Local knowledge please

[JasonM]

We are over at the moment and have looked at some show homes, we have taken a drive up to Eden Beach and Amberton as this is where we could afford the land and house, burns beach is totally out of the question as everything as a package is now over 1 million. We did have a nose around Butler and Brighton also, can anyone give me heads up on schooling and other things in these areas please.

we did visit a school in duncraig and we was told that you should never send your kids to butler for school. I know schooling is a fair bit about opinion but would love some feed back from people who live in the area.

Also any good or negative points about living this far up?

i know there are plans for the train and freeway to be extended, also I would be a mobile engineer so trading would be part of my job anyway.

We are looking for a 4 x 2 around the $500-600k mark which rules out kallaroo, duncraig,burns beach and Clarkson.

 

thanks in advance

[nikkiwd]

I have a friend who lives in Butler and loves it, he is forever telling us to buy up there but as we both work in the city its further than we would want to commute. Cant comment on schools sorry. The Butler train station opened last month so saves a bit of hassle.

[Scot01]

This might help in our search - go to http://www.myschool.edu.au/ type in the suburb and all the schools in that suburb will come up. Go to an individual school, look on the left at results in numbers. These are the results of the NAPLAN tests, like SATS for each school. Most of the primary schools in Duncraig are green or dark green - above average, ones in Butler red/dark red for some years - significantly below average, other years average. I'd be going for the worst house in the best suburb I could afford but I do understand the draw of a nice new sparkling house.

[Tigerbalm]

This is probably not much help but when we were over in August we went on a tour of Butler College. We were really impressed with the facilities, the headmaster seemed really dedicated and the students were enthusiastic. We were also impressed with the respect that the students had for the staff there and there seemed to be a good relationship between them. Obviously this was our observations from just one morning, but I left with a good feeling about the school. We are now moving SOR so have ruled it out due to location but I felt at the time that my children would have done well there and been happy. I also heard that some children are leaving Irene McCormack next door and enrolling in Butler College but this may be heresay as it was the headmaster who told me!

 

Some friends of ours have kids that go to East Butler Primary, one did very well there, the other not so well. But that may be down to the individuals themselves.

 

Also so noticed that this thread is 3 weeks old so sorry for late post.

[JasonM]

Thanks Tigerbalm, i am drawn by the shiney new house build in Amberton, however will probably end up buying in Duncraig if possible to be close to the wifes friend. Just have to get my head around the prices shown on houses for sale is just a guide price and you could be spending alot more.

[Druid]

J

Thanks Tigerbalm, i am drawn by the shiney new house build in Amberton, however will probably end up buying in Duncraig if possible to be close to the wifes friend. Just have to get my head around the prices shown on houses for sale is just a guide price and you could be spending alot more.

 

If you cant afford to build in Burns Beach then you certainly cant afford to buy in Duncraig, the closer you get to the city the more expensive it gets and Duncraig is one of the more popular suburbs, Heathridge, Padbury area for some reason is slightly less expensive, you could still build a 4x2 in Clarkson, it wont be on 600sq/m but it will be a substantial house, you can build a decent 4x2 for $200k and land in Clarkson is selling for way less than $400k, the govt gives you a $10k bonus.

 

I am building in Burns Beach by the way and its only costing $800k, thats a double story 4x2 opposite a park and 5 minute walk to the beach, but that is the bottom end of the market, you can as you say spend millions here if you want to, you just have to reign your expectations in.

[JasonM]

Thanks Druid, i have seen houses 4x2 in Duncraig from 700k, we priced up Amberton with a house from homegroupWA and a nice house around the 600k-700k mark. We are only coming out with 400k dollars so was worried about getting a mortgage for 350k + when as an Air conditioning engineer first year you are on low wages as you have to retrain and then will be earning 80 - 90k per year + OT so i am being carefull of not over stretching myself, Just hit 40 so i have an age worry off probably only getting a loan over 25 years as well. I also realize we may not be buying within the first year also but then also looking at the house prices and how much extra everything will be in a years time especially as it is likely to be 6 months before we get out. I know the wages will increase as i am in Management now and very ambitious so will not be frontline forever, if at all if i get my way . Thank you for responding, we can afford Butler but then a teacher at a school in Duncraig said she would never send her kids to Butler.. I know schools are sometimes about the child and not so much about the school and i am sure people on here could tell me that their children go to school in Butler and they are doing fantastic. I am pushing the move ore than my wife and to make her happy i would want to be as close to Duncraig and loved the look of Burns Beach. How anyone affords the houses is crazy, guess a whole load of investors for rentals. Thanks again for replying

[Druid]

Jason, mortgages here are for 30 years, not age dependant, Im older than you and have just signed up for a substantial mortgage, probably close to double the figures you quoted, we have not yet sold our UK house so are effectivly first time buyers again like when we were in our twenties, we came over on a tight budget, in fact we took money off our Uk mortgage to finance this whole deal, the second year we saved every penny we could to get the deposit together for the mortgage to be able to build in Burns Beach, the reasoning behind this is, this is what we came for, to live close to the beach in the sun, the only issue withbuilding is paying the rent while you bill and pay the mortgage, which is stepped by the way and its only interest only, if its just you earning and eventually on $90k it would be a stretch.

[JasonM]

I have worked out that we can live with a 350k mortgage, its only until our little one can go to school who is currently 3 then the wife maybe able to try to find some work, however like a lot of OH she is not on the skills list but has plenty of experience as a administrator for an air conditioning company so you never know, she has also mentioned about getting into child care or going to college and retraining once in Perth, i am fully aware things will be tight for a few years. Other option is just to rent and keep all our money in the bank. My main problem is no companies will talk with me at the moment as not a resident and i dont have the local qualifications to be able to apply for any jobs on seek(need to get the qualifications once in Perth). Bit of a chicken an egg situation. I have other qualifications as well, Nebosh for health and safety, construction safety and environmental management and i am also Integrated Management System Manager so once in Perth i am not just restricted to refrigeration and air conditioning. Thinking about it may even be worth contacting some construction companies as one thing i did notice when i was over Perth does have one or two construction projects going on. Hay i am sure people have managed on a lot less than what we are bringing out and earning, not so long ago i did see a post with someone saying they are coming out with 15k, my initial thoughts was .... are you crazy after visiting and seeing how expensive property is. I guess it depends on what you want once you land.

Hoping Bridges makes an appearance as her OH is in the same trade and would be great to get an update from her on how the family are getting on and how the work situation is panning out.

Thanks again Druid for the advise