 for 3-4 bedroom) with good schools, children are ages 9, 13 and 17.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Antoinette


I'd work on a system of elimination and as to what may suit your requirements and have a look at a map of Brisbane and take a note of what the suburbs are in like a 1-5 km. arc and then 5-10 and 10 -15 etc.
You'll possibly find not too much in the up to $450/w closer in and going out too far you'll be getting into newer areas with limited services.

You can also use Google Earth to get a reasonable idea of what suburbs are newer for they'll usually be less green and more a sea of rooftops.
If you head W of N a little you are quickly out into rural subdivision areas and if there was something available out past Ferny Grove _[ itself a nice looking area ]_ that would offer a different lifestyle.

Another thing to appreciate is that Brisbane summers can be real stinkers and so being prepared to go further out to somewhere like the Redcliffe Peninsula or Sandgate /Brighton may be an option you might want to consider so as to be closer to the sea and get some summer sea breezes and be able to have a dip without travelling too far.
That then may make for greater work commuting hastles.

But get yourself some ideas re locations and then check out www.domain.com.au , Real Estate, Property, Land and Homes for Sale, lease and rent - realestate.com.au and even Free Classifieds | Buy, Sell, Jobs, Property & More | Gumtree Sydney and you'll get an idea of price range.


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## dan

how far north?? 2km from the cbd? 20km from the cbd?

i would pick where you live based on where you work. traffic in brisbane can be bad and you don't want to spend all your time commuting.

based on your budget you are going to need to be at least 10 - 15km north of the cbd to find a place under $450pw. north lakes is a new area that many people like, otherwise there are older suburbs like albany creek and stafford heights which are also nice and will probably fit your budget.

to be closer to the city you will need to spend about $600 - 750pw in rent.


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## Marriedtheenglish

dan said:


> how far north?? 2km from the cbd? 20km from the cbd?
> 
> i would pick where you live based on where you work. traffic in brisbane can be bad and you don't want to spend all your time commuting.
> 
> based on your budget you are going to need to be at least 10 - 15km north of the cbd to find a place under $450pw. north lakes is a new area that many people like, otherwise there are older suburbs like albany creek and stafford heights which are also nice and will probably fit your budget.
> 
> to be closer to the city you will need to spend about $600 - 750pw in rent.


If you are in a place like North Lakes - which sounds nice - how far would it be to commute to Brisbane everyday do you think? I'm the same, we are going to move, stay near Brisbane for a few months before buying up on the Sunshine Coast if work permits... but as we've never been, it's very hard to work out where to go...


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## dan

It depends where in Brisbane.. To get to the CBD it is about 1hr by car in very heavy traffic. There isnt good public transport from north lakes. 

Commuting from the sunshine coast to Brisbane every day is not really viable.. It is about 2hrs each way. 

If you know where your job will be then you can pick your home to suit. If you don't then I would pick somewhere with good access to Brisbane. On the northside, good access means being near a train station.


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## Marriedtheenglish

Thanks Dan - and are the trains a good option commuting wise? Does everyone do it (like they do in London)?
Where can you recommend that would be maybe a 30 minute commute into the CBD (north, rather than south of Brisbane)... we want to rent a 4 bedroom house to begin with - say $600 per week.
Also - is it likely that rentals come furnished or not?
Thanks for your help!


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## dan

yep.. trains are good. we also have busways which are kind of like trams except with the busses - but they are mostly on the southside for now.

if you pick a trainline and follow it north that'll make it easy for you to pick suburbs. i would suggest the suburbs along the ferny grove line are nice - they are leafy with lots of parks and very family friendly. suburbs like alderley, qld 4051; enoggera, qld 4051; gaythorne, qld 4051; mitchelton, qld 4053. copy and paste that into a search on realestate.com.au and you'll be off to a good start.

95% of rentals in australia will be unfurnished - it is not very common. but if you look for them you will find them.

anyway, after all this.. i reckon your best option is just to move into somewhere furnished for the first six months and look around brisbane and see what you like?? most of the suburbs within 30mins of the CBD are "good" - australia is different to the UK in that there are not often "bad" suburbs close to the CBD. after 6mo you'll know what you like and then you can move somewhere more permanent.


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## Marriedtheenglish

dan said:


> yep.. trains are good. we also have busways which are kind of like trams except with the busses - but they are mostly on the southside for now.
> 
> if you pick a trainline and follow it north that'll make it easy for you to pick suburbs. i would suggest the suburbs along the ferny grove line are nice - they are leafy with lots of parks and very family friendly. suburbs like alderley, qld 4051; enoggera, qld 4051; gaythorne, qld 4051; mitchelton, qld 4053. copy and paste that into a search on realestate.com.au and you'll be off to a good start.
> 
> 95% of rentals in australia will be unfurnished - it is not very common. but if you look for them you will find them.
> 
> anyway, after all this.. i reckon your best option is just to move into somewhere furnished for the first six months and look around brisbane and see what you like?? most of the suburbs within 30mins of the CBD are "good" - australia is different to the UK in that there are not often "bad" suburbs close to the CBD. after 6mo you'll know what you like and then you can move somewhere more permanent.


Cool, thanks for the info - I imagine after living in the UK for so long, anywhere will be nice in comparison! I thought that was the case regarding rentals. It's hard, because we might ship everything at the end of October, but it will not be there by the time we arrive in December and then we will be stuck... then it will arrive and we won't have anywhere to put it - it's so frustrating... I just can't work out what to do.


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## dan

just get a furnished place for the first six months so that you can get comfortable in australia and get your bearings.. it'll all work out  if your house doesn't have any storage then you can just put your stuff in storage.. no biggie.


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## Marriedtheenglish

dan said:


> just get a furnished place for the first six months so that you can get comfortable in australia and get your bearings.. it'll all work out  if your house doesn't have any storage then you can just put your stuff in storage.. no biggie.


It's not expensive to stick everything (a 20ft container worth) in storage?


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## dan

about $350/month i guess??
99% of australian houses come with a garage anyway, so you could just fill up the garage with your furniture and park your car on the street.


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## Marriedtheenglish

dan said:


> about $350/month i guess??
> 99% of australian houses come with a garage anyway, so you could just fill up the garage with your furniture and park your car on the street.


Oh yes, I forgot about having a garage again - parking is rubbish in our street where we live, so that is a great idea - thanks for that.
Where do you live Dan? Do you have any other tips at all? Thanks!


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## dan

Marriedtheenglish said:


> Oh yes, I forgot about having a garage again - parking is rubbish in our street where we live, so that is a great idea - thanks for that.
> Where do you live Dan? Do you have any other tips at all? Thanks!


I live in newstead. It's nice but not cheap. Not great for families either.

My tip - don't stress and try to enjoy it!!


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