Best South Eastern Suburb in Brisbane for family of 4 from NZ?

Question

We are thinking of moving from NZ to Brisbane in the near future. We are a family of 4 with 2 boys ages 7 & 9. I will probably be working in the CBD, but over here I live about 30 mins away from my job so commutes are not a problem. I would like somewhere handy but not to close to either trains or buses to the CBD. We are looking at a area around the South East side of Brisbane, probably about 25+ km's out. We want to spend between $200k-$350k for a house, but we want a quite good school area, and possiably a new subdivision. We also like the idea of a decent back yard as well not one of the suburbs that people are jammed in like sardines. We are thinking SE because our kids will like to go to the theme parks, and that will make the trip easier when we go there and we can go more often for them.

Answer 1

The area you have specified is from around Capalaba (pronounced CaPELL uh bar) to Redland Bay, but I'm afraid that the upper level of your budget will be stretched to get anything half way decent in Capalaba and I doubt if you will be able to get anything at all around Redland Bay under $450+. A major problem with prices in that area is that you are getting near the coast and land near the coast is expensive. It's very rare to find anything in Brisbane in the type of suburb you would want your boys to grow up in for under $300k and if you are lucky enough to find something that cheap, it will be small and/or run down.

Have a look at Springfield and Collingwood Park in the Southwest. They are actually not in Brisbane but are part of  Ipswich . They seem to be nice suburbs (can't say for sure)and are close to the Logan Motorway tollroad which connects with the Pacific Highway well south of Brisbane and is an excellent and relatively low traffic way to get to the Gold Coast. You should be able to get something reasonable in that area and stay within your budget.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but the cost of housing has soared in Brisbane over the last few years. It is still possible to pick up the odd bargain, but it takes a lot of time and luck to be in the right place at the right time.

Also, your commute would be unlikely to be only 30 minutes as our traffic congestion has also increased particularly as you get close to town.

If you can, come over and visit some real estate agents in each area. Hire a car and have a good look around and check out the commute times.

Answer 2

Tingalpa or Cannon Hill might be an area that fits most of what you want. Not sure if you will get a house for that price (I would suggest double even for a basic block) in virtually any half decent area. Some of my family live in that area and it is quite a safe place to live and only about 20km I think from the city.

The Gateway motorway (which then joins with the Coast one) is within a 3 or 4 min drive of those suburbs.

I would avoid Wynnum as I taught at the school there and it is fairly questionable.

Hope that might have helped somewhat.