Stirling Perth WA

[giggly]

We are on our way to Perth and looking for an area to stay. I have done a trawl and checked rental prices and initially was looking at Victoria Park. I need a short commute to north end of Kings Park using either public transport or car. Stirling looks nice but wondered if anyone has local knowledge please.

[sparkina]

Bridge of Allan is lovely. x

[taxiformumplease]

Or Dunblane , hydro ?

[Chirpychick2010]

Just wanted to say although not much help....... Oh my! im soooooooo green right now! Spent a lovely three months there and victoria park perth ahhhhhh lovely! Have a wonderful time but just don't tell me about it hehe good luck

[giggly]

Ah, Bridge of Allan or Dunblane if only you knew
Thanks chirpy

[oldnewmummy]

Can't say I know Stirling well, but looks nice when we drive through. Very handy for IKEA! Short train ride to town, and they've recently extended the car park at the station (often a problem getting parked to use train in Perth).

[roary]

City of Stirling is composed of a ton of different suburbs, all mid priced to high as you get out to the coast. Lots of local coverage here about horrendous traffic on the Mitchell Freeway. Wembley Downs is a nice area, mature trees etc. Floreat is nice and maybe a bit closer. Depends on your needs:budget, schools, etc. don't forget that any useful searches will be done by suburb so Stirling not so helpful as a term. it includes Trigg, which is a glitzy beach suburb, Balga, which is quite low income, and Mount Lawley which is urban, lovely old homes. So you need to narrow it down. Carine and Woodlands also nice.

[roary]

Oh, ignore me Giggiy!! Have city of Stirling on the brain as friend just got a job with their council. Don't know anything about the suburb itself although my freeway traffic moment stands.

Interesting Wikipedia entry here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling,_Western_Australia

All the suburb entries have useful demographic info.

[giggly]

thanks all, feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to navigate where to live. Is it really possible to drive about and get a feel for an area? We ahve been to Perth a few times but did'nt really pay attention as I had my sights set on Brisbane. Our budget is 450 for rental but will have a lot of equity from here to put down when time is right to buy.

No way we could afford to be within sniffing distance to the ocean and as I live 5 minutes away from IKEA here maybe settling in wont be so bad. Really need good transport links as will only have 1 car to begin.
What about the countryside, how far is it from the city?

Is there any point in renting in Mandurah for the first few weeks and still scouting about or is it to far?

[roary]

Hi giggly, it will be easier once you're here. Mandurah is FAR and for you it would require a train then a bus. If you could do it all on the train it might be ok.

Location wise Stirling is good, have you checked schools?

Bear in mind that due to appalling rent prices your budget is not huge, and I'm sure people have warned you about the difficulty of securing a rental from overseas. It is very competitive and so you need to be on the spot. Once you are here it will all be easier, promise!

Areyou working at PMH?

[giggly]

working at The Peth Clinic, hope I've not outed myself I know that rents are high and the general advice is to have a renters pack ready with job contract, mortgage statements from UK and proof of PR/visa etc in it, oh and the offer of 6 months up front, wtf!

I'm really trying to find a short holiday rent for a few weeks and expect to haul ourselves around to get a longer let. I havent had the chance to check out the schools yet,
I guess we're hoping for the property market to take a dive,although we can afford to pay more for rent I'm loath to pay someone elses mortgage.
Just had an offer on the house so may have a date soon.

[giggly]

Perth Clinic

[roary]

Hi Giggly
The property market here has already taken a dive (!) and so you will have to hope it's continuing. I doubt prices are going back up any time but they seem to be holding at this position. People in a lot of areas are making silly offers on houses considerably below asking.

Short holiday let the best (if not the only) plan. If I were in your shoes I'd be looking seriously at schools. There is a variation in quality here, just as anywhere, but the strong private sector means that this is particularly noticeable for secondary school, with some quite dramatically better than others.

Given your work location you would ideally want to be on the Fremantle train line or a good bus route to West Perth, or driving down the freeway. That will actually narrow your search quite a bit. check out the Transperth webpage. Once you've figured out an acceptable commute draw a circle on your map, find out schools, and go from there! If you do all that before you go you will have a good idea of general area, and I think Stirling (either suburb or city of) is a good bet. Woodlands is a nice suburb with good schools and so is Carine but I suspect you may actually do better to buy rather than rent in those areas (rents seem higher than purchase prices, IYSWIM)

On countryside do you mean to live in or to visit? Very accessible to visit but Perth also has huge swathes of urban greenspace, which is lovely. For you, if you are only planning one car, probably not so good to live as your commute will be long.

[giggly]

fantastic advice many thanks. I have only looked at primary schools in Victoria Park area as my eldest is only 6 but I suppose I do need to look further ahead. As I dont know what I'm doing next week never mind in 5 years I was kind of ignoring the high schools, but very good point.
Just accepted an offer on the house so looks likely we'll be out mid August
I was thinking that we could get a holiday let around Fremantle and drive up and around different areas as this would give an idea of travelling time.

I'm just getting my knickers in a twist I think as I know I have plenty of time before I start work, visa requirement is within 6 months on landing!

Right away to look at the areas you mentioned. Thanks again.
I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon

[ravenousbugblatterbeast]

We've secured a furnished rental from a very nice lady (we're landing in Perth at the end of June, eek!), she handles a lot of other properties so might have something in your area? PM me and I'll send you her details.

[itshotintexas]

How about mt hawthorn? Really great primary school, family area nice cafes close to Leederville close to freeway and kings park. Rents are probably high though.

Good luck, I miss being home. Texas is too hot!